This Smoked Beef Brisket Recipe is easy to prepare with only 3 ingredients and is smoked on low heat in your smoker. It's definitely worth every minute when you taste the flavorful, juicy, tender beef.
With a sharp knife, remove excess fat layer on top of beef brisket to no more than ¼ inch thickness.
In a small bowl, mix the salt and pepper together and rub evenly over entire beef brisket. Let brisket sit for 30 minutes at room temperature before placing in smoker.
Prepare smoker to a temperature of 225F to 250F. Place 4 large hickory wood chunks on charcoals when the temperature reaches 225F.
Insert BBQ thermometer probe into the middle of the beef brisket and place brisket on top level of smoker, fat side up. Add second BBQ thermometer probe inside the smoker. Close the lid and set thermometer to an internal temperature (for the meat) of 160F and the smoker temperature to a range of 225F to 250F. Maintain smoker temperature, adding charcoal if needed, using chamber door. Every hour for 5 hours, open chamber door for 1-2 minutes to help create smoke (wood chips should ignite) while maintaining smoker temperature. If possible, do not open smoker lid.
BBQ thermometer will alarm when internal temperature of 160F is reached (approximately 7 hours). Remove beef brisket from smoker, wrap in aluminium foil, add beef stock, seal closed and return to smoker at the same temperature of 225F to 250F. Keep the lid of the smoker closed at all times to maintain the temperature.
Cook until internal temperature reaches 190F (approximately 5 hours). Remove from the smoker and rest for one hour, leaving beef brisket wrapped in aluminum foil.
Remove from foil and slice beef brisket into 1/4 inch pieces, across the grain of the meat and remove any excess fat and sinew. The prime beef brisket cut has a layer of fat in the middle of the brisket and it should be removed before serving. You may also shred beef brisket with shredding tongs if preferred.
Notes
For a 20 pound beef brisket, cook time is approximately 16 hours, about 10 hours to reach 160F and 5-6 hours to reach 190F. Increase salt and pepper to ½ cup each.