By Dylan Clay
The key to smoking a good brisket flat is to buy either choice or prime grade and one with the fat cap left in-tact.
That way you get moist tender meat, accompanied by a rendered layer of fat cap.
Assuming you’re working with a brisket flat with a fat cap, you want to trim roughly to a 1/4″ of fat.
If you’re having a hard time determining how much fat to shave off, you can make “peak” cuts into the fat cap to see how far down it goes.
Like this:
I’d also suggest trimming portions of the flat so that the meat is roughly the same thickness – if you don’t, the thin half will likely dry out and/or overcook.
Here’s the thin side:
Here’s the thick side:
This rub goes great with Brisket:
Apply the above liberally to both sides.
The above rub is a modification of Steve Gow’s Brisket Rub – here’s a link to buy his if you don’t want to make your own.
Get your smoker setup to around 225 to 250F.
Once at 225F, add a chunk of your favorite hardwood – I used cherry because that’s all I had on hand but post-oak is my favorite with brisket.
When placing your brisket on the smoker, I’d strongly suggest pointing the fat cap toward the heat source.
On my Weber Kettle, the heat is from the top so my brisket is fat side up the entire time, like this:
If you’re unsure of where the heat is on your smoker here’s a table I created. It tells whether to put your brisket fat side up, down, or even flipped half-way through.
Every hour or so add a new chunk of wood.
Once you’re happy with the bark (around 175F internal), take the brisket flat off the smoker and wrap it in a foil boat.
Lay out two sheets of aluminum foil, place the smoked brisket flat on top and then crinkle the foil around the edges so that the fat side is exposed and the meat side is “boated.”
Like this:
Leaving the fat side exposed allows for a crunchier bark and for the fat side to continue to render.
Once boated, place back on your smoker or in your oven set to 250F until it’s tender.
Brisket will typically be tender at around 200 to 205F.
You can take a toothpick or your probe thermometer and probe the meat. It should feel like you’re probing a jar of peanut butter or a warm stick of butter.
Like this:
The above video is a full brisket but the sentiment is the same. I even dropped the probe which tore a hole in my foil – the point is to show that you want NO resistance.
Once tender, take the brisket out of the smoker.
If you’re planning to eat the brisket the same day, rest in the foil boat for 2 hours in your oven or until the internal is 160F, then slice and enjoy.
If you’re planning to eat the meat the next day, don’t rest the meat and instead leave foil boated and place into your oven at the lowest temperature setting.
I used my electric smoker set to 185F (this temperature keeps my internal at ~150F – a food safe temperature).
When it comes time to slice your brisket, simply slice against the grain creating pencil thin slices.
These slices are for my lunches for the week – I use them on toasted sourdough bread with horseradish and dijon mustard.
