Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Brisket Recipe: Hot & Fast

What to Look for in Brisket for the PBC

Look for a 10-13 lb, USDA Choice or Prime graded, packer brisket.

Anything bigger will have issues fitting on the PBC without heavy trimming.

This brisket was 13.9 lbs and I trimmed it down to fit:

Trimming the Brisket for the PBC

I have an entire article that goes over my trimming process from start to finish. You can check out my trimming guide by clicking here.

When trimming, you want to have roughly a 1/4″ fat cap.

You also want to round off corners and remove excess hard fat that won’t render.

Apply Rub to the Brisket

For this recipe I used a brisket rub by Steve Gow from Smoke Trails BBQ.

If you don’t want to purchase that, use your favorite brisket rub or use the following:

• 1 Tablespoon 16 mesh black pepper on both sides
• 1 Tablespoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt on both sides
• 1 Tablespoon Lawry’s on both sides

A Quick Note on Rubs: Since we’re smoking on the PBC, I’d be mindful of using a rub that’s sugar-based.

The reason for this is because the Pit Barrel Cooker cooks hot and fast and will reach near 325F with ease.

At around these temperatures the sugars will burn which can turn bitter and ruin your bark.

Setting Up the PBC to Smoke a Brisket

The PBC is fairly simple to setup – it’s really about as simple as adjusting the intake vent, adding your charcoal, and inserting rebar.

Vents

Adjust the intake damper according to your relative elevation; You can check your approximate elevation here.

For instance, I’m from New Hampshire in the United States. My estimated elevation is 669 ft.

PBC’s elevation guide is as follows:

Based on my elevation, I would adjust my damper to be 1/4 open, as pictured above.

In terms of the exhaust, have both of the rebar inserted to help with temperature stabilization.

Charcoal

With PBC brisket what I do is fill about 1/2 basket.

I’ll then put around 1/4 chimney worth of charcoal, light it, then put a few lit coals on the unlit charcoal.

Putting the Brisket on the PBC

Add a chunk of post oak or similar hardwood to the lit coals.

Then put the brisket on the grates, fat side DOWN because that’s where the heat source is, directly below the brisket.

Rotating the Brisket

Every 30-45 minutes or so I’m rotating the brisket 90 degrees-ish.

This is to help avoid things like hot spots that tend to happen on the PBC.

During this time is when I tend to add more wood chunks; Usually a wood chunk will last around 45-60 minutes which happens to line up with rotating the brisket.

Wrapping the Brisket

Wrap when the thickest part of the flat reaches 175-180F or when you’re happy with the bark.

Here’s the brisket when I wrapped:

Wrap the brisket tight with foil or butcher paper and return to the smoker, fat side up in the wrap.

Checking for Tenderness

With a probe thermometer or a tooth pick, you can start poking the meat.

As you slide the probe in and out of the meat, it should feel like you’re sliding it through a jar of peanut butter or warm butter.

Typically brisket will reach tenderness at around 190-205F internal.

Once you reach tenderness, you need to rest the brisket.

Resting the Brisket

This process of resting from a finishing temperature of around ~200F down to ~160F takes ~2 hours.

What I like to do is leave the brisket wrapped and pop it into my oven (while turned off); Set a timer for 2 hours and wait.

Slicing the Brisket

After resting the brisket for 2 hours, you can slice the meat.

If you don’t know how to slice against the grain, read this article.

Remember, the point and the flat have grains that run in opposite directions!

From there you can serve and enjoy!