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Home » Recipes » Main Dishes

Published: May 31, 2022 · Modified: Jun 17, 2022 by Amanda McGrory-Dixon

Smoked Pellet Grill Brisket (Texas Style)

Jump to Recipe
A plate of the pellet grill brisket on burlap with text overlap on top of the image.
A plate of the pellet grill brisket on burlap with text overlap on top of the image.

Let’s make your summer cookouts extra delicious with this smoked pellet grill brisket! After cooking low and slow, this Texas-style smoked brisket comes out melt-in-your mouth tender, and smoking a beef brisket is surprisingly simple, even if this is your first brisket. Your summer barbecues will be everyone’s favorite spot when this brisket is on the menu — it’s the ultimate summer dinner.

The pellet grill brisket on a white plate with a side of baked beans and BBQ sauce and a beer in the background.
Jump to:
  • Why You’ll Love This Recipe
  • Ingredients
  • Step-by-Step Instructions
  • How to Serve
  • Recipe FAQs
  • Expert Tips
  • Perfect Pairing
  • More Summer Dinner Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Makes you look like a pit master: One taste of this smoked pellet grill brisket and everyone will be in awe of your smoking skills. It can be our secret that it wasn’t nearly as hard as people might think.

Works on any type of smoker: While this recipe specifies a pellet grill, it works on any type of smoker for your convenience. Whether you have a Traeger, Pit Boss, Green Egg or any other type of smoker, you can apply these directions to that unit.

Requires very little hands-on cooking: Once we trim our brisket, most of the work is done, so you’re free to kick back with a cold one and enjoy good company. How’s that for easy hosting duties?

Feeds a crowd: Depending on the size, a whole brisket can feed 10-20 people. Yes, it’s an expensive cut, but when you consider how much delicious, succulent meat you get, it’s a pretty good deal.

Ingredients

The whole packer brisket on a cutting board with the point and flat cuts labeled.

As you can see, a Texas smoked brisket recipe requires only three simple ingredients. Although I live in Denver now, I grew up in Houston and went to college in Waco, Texas, at Baylor University, so I’ve had my share of wonderful briskets. Trust me — you don’t need a fancy dry rub to make the best smoked brisket.

Whole packer brisket: This brisket includes the point cut and flat cut in one piece. The flat is the largest part of the brisket with a leaner texture while the point is the fattier piece that’s great for making shredded brisket. You can buy the flat and point separately, but that’s not what we want here — get the full packer brisket. This cut typically runs from 10-16 pounds, but it could be as large as 20 pounds.

If you can swing it, I recommend getting prime briskets from a local butcher shop rather than a chain grocery store. Quality does make a difference.

Salt and black pepper: Yep, that’s it. Smoked Texas brisket is all about letting the meat shine. We don’t want to distract from that tasty cut of beef. Of course, you can use your own BBQ rub if you insist, but it’s unnecessary for an authentic Texas brisket. You don't need garlic powder, chili powder, brown sugar and all those other spices to make a flavorful brisket.

Step-by-Step Instructions

How to Trim Brisket 

Step 1: Let’s walk through how to trim brisket. This may seem intimidating, but once you start trimming, you’ll see it’s not as hard as you might think.

On one side, you’ll notice a fat cap covering. We want to trim the extra fat so that it’s about ¼-inch thick, and then trim any gray edges (photo 1).

The brisket on a cutting board after trimming the top fat cap layer.

Now we flip the meat over and use a sharp knife to remove excess silver skin, and you can remove large areas of fat if you would like. It should look similar to this after trimming (photo 2).

Showing the silver skin and trimmed under side of the brisket on a cutting board.

Don’t feel like you need to be perfect here with the extra fat. Just remove what you can. There will be some remaining, and that's just fine. Some people don't ever bother trimming the extra fat on this side.

From here, we cut out this large fatty piece, leaving the meat underneath intact (photos 3 and 4). This is a hard lump of fat that does not break down even with low and slow cooking, and you will not want to bite into this piece. We’ve now trimmed our brisket.

Showing the process of trimming the hard fat on the the underside of the brisket.

If you'd like to see a full video tutorial, Aaron Franklin of Austin's famous Franklin Barbecue shows how he trims his brisket.

Step 2: We mix together the salt and pepper and sprinkle it all over the surface of the meat, including both sides and the edges (photo 5).

The brisket on a cutting board covered with salt and pepper.

Now we place the rubbed brisket fat-side up directly on the grill grate in a 225-degree pellet smoker or the smoker of your choice with a water pan. The cooking process should be low and slow for the most delicious brisket. To ensure best results, we insert a leave-in probe thermometer in the thickest part of the flat cut.

The Stall and Texas Crutch

Step 3: Once the internal temperature reaches about 160 degrees, it will hit a cooking stall where it will maintain the same temperature for hours. This happens as the connective tissue begins to break down, so to help our brisket get out of the stall and remain moist, we wrap it like a present in peach butcher paper, known as the Texas crutch (photo 6).

The brisket wrapped in peach butcher paper after stalling out on the smoker.

Pro tip: Keep in mind, the exact stall temperature can vary. If you notice the internal temperature number stalling or going up and down when it’s in the 155-degree range, go ahead and wrap it. 

We put the wrapped brisket back on the smoker, insert the leave-in thermometer again and continue to cook until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 200-205 degrees with 203 degrees being the sweet spot. While the temperature probe should be accurate, I like to double check by inserting the meat thermometer in another spot or two. When the brisket is ready, you should be able to easily insert the thermometer like a hot knife to butter.

The Rest

Step 4: Now we remove the brisket from the smoker and let it rest for at least an hour or even up to two hours. After that nice long rest, we’re ready to carve, slicing across the grain on a cutting board (photo 7). Each cut of meat will have their grains running a different direction, so you'll have to rotate the meat as you slice.

Carving the brisket into slices on a wooden cutting board before serving.

Just look at all that bark and the pink smoke ring. It’s pellet grill brisket perfection!

Bonus: If you’d like more recipes for your smoker, you should also try my smoked tri tip, smoked burgers and smoked whole chicken. 

How to Serve

For Texas purists, they don’t need any accompaniments and just want the smoked beef brisket in all its glory. That said, sandwich bread, onion slices and pickle chips are often served on the side. Sauce usually isn’t served with Texas brisket, but if you like sauce with brisket, you do you. My coffee-bourbon BBQ sauce and honey-sriracha BBQ sauce are always favorites.

And what’s a good cookout without side dishes? Try some of these:

  • Pesto tortellini salad
  • Roasted potato salad
  • Bacon macaroni salad
  • Hawaiian potato salad
Spooning BBQ sauce onto the slices of brisket on a white plate.

Recipe FAQs

How long does it take to smoke brisket?

Cooking brisket is not an exact science, but plan for 90 minutes per pound at 225 degrees. Not every brisket will cook the same, but 90 minutes is the standard guideline.

For an evening dinner, I start smoking the brisket the night before serving and check on it throughout the night. Yes, it’s a commitment, but I’ll do anything for my delicious meat baby. Hey, it's a labor of love.

What is the best wood for smoking brisket?

For a real Texas brisket, go with oak or mesquite. Personally, mesquite is what I use. Brisket is a big meat, so we need a boldly flavored wood pellets. Save the fruit woods for lighter fare.

Should the fat cap side go up or down?

For the perfect brisket, the general rule of thumb is to place the fat side of the brisket up. During the smoking process, that layer of fat will melt and render all over the meat, making for an ultra flavorful, juicy brisket. If you place the fat side down, you'll lose all that wonderful fat rendering.

How long do you rest brisket?

Let the meat rest for one hour at minimum, but I like to give it two hours if possible. To rest the brisket, I create small vents in the butcher paper and let it simply sit in room temperature. It's large cut of meat that it holds the temperature well.

However, if you'd like to hold the meat for even longer, wrap the brisket in a towel and place it in a dry cooler without ice. This should hold the temperature for about six hours, which is great if you need to prepare the brisket ahead of time.

And please do not ever skip this important step. A cut this large needs time for the juices to settle. If you cut into the brisket, it will be dry, and you will have wasted all that time and money. Keep in mind, the rest time is separate from the cooking time.

Can you finish cooking brisket in the oven?

Yes, simply place the brisket on a large baking sheet and continue cooking in the oven at 225 degrees. Sometimes you may come across bad weather and need to finish cooking inside. 

I actually had to do this recently because of an equipment issue, and the brisket was still a huge hit with succulent, tender meat. Fortunately, it was after wrapping the brisket in butcher paper, so a lot of that smoke flavor already infused the meat.

Expert Tips

For easier trimming: Trim the excess fat on the brisket when it’s cold. The fat slices through much easier when it’s still firm.

Don’t overtrim the fat cap: While we don’t need all that fat, we do want some of it to keep the brisket flavorful and moist. Keep about ¼ inch of fat.

Let the butcher do the work for you: Don’t want to bother with trimming? Ask the butcher to trim. I’ve also bought a pre-trimmed brisket, and that hard fat chunk was still in tact, so you might want to specify you’d like it removed.

Allow the brisket to sit at room temperature before smoking: While this step is technically optional, it helps with more even cooking if we can take the chill off the meat.

Get the right type of butcher paper: Make sure you use a food-grade butcher paper. You can also use aluminum foil, though I prefer butcher paper because it’s porous. This allows it to breathe and retain moisture but not so much moisture that it overly softens the bark. I get my butcher paper on Amazon.

Keep an eye on your pellet hopper: We're smoking for a long time, so you want to make sure you don't run out of wood pellets. Refill as needed.

Perfect Pairing

Pair this smoked pellet grill brisket with a bold stout, and you are in for a delicious match. The smoky brisket is perfect with the stout’s roasted malt, and stouts show off a robust mouthfeel that can stand up to such a big, rich meat.

If wine is more your style, a syrah is a nice pairing for brisket. Syrah has some big berry notes for some contrast but also shows off some spice and even a smokiness that beautifully matches our cooking style.

Or maybe you love a cocktail. I’m always a big fan of bourbon with beef. My sweet tea mint julep is wonderfully refreshing on a hot summer day.

For the ultimate backyard party, serve this pellet grill brisket, and everyone will feel full and happy. It’s the perfect summer dinner for a crowd. 

Cheers! 

An aerial shot of the pellet grill brisket on burlap with the side of baked beans.

More Summer Dinner Recipes

  • Smoked Whole Chicken on Pellet Grill
  • Minted Lamb Burgers With Tzatziki Sauce
  • Jamaican Jerk Chicken (Grilling and Oven Methods)
  • Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza With Potatoes and Caramelized Onions

If you love this recipe, please leave a comment with a five-star rating — or simply hit the five-star button in the recipe card. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter, and you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok.

 

📖 Recipe

A close-up shot of the pellet grill brisket on a white plate with baked beans in the background.

Smoked Pellet Grill Brisket (Texas Style)

Let’s make your summer cookouts extra delicious with this smoked pellet grill brisket! After cooking low and slow, this Texas-style smoked brisket comes out melt-in-your mouth tender, and smoking a beef brisket is surprisingly simple, even if this is your first brisket. Your summer barbecues will be everyone’s favorite spot when this brisket is on the menu — it’s the ultimate summer dinner.
5 from 135 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 19 hours
Resting Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 20 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 16 people
Calories: 280kcal
Author: Amanda McGrory-Dixon

Equipment

  • Large cutting board
  • Sharp knives
  • Peach butcher paper
  • Pellet grill smoker (you can also use any other type of smoker)
  • Wood pellets preferably mesquite or oak for Texas style
  • Leave-in meat thermometer

Ingredients

  • 1 (12-16) pound whole packer brisket
  • ¼ cup salt
  • ¼ cup black pepper

Instructions

  • Remove the brisket from the refrigerator and immediately start trimming. To trim, cut the fat cap so that it's ¼-inch thick and trim any gray edges. Flip the brisket over and trim any excessive fat patches and silver skin. Locate the hard fat mass near the point cut and remove it, leaving the meat underneath the fat intact. (Please refer to photos in the blog post if needed.)
  • Stir together the salt and pepper. Sprinkle all over the surface of the meat and fat cap, including the sides. Let it sit in room temperature for an hour.
  • Prepare the smoker and set it to 225 degrees. Add a water pan in the smoker (and keep it filled while cooking) and place the brisket fat-side up directly on the grates with the point cut closest to the heat source. Insert a leave-in thermometer in the thickest part of the flat cut.
  • Close the smoker and smoked until the smoker reaches about 160 degrees. This is about when the temperature will stall for several hours. Remove the brisket and wrap it like a present so that it's nice and sealed in peach butcher paper to help the brisket get out of the stall and remain moist.
  • Place the brisket back on the smoker with the leave-in thermometer and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 200-205 degrees with 203 degrees being the sweet spot.
  • Remove from the smoker. Create a small vent in the butcher paper and let the brisket rest in room temperature for at least an hour or up to two hours. Do not skip this step. Skipping this step will result in a dry brisket. If you need to keep the brisket longer, wrap it in a towel and place it in a dry cooler with no ice for up to six hours.
  • Slice the brisket across the grain, keeping in mind that the different cuts will have grains running in different directions. If desired, serve with smoked baked beans. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Don’t want to bother with trimming? Ask the butcher to trim. I’ve also bought a pre-trimmed brisket, and that hard fat chunk was still in tact, so you might want to specify you’d like it removed.
  • The exact stall temperature can vary. If you notice the internal temperature number stalling or going up and down when it’s in the 155-degree range, go ahead and wrap it. 
  • Make sure you use a food-grade butcher paper. You can also use aluminum foil, though I prefer butcher paper because it’s porous. This allows it to breathe and retain moisture but not so much moisture that it overly softens the bark. I get my butcher paper on Amazon.
  • We're smoking for a long time, so you want to make sure you don't run out of wood pellets. Refill as needed.
  • Save any leftovers for this delicious brisket mac and cheese.
  • Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.


Nutrition

Serving: 1plate | Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 1859mg | Potassium: 424mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 3mg
Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @BurrataandBubbles or tag #burratandbubbles!

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Ed Wolfe says

    September 05, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    5 stars
    It sure worked for me. My 1st Brisket. Done for extended family and what a hit.. It turned out just like the commercials show. I did use aluminum foil but, was still fantastic. Thank you for sharing the recipe.. Ed W

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      September 06, 2022 at 11:47 am

      I'm so, so happy to hear this, Ed! Thank you for sharing, and I'm so glad everyone loved it. Hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

      Reply
  2. juds says

    August 09, 2022 at 11:39 am

    can you use parchment paper instead of butcher paper? I have large sheets of it that it would fit in.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      August 09, 2022 at 12:35 pm

      If you don't have butcher paper, I'd actually go ahead and use heavy-duty foil instead of parchment paper. Parchment paper is considerably lighter and more delicate than butcher paper, so I don't think it would work very well. It's also very susceptible to burning, so you may run into serious safety issues with parchment paper. You can get butch paper on Amazon, though! The deliver is pretty quick for me.

      Reply
  3. Amy Casey says

    June 12, 2022 at 12:13 pm

    5 stars
    Thanks for including the tips on how to trim a brisket ~ so helpful! We ate it up quickly.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 13, 2022 at 2:55 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  4. Jenny says

    June 12, 2022 at 2:15 am

    5 stars
    Outstanding! Where’s the beef? Right here! I picked up a packer brisket for a summer get-together. We all couldn’t get enough.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 13, 2022 at 2:55 pm

      Glad it was a hit!

      Reply
  5. Veronika says

    June 11, 2022 at 7:33 pm

    5 stars
    We recently got a pellet smoker so I was excited to give this a try! You explained the process so well that smoking the brisket was a breeze. My boyfriend loved it!

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 13, 2022 at 2:54 pm

      Thank you for sharing! So happy it was a success.

      Reply
  6. Sharon says

    June 11, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    5 stars
    What a great tutorial and rundown for making the best and most tender brisket on the smoker.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 13, 2022 at 2:54 pm

      Thank you, Sharon! Happy it's helpful.

      Reply
  7. Jere Cassidy says

    June 10, 2022 at 11:44 am

    5 stars
    We love brisket and glad to have your techniques for making this on the smoker. The taste is incredible and it's so easy to do.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 13, 2022 at 2:54 pm

      So glad it was delicious and easy!

      Reply
  8. Leslie says

    June 10, 2022 at 6:35 am

    5 stars
    My husband just got a new smoker and had never done brisket before. This was super helpful! Loved how it turned out.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 13, 2022 at 2:53 pm

      I hope you enjoy many more brisket nights!

      Reply
  9. Jessica says

    June 08, 2022 at 6:28 pm

    5 stars
    I took your advice and kicked back with a cold while the smoker did its thing. Aside from the brisket itself, it doesn't get much better than that! This was actually my first time smoking a brisket and thanks to you it turned out perfectly, so tender and flavorful.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 13, 2022 at 2:53 pm

      That truly sounds like the quintessential summer day!

      Reply
  10. Sean says

    June 08, 2022 at 11:59 am

    5 stars
    I mean, you cannot have barbeque without brisket and this was phenomenal.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 08, 2022 at 5:25 pm

      I'm so glad you agree!

      Reply
  11. Pete says

    June 08, 2022 at 5:02 am

    5 stars
    Simple and delicious! I used my Chargriller Smoker with Pecan wood, and it was moist and flavorful.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 08, 2022 at 5:25 pm

      Makes me happy to hear that -- thank you!

      Reply
  12. Heather says

    June 07, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    5 stars
    I love brisket but had never attempted to cook my own. Thank you for all the tips and how to trim! It was great.

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 08, 2022 at 5:24 pm

      I'm so happy it helped!

      Reply
  13. Ann says

    June 07, 2022 at 10:35 am

    5 stars
    This just had my mouth watering! It was perfect. My husband especially loved this!

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 08, 2022 at 5:24 pm

      Yay for delicious brisket!

      Reply
  14. Nancy says

    June 07, 2022 at 9:21 am

    5 stars
    My boyfriend made your brisket this weekend, he lived in Texas and said your recipe was on point!

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 08, 2022 at 5:24 pm

      Love hearing that! Thank you!

      Reply
  15. Danielle says

    June 06, 2022 at 7:40 pm

    5 stars
    This turned out so juicy and tender! I served it with some of my own homemade BBQ sauce and it was such a hit with my family. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Amanda McGrory-Dixon says

      June 08, 2022 at 5:23 pm

      You're very welcome! It's truly the perfect summer meal.

      Reply
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Hi, I'm Amanda, a Denver-based lady who believes life is best spent with comforting meals, tasty beverages and good company. When I'm not playing in the kitchen, I'm probably exploring new breweries with my husband, Matt, or obsessing over my adorable dog, Baylor.

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