Brisket is one of those cuts that takes a bit of practice to master and hopefully this guide will help you how to make the perfect brisket in your Bradley Smoker.
So what is the perfect Brisket? This can be very subjective, generally, you are looking for tender juicy meat that has the right amount of smoke flavours and just melts in your mouth. But it really comes down to your own tastes, one thing you need to remember is that even bad brisket unless you completely burn it, is still great!
Three things you need for great results with your Brisket
- Good Quality Brisket; this is so important for all low n slow cooking, a Brisket with great marbling will carry through a longer cook and will ultimately give you the results you are after. I always purchase Wagyu Brisket from Range Meats as I find I can trust that it will survive the cook perfectly!
- Temperature Control; I cook my Brisket at 250F/121C, if you can be on or below this temperature throughout the cook you will have no issues. I know this is simple to say and with the Bradley Smoker it is very simple, and if you have a different smoker, achieving control of your temps and knowing what your BBQ does throughout a cook is very important before going for a longer cook.
- Work with your meat, not to time; each cut of Brisket will work through a cook very differently, but working with the meat rather than to a strict time target you will a lot more success and if you start with good quality brisket then you can trust it can go the journey and be the perfect brisket in your Bradley Smoker.
The Prep:
I like to trim off as much fat as I can off the brisket, if you get good brisket, this fat isn’t really needed and the more exposed meat you have the more flavour you can get onto the meat throughout the cook. As you can see below, I trim it down as much as possible.
Once trimmed, give it a light rub with yellow mustard and coat it even in the rub of your choice, I am a huge fan of Lane’s BBQ Brisket + Ancho Rub, it is a perfect balance of flavour and heat for a brisket. Always test the saltiness of a rub before you rub your meat, this will give you a good gauge of how much to use.
The Cook:
Set your Bradley Smoker to 250F/121C and fire up the Smoker and let it come up to temp, this shouldn’t take long and will give the rub on the brisket to set. Once you hit temp, place your brisket into the Bradley Smoker and leave it alone for a couple of hours.
After a couple of hours do a quick temp check, probing 2-3 points on the brisket and make sure spritz any dry spots with apple cider vinegar. Repeat this every hour or so till the brisket hits around 165F/73C temps. Once you hit this temp, it is time to wrap your brisket, remember at these temps your brisket will not be tender to probe, but this is normal, just trust the process.
Wrap your brisket up in pink butcher paper and turn the smoker element on the Bradley Smoker off. The pink butcher paper protects the bark you spent hours creating and make sure you wrap it tight to ensure no juice escapes during the next few hours of the cook. Make sure you increase your oven time on the Bradley Smoker to 9 hours to protect yourself from it turning off in the middle of the night.
If you have a wireless temperature probe, now is a great time to use it, we are looking to cook the brisket till it hits 205F/96C and probes tender. What is probe tender? When you prick the brisket with your temperature probe it gives little to no resistance, then you know it is ready.
Once you hit this temp and you are probing tender, it is time to rest your brisket, 1-2 hours resting will ensure it retains its moisture when you slice it.
Now it is time to slice your brisket and enjoy it, if it’s not exactly how you like it, enjoy it for what it is and try again. Remember briskets make great pies or tacos, so you can always give it another life beyond a bbq meat.
The brisket below took me 11 hours to cook but rested for 2 hours, this was an amazing result and the Bradley Smoker nailed this cook for me!
If you want to discuss any of the above, pop in and say hello on my Facebook or Instagram account, I am happy to chat before or after your cook to show you how to make the Perfect Brisket in your Bradley Smoker.
Here are some Bradley Smoker Accessories we recommend:
Bradley Smoker Bradley Smoker Carving Kit
Bradley Smoker BTHOOK Sausage Hooks
BRADLEY SMOKER 4 Rack Smoker Cover – Grey
Always on the hunt for the perfect rack of ribs and cooks up a storm at home, and yes, he loves to tell everyone about it.
- Lone Star Rib House Geelong – The Reunion Party - December 23, 2023
- Pumpkin Spiced Maple Glazed Ribs with a little Sugar & Spice - November 28, 2021
- Pumpkin Spiced BBQ Rub - November 28, 2021
