Beef brisket is one of the most delicious and tender cuts of meat. If you’re new to smoking meats, you will love this easy pellet smoker beef brisket recipe.
Smoking meats in a pellet smoker is a low and slow cooking process that can take a bit of time to master, and this delicious pellet smoker beef brisket recipe will take time, approximately 6-8 hours. You’ll soon discover the mouthwatering result is worth the wait.
People tend to think smoking a brisket in a pellet smoker is difficult. The key to successful meat smoking is by using low heat, generally no more than 225 degrees F, and the right flavor wood pellets. Smoking meats slowly over several hours will ensure you infuse the meat with intense flavor to achieve the right amount of heat and smoke.
Check out this Easy Pellet Smoker Beef Brisket Recipe
A perfect beef brisket has a small amount of marbling fat through the meat, which adds flavor. Remove any excess fat from the back of the brisket.
Smoking meats is not like grilling on a BBQ. BBQing is about achieving high heat for a short amount of time. Smoking, on the other hand, utilizes low heat for several hours. You want to maintain low heat for a long period of time. The build up of smoke during the cooking process helps to infuse flavor and heat into the meat.
Smoking meats as a beginner, whether you’re smoking brisket, pork, chicken, turkey or even fish takes a bit of time to master, but once you become proficient with the meats and smoking pellet flavors you may never go back to using a barbecue or even the oven to cook meats.
Full disclosure, I use a Z Grills Pellet Smoker in my home. You can read my Z Grills Pellet Smoker Review Here.
Z Grills began over 3o years ago as a manufacturer of pellet grills, for companies including Traeger and Pit Boss. Once Z Grills mastered the process and technology to manufacture pellet grills, they began making and selling their own high quality line of wood pellet grills for about half the price than the competition, and they quickly began to steal market share and became a leader in the industry.
There are several flavors of wood pellets you can use in your pellet smoker to cook your brisket.
- Hickory pellets: This flavor wood pellet infuses a robust smoke flavor into the meat.
- Maple pellets: This is a sweet-flavor wood that infuses a slightly sweet flavor in to the meat.
- Oak pellets: Oak smoker pellets are a versatile wood that can be used to smoke just about any type of meats. It imparts a slightly smoky flavor in to the brisket.
- Pecan: This is a slightly nutty-flavored wood that infuses a subtle sweetness into the meat.
- Cherry: This is a sweet and fruity fruity-flavored wood, that infuses the meat with a tart and sweet flavor.
- Apple: This is another sweet-smelling wood, which is commonly used to smoke chicken and pork. Apple wood smoker pellets give your brisket a light and fruity flavor.
You can purchase wood pellets for smoking meats here
If you’re new to smoking meats, it is recommended to start with oak or hickory wood pellets, since you’ll never go wrong with these standard wood pellets.
Check Out this Easy Pellet Smoker Beef Brisket Recipe
whether you are a novice or experienced user of a wood pellet smoker.
For the novice pit master, smoking beef brisket in a pellet smoker can be intimidating the first time you use it. With a wood pellet smoker, you simply set the temperature and can walk away. The wood pellet smoker will feed pellets through the auger into the fire pot to create the perfect amount of heat and smoke to cook the brisket. The auger slowly turns and feeds pellets into the fire pot to maintain
As the meat cooks at a low temperature for several hours, usually 6-8 hours, heat and flavor from the wood pellets is infused into the meat.
Use a Meat Thermometer
The key to mastering cooking in a wood pellet smoker is heat and temperature control. You should use a digital meat thermometer that has built-in temperature settings for various types of meat, and an Iphone/Android app.
It is important that you keep the lid closed to keep the heat and smoke in the smoker. Every time you open the lid, heat and smoke escapes.
This will allow you to monitor the cooking process and keep the lid closed to prevent heat and smoke from escaping.
Why Cook Beef Brisket in a Pellet Smoker
Why should you cook your beef brisket in a pellet smoker vs the oven or even a grill?
The brisket comes from the breast/pectoral area of the cow, beneath the first five ribs. This cut of meet generally from cows approximately 2-2.5 years old, so the meat is still tender and juicy.
An oven uses gas or electricity to create heat inside the oven to cook the brisket. Ovens usually cook meat at 350-500 degrees F. This will result in the meat being cooked on the outside, but the inside will remain raw.
Beef Brisket Ingredients
- 1 whole beef brisket (up to 12 or 13 pounds) A small brisket can weight 5-6 pounds.
- 1/4 cup granulated garlic
- 1/4 cup sweet paprika
- 1/4 cup cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
Smoking Instructions
- Load smoker hopper with desired wood pellets.
- Preheat your pellet smoker to 225°F following the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Use a sharp knife to trim excess fat from the back of the brisket (You may substitute brisket flat or point for whole brisket).
- In a small bowl, combine garlic, paprika, pepper, and salt. Sprinkle and press rub evenly into beef brisket on all sides and edges.
- Place brisket on the smoker grates.
- Insert thermometer probe into meat.
- Smoke the brisket for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours, remove the brisket from the grill. Remove probe and wrap the brisket in foil.
- Reinsert thermometer probe, poking through the foil and continue smoking the brisket until the internal temperature reaches 195-205°F.
- Once brisket reaches desired temperature, remove from heat and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Slice brisket with a sharp knife and serve.
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