The bold and juicy flavor of Smoked Brisket is everything! We have the perfect smoked brisket recipe that is flawless every time!
Serve this brisket with a side of macaroni salad or sweet cornbread, and you’ll be in BBQ heaven!
This post is a collaboration with Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. I received compensation, but all opinions are my own.
Smoked Brisket on a Traeger
Admit it, no other protein does it quite like beef. Beef tastes amazing, and that taste belongs on my table. When you start with such a delicious high-quality protein, the culinary possibilities are endless! You can sear it, grill it, roast it, use it as an ingredient or make it an entrée, the list goes on and on.
Add a wood pellet smoker into the mix and then you have the best beef on the globe. Brisket is a huge cut of beef and can be quite expensive, so we want to make sure you smoke it to perfection. The smoker makes it so easy, and the quality is top shelf!
What is Brisket?
Let’s start with what this meat is that we are smoking. Brisket is a cut of beef from the breast or lower chest of a cow. You might also see them labeled as a whole packer brisket, which means it includes both the point and the flat of the brisket. It is one of the toughest cuts of beef, but when it is smoked, braised, or slow roasted, it renders into juicy, tender and flavorful beef bliss. All you need is time and a few tools and simple tricks.
Note that there is a lean side and a fatty side to brisket, and you need both to make the perfectly smoked brisket that we are after. The lean side of the brisket has a tighter grain and is harder to make tender.
This is where we divide the men from the boys in the smoking world. Making that lean side melt in your mouth is when you know you’ve reached the peak of brisket perfection. We will help you do just that!
How to Smoke a Brisket
Let’s jump right into the best way to smoke a brisket and then we will answer all sorts of questions below.
Step 1: Select Your Brisket
When it comes to purchasing a brisket, there are few tricks we have learned to picking out a good brisket. First, check the grade of the beef. There are three different grades — Prime, Choice, or Select. Prime is going to be your highest quality and best brisket, but it is going to be quite pricey. If you have the money to spend, go with Prime. If you don’t, then Choice is an excellent way to go.
Also, when you pick up the brisket, make sure it has good flexibility. You don’t want a brisket with