Best Smoked Brisket Recipes

I've got three smoked brisket recipes here that each add a different flavor dimension to your cookout. Smoking brisket on the barbecue is really easy and yet the taste is so superior to having it cooked any other way.

Click on any of the links below to the smoked beef brisket recipes

Easy Smoked Brisket Recipe - with a hint of Spanish

Irish Smoked Beef Brisket Recipe - With a thick hearty Guinness Gravy

Texas Smoked Brisket

Brisket needs to be treated gently to ensure that you get a fine result, it doesn't take to the high heat of other cuts of beef, low and slow is the order of the day and that's where us smoking enthusiasts come in. It's perfect for the sort of cooking that we like to do.

Brisket comes from the belly of the cow and it's also quite fibrous. These fibers are collagen (not that you really need to know) and in order for you to finish up with a tender cut, these collagen fibers have to be broken down. The way to do it? You guessed it.......low and slow.

Not only is it versatile (you can slice it, chop it, make great sandwiches) it's also a very cost effective cut of meat so perfect for a party or when you're cooking for a lot of people.

Note: If you choose to slice brisket, always slice across the grain. Use this link to understand more about what this means and why it is important

The most common way to buy brisket is rolled and strung but many prefer to smoke it unrolled as a large single hunk of meat which is much larger than the rolled pieces. To be honest, either way works well.

You can also unravel a smaller piece, brine and cook it to make the most wonderful pastrami.

Pastrami takes a bit longer to prepare but once you've tasted your own homemade pastrami I question whether you'll every want to buy it in the shops again.

Easy Smoked Brisket Recipe

For this recipe you need to prepare the marinade the day before, marinate overnight and also allow for 8-10 hours slow cooking.

This easy smoked beef brisket is ready for carving

The Spanish influence to this recipe comes in the shape of smoked paprika or pimenton. If you've never tried it then here's your chance, I guarantee you won't be disappointed and if you're like me you'll then start to use it in other areas of your cooking.

First of all mix up the following ingredients and get ready to apply to a 1.4kg or 3lb brisket.

Preparation Time:- 10 mins
Marinade Time:- overnight
Cooking Time:- 8-10 hours

Total Time:- 2 days

Ingredients:-

Mix 1 for day 1:-

1 tablespoon tenderizer
2 teaspoon celery salt
2 teaspoon onion salt
2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Mix 2 for day 2:-

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoon smoked paprika
3 tablespoons brown sugar
A good splash of Worcestershire sauce

Method:-

Lay your brisket on a piece of aluminum foil of suitable size for wrapping it up and rub it all over with Mix 1. Wrap it up in the foil and bung it in the refrigerator overnight.

On the day of cooking unwrap the brisket and rub in Mix 2, cover and let the meat come to room temperature which will take about 1 hour.

Now prepare your fire.

Set up for indirect cooking with a water bath and smoke long and slow for 8-10 hours at 110ºC or 225ºF and your patience will be rewarded.

To check whether your brisket is done, use a bbq thermometer and test for an internal temperature of about 160 – 170°F (71 - 75°C).

Irish Smoked Beef Brisket Recipe

This smoked beef brisket recipe is juicy and tender thanks in part to the marinade we're going to use. It's also perfect for your St Patrick's day barbecue because it's marinaded in Guinness, a stout beer brewed in Dublin, Republic Of Ireland. So when March 17th arrives, here's what to cook. Actually you'll have to start on March 16th to allow for the marinade time!

At the risk of offending every Irishman, there are other stouts that you could use if you can't find Guinness, look out for Mackeson, an old English milk stout, it's sweeter than Guinness but will work just as well.

Also because I'm an Englishman I have to confess to not knowing what size bottle of Guinness you can buy across the world. The size that I've used is common in Europe and that's 330ml which by my calculations equates to 11¼ ounces – hopefully that gives you enough to work on. Of course, don't worry if you have to buy a larger bottle, you can always drink the rest!

When you've finished the marinade stage, don't throw away the marinade. Whilst the brisket is cooking we're gonna turn this into a delicious pour over sauce so whether you're serving like I have or making sandwiches, you're always guaranteed a tasty moist mouthful.

Preparation Time:- 15 mins
Marinade Time:- overnight
Cooking Time:- 4 hours

Total Time:- 2 days

Ingredients:-

3lb or 1.5kg rolled brisket
1 bottle Guinness
½ cup or 60 ml brown sugar
½ cup or120 ml water
¼ cup or 60 ml vegetable oil
¼ cup or 60 ml Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons cooking salt
1 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 large onion
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes

To complete this smoked beef brisket recipe you'll need these additional ingredients for the sauce:-

1 tablespoon vinegar
3 teaspoons English mustard
4 teaspoons cornflour to thicken

Method:-

Mix up all the ingredients for the marinade, make sure the sugar is dissolved, you may need to warm the mixture to do this which OK so long as you allow it to cool before adding the brisket. When ready pour the marinade into a “zip seal” plastic bag.

Now add your brisket, seal the bag and refrigerate, turning the bag every 30 mins or so to let the marinade work its magic. I recommend at least half a day for the marinading process but you can leave it longer (I actually left mine 2 nights).

Set up your smoker for 225°F or 110°C with a water bath and place your brisket over for about three hours. Ultimately you're looking for an internal temperature of about 160 – 170°F (71 - 75°C) so if you have an instant read bbq termometer, now is the time to get it out of the drawer. Better still, have a remote temperature probe in the meat right from the start.

To finish off this Irish smoked beef brisket recipe pour the remains of the marinade into a saucepan and warm through. Mix the mustard powder in the vinegar until you have a paste and then add it to the sauce. Finally you need to thicken to your liking, I found that for this amount of sauce I needed about 4 teaspoons of cornflour to get the consistency I wanted.

Just mix the cornflour in a little water and then pour into the simmering sauce a bit at a time whilst stirring the sauce and stop when you reach your desired consistency.

Serve, and pour generously over the meat!