Brisket 101: A Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide to Learn How to Smoke a Brisket Right in Your Backyard!

Want to learn how to smoke a brisket? It doesn’t have to be intimidating if you have the knowledge. Let’s dive in and I’ll give you step-by-step instructions on how to smoke a brisket and make it perfect every time!
RECIPE HERE: heygrillhey.com/brisket-101/
My Sauces, Rubs and Merch: heygrillhey.com/store
Welcome to Brisket 101, your beginner’s guide to getting to know this beautiful cut of beef. If you’re on this page, you likely are searching for info on smoking the most luscious and tender piece of brisket possible and I am here for you! In today’s post, we’re starting with the basics: What is a brisket and where is the best place to purchase one? Step into my virtual classroom and I’ll share everything you need to know to smoke a brisket that is even better than your favorite BBQ restaurant.
I am going to fill you in on a wide base of information that will set you on the path to smoking the perfect brisket. I’ll give you all of the little details that make a big difference when it comes to smoking an amazing brisket, and then you are going to try them out on your own. Once you have dialed in the basics, you can start the process of adding in your own flair, flavors, and techniques. There is enough information about how to smoke a brisket to fill several volumes, but I’ll try my best to break down my steps for you. I want you to make better-than-restaurant-quality brisket on your own smoker.
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LINKS TO STUFF I USE
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Dalstrong Knives: amzn.to/2YJLJdu

[@stevenrafters7817]

Susie I've been a cowboy camp cook all my life ( I'm 73) . I have learned so much from your videos. Keep it up and thanks

[@donf1526]

The best, simple, easy to follow video I've ever seen on brisket. Soooo many others overcomplicate this cut of meat. I did it jut as you suggested and it turned out amazing!!!! I love all your videos - so well done, so easy. Keep up the awesome content.

[@robertbernal3180]

I am thinking of making a brisket for the first time so this video is great and at the right time. Looks very delicious and juicy. Have a wonderful day.

[@-.Steven]

8:15 A designated brisket towel, great idea! 😄

[@mitchbandalan9450]

Ok, this 4th of July will be my second attempt at this. So now I re-watched your video (going back and forth), taking notes and I feel ready for this. I have a 11LB packer, untrimmed, that I plan to start smoking at 8pm on Wednesday. The goal is to have this ready by 1pm for our lunch. Wish me luck.

[@-.Steven]

I used the Hey Grill Hey video to cook my first brisket, turned out Fabulous! I have 2 briskets in my freezer now (got them in sale 😄) and I'm planning to make my father's day dinner with one, my gift to my family. ❤

[@paullafleuriii4905]

Watched this with my 7 yo son and (almost) 6 yo daughter on Father’s Day and they wanted to leave a quick comment and tell you ‘hi’!!!! Also my daughter LOVES your hair!!! Thanks for helping us work on that perfect brisket!!!

[@Heygrillhey]

Hiiii!!! 🙂

[@billb13]

Hey, Susie, Hey! Nicely done! You're fast becoming the "Rachel Ray" of BBQ! [I mean that as a compliment!]

[@danoesq2]

Good video. I've cook dozens since I started and screwed up a lot in the beginning. One of my favorite ways now is to cook fat side up the whole time, foil boat it for a wrap and rest it for approximately fourteen hours in a low temp oven or cambro at 145 degrees. Equipment for a long rest isn't cheap, but if you get heavily into BBQ it's worth it.

[@richardsneeuwjagt8304]

Thanks Susie! Just told my boys that this will be my #1 attempt this summer. Appreciate all your vids, been following since 2018. Love your help!!

[@bamalaam]

girl i was so scared for my first brisket. but ya made me feel like i knew what i was doing. i appreciate these vids so much!!! ty ty ! keep it up!!!!

[@yalefogarty2498]

Nice video! Keeps it simple yet covers everything you need to have a great cook. Takes all the intimidation out of it. Hope my next one turns out this sweet looking! Thank You for the great content as always!

[@guybowers9094]

Great video, Susie. I was amazed at how great a brisket tasted when I did my first one. There are lots of tips and tricks on this one that I will use on my next cook

[@davekragness4725]

I know you referred to this as a simple version of a brisket cook...but in reality, there is no reason to make it any more complicated. Some great tips in this video. Thanks!

[@leonarderhardf]

I have been watching Brisket Trim and Cook videos since 2020. This has to be the Best one I have watched. I have watched World Class Pitt Master like Myron Mixon. I Love how you Do it Best!!! The steps are clear and simple.Thank You! you have gained a new subscriber!!!

[@mer2705]

I ruined a brisket once about 10 years ago. I've refined my cooking since then, but these videos a super useful to beginners

[@homayounazarnoush5699]

Awesome, this is one of the best and easiest ways to cook a brisket, thank you so much for sharing this recipe 🌸.

[@RicardoZ590]

Great job again Susie! Youve made me a back yard bbq hero with my friends and family for sure, keep up the fabulous work!

[@The4GunGuy]

Susie, I love how simple you kept this video AND the process of cooking a brisket. It's not rocket science, but so many other BBQ folks like to complicate it. You hit the nail on the head with time and temp being variable depending on the size of brisket, temp of cook, etc... Great job and that brisket looked better than any I've seen on KZbin!

[@mepatka]

Great step by step video with an explanation of why you are doing what you're doing. Super helpful. Your recipes rock Thank you!

[@ozzieman4392]

Great cook. My mouth is watering!

[@prsnroftime]

Thank you so much! I used this video as a tutorial to make my first brisket and it turned out awesome! You have a new fan!!

[@Obxcape]

I just tried my THIRD brisket. After the first 2 failures, this one was perfect! Two things I attribute success to? 1) The temperature probe piercing the brisket like it’s butter, and 2) Allowing the brisket AMPLE TIME TO REST in my ‘dedicated’ brisket wrap towel and styrofoam cooler! If you cook it today, plan on eating it TOMORROW! Be patient!

[@markanderson5077]

I smoked a 4lb 7oz Choice flat from Sam's Club on my BGE yesterday. I prepped the meat with a medium layer of Kosher salt the day before and took it out of the fridge two hours before cooking. My plan was the "hot & fast" method. Out of the fridge at 0500, the meat temp was 41 degrees F; two hours later it was 64 degrees F when I started the cook. While the Egg was stabilizing to 280 degrees F (indirect), I added a layer of pepper, garlic powder and celery salt on the meat. I also had a plate of water under the meat and spritzed with apple cider/vinegar water mix every hour and rotated the grill 90 degrees. I was figuring about an hour and change per pound to cook; another hour or so wrapped to 205; then rest for 2-3 hours. One-hour in to the cook the meat was at 150; an hour later it was 170. I sort of panicked and lowered the Egg temp to 210. By three hours into the cook the meat had dropped back to 150. I left it on for another 90 minutes with no change in meat temp, so I wrapped in butcher paper and put it back on the grill. Inside of an hour the meat got to 206 so I pulled it to rest. I let the meat cool at room air to 180 then put it in a cooler for two hours before serving. The meat was at 150 degrees when I unwrapped it. The brisket was overdone, dry and way to salty. The bark was mushy probably due to the spritzing. I thought the bark would set during rest, it didn't. I ended up turning the meat into jerky.

[@markwindholz816]

Here's a tip you should relay to brisket beginners, only slice what you eat. Leftover brisket should not be sliced. That will dry out. If you leave what's left unsliced, it will maintain most of its juices. The biggest mistake everyone makes with brisket is they slice the entire brisket. Then, when they want leftover brisket, it's dried out.

[@mitchbandalan9450]

How do you reheat leftover brisket?

[@toddjones1403]

@@mitchbandalan9450 Sous Vide won’t dry it out.

[@sgem119]

​@@mitchbandalan9450 what I like to do is cut however many slices you want fresh out of the fridge when it's cold then heat up the slices in a pan on low-medium heat. If you have beef tallow on hand throw a little of that in the pan first. I don't like heating up big pieces of brisket because you risk drying it out.

[@mitchbandalan9450]

@@sgem119 Perfect. Thats exactly what my wife did when we ate the rest this weekend. We make our own tallow with the trimmings. Love it.

[@sivartsivart7955]

lOVE YOUR SHOW i HAVE LEARENED SOO MUCH, THANK YOU

[@angelomignogna2304]

Grazie per i suggerimenti...... semplici ed efficaci!!

[@marrkcrear2946]

Great!! Thank you so much. You are a great teacher!! 🌹

[@dennispearl7390]

I sliced up my last brisket - just used salt / pepper / garlic combo. Placed in freezer for bout an hour, then vacuum sealed into several pouches. Great for camping - just place pouches in boiling water for a few minutes.

[@JamieThompson-iw9nx]

I can't wait to try this again. I screwed up the first 2 I tried to do...but you make it look easy!

[@Charles53412]

Always let your Brisket cool slowly in a cooler or some sort of insulated container! You'll be Amazed in the difference from just standard room temp cooling!

[@martinan6294]

Myron Mixon uses a big, thick blanket to rest the meat. Around 4 to 6 hours. Works awesome.

[@Charles53412]

@@martinan6294 Myron will use whatever he can get his hands on! LOL!

[@journeywiththerocks]

I've learned a lot from your videos. Keep em coming. Thank you.

[@67polara]

I’ve used many kinds of smokers, but when I do a pellet smoker, I do it like you and put it on at bedtime. It’s ready to wrap in the morning.

[@h.sinclair]

excellent tutorial! thank you, you got skillz 🔥

[@briane.4072]

Great brisket guide, this is my bbq Achilles heel, I’m going to try this out over the weekend.

[@fly2006]

Thanks for the video, I just bought a smoker and I am looking forward to making my first brisket!!

[@patrickmcnown5757]

Beautiful thank you.

[@igg1963]

Thank you for your way . I smoke a lot of stuff the 4th is going to be my first full brisket on my pellet smoker i will ref back to your video ty

[@HoundStuff]

Nice work - Well done!

[@LeonClayton]

Thank you for this video!!! As a brand-new smoker, you alleviated a lot of the stress of smoking brisket.

[@timthompson71]

Great information. Thank you.

[@guyfavaloro4020]

Great video! It looks delicious. One question, you say start with fat side up. You never mention when you flip it to fat side down. Thanks!

[@michaeldecker1504]

Excellent video. Thanks

[@coplock6689]

This is a great video. Thanks for sharing!! Gonna try

[@mattdutra3389]

Awesome! Love your vids they have really helped me out to be a smoking master. Lol

[@LogansInnerChef]

Great video. I appreciate your attention to detail. Cheers 🍻

[@oakfever]

Great video! I learned something new. Thanks!!

[@gregjulian1044]

Awesome sauce !!!

[@brianzapien]

awesome looking brisket!

[@barnold62]

Been smoking briskets for 40+ years and I always seem to go back to either Post Oak and/or Hickory, but I like to taste the smoke! lol

[@aaronfox5808]

looks amazing

[@auntpatty]

That was a very nice video. I've been looking for a starter basic video to get a guy started on briskets and this was perfect. Especially like the fact that you don't have some secret rub that came from Uncle Bob down in Alabama.

[@towdjumper5]

Thx as always! Gonna be a great 4th because of you.

[@waynec3121]

That is a beautiful brisket

[@chrishann5714]

Not a competition guy but I do a fair amount of smoking and enjoy your videos! Biggest advice I give is low snd slow is the tempo and brisket advice is what you said if it doesn’t bend keep looking for a better one to start with but the most important thing is don’t get discouraged and enjoy the craft

[@patrickcrotty9162]

Great video! Im going to make my first brisket on the 4th of July. Your video helped me ease my fears. Smoking it on my wood burning smoker, so im excited.

[@donseay3220]

Especially well done ending. Thumbs up!

[@SmokedReb]

Great video, Susie!

[@broj1327]

Great video! Thanks 🤠🙏

[@keithcarr4133]

Great instructional video Susie and love seeing your products at the local ACE!

[@AV8R_1]

I have an 80 gallon offset and a timberline XL pellet smoker, and regardless of which one I use, I have found it is much less work and produces a better result to use my oven once the brisket is wrapped. It takes much less work and attention, holds a more steady holding temperature, and let you go right from finishing the cook to holding or resting temperature without having to touch or move the brisket. It saves a ton of pellets also. Once the brisket is wrapped, there is no real benefit to keeping it in the smoker, unless the smell of cooking it inside really bothers you.

[@christianbureau6732]

I smoke during the day and finish in the oven. Usually ~190 just before going in bed, let rest all night and server for Diner next day

[@gerardmacneil6317]

With your help, I may actually be able to pull this off.

[@catherineharris27]

This looks delicious 🔥 Thanks girlie! ❤

[@mitchbandalan9450]

My first brisket was a total failure. I attempted to use the hot and fast method (don't ask me why) and it was tough and dry. I was so disappointed. To spend good money on a good cut of meat only to mess it up is deflating. I watched your video about 3 times now and I feel ready to try again, this time step by step the way you did it. I think low and slow is key here. Wish me luck.

[@2005Pilot]

Great job! And yessss…. I have several Brisket Towels 😂😊

[@BenFeldman-kz7gt]

Excellent concise brisket video! You almost set the record for the fastest KZbin bbq brisket video, but that still goes to Frank Cox of SmokerBuilder. I’m glad you mentioned taking into account the heat on your smoker coming from the bottom and planning for that. Many people see the famous offset smoker videos (Franklin, etc.) and assume their smoker cooks the same way. However, you forgot to show when you flipped the brisket and when you put it back with the paper what side was down (couldn’t tell for sure if you had flipped in on the smoker before that). Also, interesting that you didn’t add extra tallow before the rest. I guess you wanted to keep it simple. Keep up the great content!👍

[@homesbymikewalker]

Looks great

[@PhillipSiddiq]

Very Nice! Yum!

[@davidrl41]

Great video! Maybe the best part of the video 11:19 "The smoker's privilege".

[@marctrainor5595]

I love your videos. Just a quick compliment-- Your hair looks beautiful today. Hope I'm not out of line saying that. Now--I can't believe how jucy your brisket is. I've been watching numerous videos, because, today is my first brisket cook. I'm only doing a 9 pounder, but that's ok with me. That's less to cry about, if I screw up. Thanks again for all your great videos. Marc T.

[@wait4dl]

her hair and she looks beautiful today, sorrry tod we can't help our self's !

[@donaldpruett852]

Many a converted vegan may descend on your place after seeing that. Absolutely perfect. I love it that you didn't bury it under a pile of seasonings. For a true beef lover salt & pepper will suffice. Everything else just hides the true flavor. Nice job young lady. Keep it up.

[@mikePNW]

My first brisket definitely did not turn out like that! Hopefully my second one will be better 😅 Thanks for the tips!

[@crushingbelial]

The look on your face cutting stringy fat = instant laughter. Love it

[@JamesH-tj7ec]

13:28 I love this video, seems so simple I’m gonna have to try a brisket again. I haven’t had success with brisket yet, mine are too dry. For some reason I have great success smoking everything but brisket. I assume you flipped the meat to fat side down after wrapping, I didn’t catch that in the video.

[@BabyDiego10599]

Here’s another tip. As many briskets we have cooked the only brisket that ever came out great was the one we put in this bag we purchased and let it rest for about 4 hours. All the other briskets were never this good and to me letting just rest in butcher paper will not work, even if you do all those other things.

[@mitchellgrigg9102]

I’m trying this on the weekend. 13:27

[@travelingatourownpace8868]

Between you and meat church I think I might be ready to pull the trigger lol. Thank you for this and all your videos.

[@33MattyIce__]

Omg yummy!!!

[@lancedean5987]

Such a juicy brisket, I’ve done a brisket once, didn’t come out the way I was hoping for, have yet to attempt a second one

[@miked8042]

Brisket is really easy to cook. Once internal temperature is 190 start checking for probe tender.

[@phillipgonzalez9574]

If you don't like mustard, you can use Mayo it actually helps break down the protein better. Cooks a bit faster.

[@scottbolwyn9916]

I want to buy a smoker so bad thinking I might do it this weekend!!

[@joegambino5414]

Love the video, three quick questions about a brisket I did last night. This was about my 5th brisket and it turned out fantastic. Here's my question: 1. My point hit 207°, my flat was ~198°. Would you pull off smoker with this range 2. When wrapping in towel after finish, do you remove the brisket from the butcher paper and wrap in a towel or wrap towel around butcher paper Thanks

[@Heygrillhey]

I would probably pull it. I leave it wrapped in paper!

[@davidnave4349]

xoxoxoxo I absolutely love you and your videos'

[@johnRed-de3bl]

So far so good as for saving trimmings.... an option is to grind all with beef to make wonderful burgers.

[@Silentbob1494]

You say that about the brisket towel like having a towel that will always smell like brisket doesn't sound like heaven.

[@robertortega385]

Nice job Not to shabby if I say so myself 😁

[@garysmith4925]

In still waiting for my vertical pit boss smoker lowes will deliver on June 28 all put together to me

[@moovieman693]

Great video. I learned a couple new tips. (Nice hairdo)

[@tennesseebound6597]

Did I miss it, you mentioned fat side up then you said you were going to change that up later on in the smoke, when do you flip it? Was that when you wrap it? Thanks you, this looks pretty simple cant wait to try this. Thank you

[@Heygrillhey]

If I decide to flip, it's usually when I wrap it!

[@yiddishlion2037]

What I find truly amazing is that you smoke all those meats right there in your kitchen....the whole house must smell awesome!

[@Heygrillhey]

😂 it's an outdoor kitchen!

[@yiddishlion2037]

@@Heygrillhey I figured that. I was being silly.

[@johnRed-de3bl]

You got it there.... we smoke it we get first bite !

[@hoverpilder1905]

Hi Thanks for the video!! So helpful !!! Gonna do my first brisket this weekend !! Anyways, you say you put the brisket in the grill before going to bed then when you wake up continue with the wrap. So question, do you sleepwalk and spray the brisket every So often?

[@Heygrillhey]

I don't! Spritzing on a backyard brisket is very optional.

[@chiefsphan741]

Doing my third one in a couple weeks and always wonder how to get burnt ends. This video answered that for me but my other question is does the point and the flat render burnt ends? Im serving for friends in Kansas City where the critics can be tough 😊and i want jaw dropping burnt ends. Great Video im now a subscriber and clicked the notification icon for future videos. Thank You

[@Heygrillhey]

Burnt ends are typically made from the point!

[@jerrye5969]

I cook my brisket pretty much the same way with mustard but i use a Brown sugar steak seasoning. Mine is juicy but would like it tobe more juicy. Any tips on that ???? Love u vids

[@darrellfort1668]

11:10--- 11:15 LMBO!

[@terryyochum8281]

Did you turn over the brisket anytime during the smoking? I just bought an electric smoker and are looking forward to cook a brisket

[@robertjason6885]

Excellent. I echo a previous comment…. Don’t slice it all! Of course, if company is imminent….😏

[@Stephs2xPawsUp]

Do you have a link to the smoker that you use? I am looking at smokers for my Brisket & to use for other foods. I currently use my charcoal grill & convert it to a smoker.