Smoked Brisket
Jake Torres
@jaketorrescooks
Prep
30 min
Cook
7.5 hrs
Total
8 hrs
Servings
10
Difficulty
Hard
Let's cook
Trim the fat cap
Trim the fat cap down to a quarter inch and remove the hard deckle fat between the point and flat. Round off any thin edges that would burn.
💡Quarter inch. Thicker never renders, thinner leaves the meat unprotected.
Rub simply
Mix the salt, pepper, and garlic powder and coat every surface heavily. Texas-style brisket needs nothing more than salt and pepper.
Smoke at 250°F
Smoke fat-side up at 250°F (120°C) with post oak. Do not open the lid for the first 4 hours.
Ride out the stall
At around 165°F internal the temperature will stop climbing for hours. This is evaporative cooling and it is normal.
💡Do not raise the heat during the stall. Wait it out or wrap.
Wrap in butcher paper
Once the bark is dark and firm, wrap tightly in butcher paper with a little tallow and return to the smoker.
Cook to feel, not temperature
Continue to around 203°F internal, but judge by probe feel — a skewer should slide into the flat like room-temperature butter with no resistance at all.
Rest for hours
Rest wrapped in a cooler for at least 2 hours, ideally 4. Then slice against the grain, pencil-thick.
💡The long rest is as important as the cook. Slicing early loses all the juice.
Cook this with Chef Pepe
Want hands-free help? Chef Pepe can read each step, set the pace, answer questions, and help with substitutions.
🎙️ Voice-guided cooking mode — coming in Phase 4. Text guidance available now via Chef Pepe.
📝 Tips, swaps, and make-ahead notes
The grain direction changes between the point and the flat — separate the two muscles before slicing and cut each against its own grain. Foil works instead of butcher paper but softens the bark noticeably.
- •Oven version: 250°F oven, wrapped in foil after the bark sets. No smoke ring, but genuinely tender.
- •Leftovers: Chop the point into burnt ends, or use slices for sandwiches.
- •Plan backwards: Count back from serving time and add three hours of buffer. Brisket is never in a hurry.
Nutrition & Safety
Calories
612kcal
Protein
52g
Carbs
2g
Fat
44g
⚠️ Allergen & Safety Note
Check every ingredient label against your own allergies before cooking. Nutritional values are estimates per serving and may vary based on the specific ingredients you use. If you have food allergies, please verify all ingredients before cooking.
AI-assisted content. Always verify instructions with trusted culinary sources.
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