Everything you need to know about Brisket!

Let’s dive into the world of brisket – in this article, you’ll find lots of information that will help augment your BBQ journey and hopefully provide lots of interesting insights. Feel free to let us know what you think and we will be sure to incorporate any feedback into this post!

Table of Contents

1. Where to probe brisket?
2. How to know when brisket is done
3. How long to smoke brisket per pound at 225?
4. Brisket Stall Temp Range

Where to probe brisket?

Below is a video explaining exactly where to probe a brisket for best results.

There are generally a handful of things you’ll want to keep in mind. Firstly, grab a Meat thermometer/probe. In my case, I have a MEATER probe. Make sure to put it in the thickest part of the flat, since that is usually the part of the brisket that has a tendency to be more dry and finicky.

In other words, the flat part of brisket will tend to finish quicker than the point and is leaner, so it will give you the best indication that the brisket is ‘done’.

Additionally, you’ll want to make sure the internal temperature needs to be above 200 degrees in internal temperature. You don’t need to follow this too strictly, but just make sure that you can take your already inserted thermometer and begin reinserting it directly into the meat itself and check for overall tenderness.

It should definitely probe TENDER, almost like going into a stick of butter.

How to know when brisket is done

In this video, we explain how to probe a brisket and also when to know exactly when a brisket is done and ready to be sliced into!

If you’re wondering when you should be pulling your brisket you’re going to want to let it rest for several hours. Essentially what this does is it lets the internal temperature come down enough to let the juices inside of the brisket to not evaporate the second you sliced into it.

That’s a very common problem, especially with briskets. By simply just letting the brisket rest for a period of time, those juices will begin seeping back into the meat and once you do end up slicing it, it will be very juicy. That is the key in terms of knowing how to know when a brisket is actually done.

To further test this, what you can do is deploy the toothpick test which I showcase in the video above.

Basically you’ll want to grab a tiny little toothpick and begin inserting it into the meat and it should go in like a stick of butter. If you can start inserting the toothpick all around the meat like it is butter then that can be a very good way of knowing that it is done, and you should hopefully have a very juicy brisket to begin slicing into.

How long to smoke brisket per pound at 225?

This video showcases how long any particular brisket should take if you’re smoking it at 225 degrees, let’s get into it!

Try to guesstimate about one hour per pound of brisket. Using an example of a ten pound packer brisket, this means that at a ‘low and slow’ temperature of about 225 degrees Fahrenheit, it should take roughly 10 hours to cook to perfection.

That is considering only the cook time however, regardless of how low and slow you cook your brisket at, you need to also factor in another hour or two on top of that to to get everything prepped (trimming, seasoning, starting the smoker, etc.) to fully gauge the overall longevity of the process.

Brisket Stall Temp Range

For the temperature ranges for brisket, it’s going to occur from anywhere between 150 to 170 degrees. In the video above, I explain exactly when this occurs.

Once your brisket gets to the stall portion of the cook, there’s a few different ways to handle it. The first is to consider wrapping it in either butcher paper or foil. There’s different trade-offs with these two techniques, but the main point is they help accelerate the cook by trapping all the moisture inside the wrapping, thus allowing a shorter time period for the stall.

Additionally, you could also consider increasing the ambient temperature. That means if you’re currently cooking the brisket at a low and slow temperature range (around 225°F), you may want to consider increasing it substantially to around 275°F or above. In my experience, this will cut your overall cook time by half, and you could finish smoking your brisket that much quicker