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How long does it take to smoke a whole brisket
If you are wondering how long it will take to smoke a whole brisket, you have come to the right place.
For starters, it should take anywhere from about 1 pound or 2 pounds per hour to fully cook through a whole packer style brisket.
This is the most accurate temperature range and temperature rate that I have personally experienced for all of my briskets.
How many hours to smoke brisket
Brisket‘s can take anywhere from about 10 to 20 hours, depending on how much they actually weigh in accordance with how hot or how low you are smoking them.
It also it depends on whether or not you’re wrapping your brisket and how often or frequently you are opening the smoker doors to check on brisket.
All of these different little factors can play a role in the length of time that it takes for your overall brisket cook.
How long does it take to smoke a brisket at 225?
For cooking it around 225°F, you can expect a cook time of 1 pound per hour.
I can’t really say how long it will take for your individual brisket, so just measure how much your brisket weighs, and multiply it basically by 1 to get the total number of hours that it will take to smoke your packer brisket at that temperature range.
Is it better to smoke brisket at 225 or 250?
Smoking at 225°F versus 250°F is really not that much of a difference.
The temperatures are only 25° apart from each other, so the length of time it takes to smoke a brisket at one or the other is pretty marginal at best.
Always just use the 1 pound per hour mark to estimate the cooking length of time it takes to smoke a brisket at either of those temperatures.
How long does a 5 lb brisket take to smoke?
Depending on the average temperature you are smoking a brisket at, expect about a five to a three hour cook time.
This is derived from a 1 pound per hour or 2 pound per hour cook time assuming, the temperature is between 225°F and 300°F.
Can brisket be smoked in 8 hours?
I have had many briskets be completed in less than eight hours. Most of these however, have certainly been smoked at around 300°F or hotter, and other words hot fast.
They all came out excellent and even better than the briskets I have smoked at lowest low temperatures.
Always consider smoking above 300°F or at least 275°F, to ensure a quick cook time in accordance with your goals of course.
Final thoughts
The overall cooking length of time that it takes to smoke a brisket of any size or weight is derived from a cooking rate of about 1 pound or 2 pounds per hour.
This is entirely dependent on how low and slow or hot and fast you decide to cook it at, and can be a great way of actually determining the length of time it takes to cook one.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.