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How long to smoke a brisket in a Bradley smoker
Smoking a brisket on a Bradley smoker is really pretty simple. All You need is essentially just a large pile of wood and some charcoal to get the fire going.
Then of course, you need a brisket coupled with some kosher salt and black pepper to season it with. That’s really all it takes in terms of the materials that you will need to effectively cook a brisket on a Bradley smoker.
In terms of how long you can expect to wait around for the brisket to finish, there’s really two main determining factors that can allow you to sort of forecast how long it should take.
The first thing that you should always consider is how hot you plan to cook your brisket at in terms of the ambient temperature within the smoking chamber.
That will directly influence how quickly on a per pound basis and per hour basis your brisket will complete.
The second part of the overall equation, is how much your Brisket actually wieghs.
That will of course also determine, in correlation with the temperature, how long it’s going to take overall.
For hotter temperatures, expect cook times at around 2 pounds per hour and conversely, expect about 1 pound per hour for lower and slower types of temperatures.
How do you smoke a brisket in a Bradley smoker?
As we noted above, the materials that you will need to smoke in adequate brisket on a Bradley smoker, will include wood, charcoal, a brisket, along with kosher salt and black pepper.
Before you do anything, make sure to load up the firebox with about half a chimney full of charcoal and make sure to light it. Then, grab a handful of 12 inch wood logs and place them directly on top of the charcoal.
This is to get the fire going as quickly as possible and to allow the temperature to get up to a reasonable amount before you even throw the meat on the smoker.
Afterwords, go ahead and start seasoning your brisket. Season it with kosher salt and black pepper, and don’t be afraid to liberally apply seasoning all over your brisket.
There’s no exact measurement, because again, every brisket is different. You just really want to make sure that you don’t under season your barbecue. Brisket has the propensity to be under seasoned more than it can be over-seasoned.
Once you season the brisket properly and make sure that there are no blotches of missing seasoning, then go ahead and just place the brisket onto the smoker grates.
That’s really all it takes, and also make sure to slightly monitor the ambient temperatures to ensure they are hot enough to your liking and in accordance with how long it should probably take on a per pound and hourly basis.
How long do I smoke brisket at 225?
On a Bradley smoker cooking at around 225°F, you should expect about 1 pound per hour of cook time.
Again, as I always mention, it really does not matter what type of smoker or grill you have in terms of how long it takes a brisket to come out.
The only two things that matter are the size and weight of your brisket and how hot you are cooking it at. For 225°F, briskets will be done at a rate of about 1 pound per hour.
Bradley Smoker Small Brisket
Take with note about the size and weight of your small brisket. What exactly is a small brisket?
Is it less than five or so pounds? You need to figure out how much it weighs in pounds. You take that, and then you basically multiply the amount of pounds by either one or two, which would indicate how high and fast you are planning to cook at.
The 1 hour per pound ratio is derived from 225°F.
The 2 pounds per hour is derived from the hot and fast method of about 275°F or hotter.
How long does it take to smoke a 14 lb brisket at 225?
Let’s say you cranked up your Bradley smoker to the average ambient temperature of around 225°F and you have a monster size brisket at about 14 pounds.
How long will it take to cook? It should take about 14 hours to cook through all the way.
That’s only because of the common ratio of about 1 pound per hour of cook time. You can certainly try and expedite this at that temperature range, by simply wrapping the brisket throughout the stall.
That should have the effect of greatly increasing the rate at which the internal temperature rises and decreases the overall cook time going forward.
Final thoughts
When you’re smoking a brisket at 225°F on your Bradley smoker, you should have an average cook rate of about 1 pound per hour.
If you don’t want to wait around that long but still want to cook it low and slow, then consider wrapping it and increasing the internal temperature that way.
Wrapping a brisket can be a great way to save some fuel in the process, while also leveraging the physics behind wrapping a piece of meat.
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.