Smoked brisket on the Big Green Egg

Today I’m eating a smoked brisket off the Big Green Egg.

Whole packer brisket is the holy grail of BBQ. Master this massive cut, and there’s nothing you can’t handle.

The key to a good brisket to temperature control. Keep your grill running at 250 without any big spikes or drops, and you’ll have delicious results.

For this recipe, I’ll break it down for you hour-by-hour for this 12-hour cook. Each brisket is different. This is a rough guideline. Whatever time you want to eat, back it out 15 hours, and you should have enough buffer if the cook takes longer than expected. It rarely takes less time.

Smoked Brisket Timing

9 p.m.

Trim your brisket. Take down the fat cap to about 1/4-inch all the way around.

Trim out most of the deckle, the hard, pure white fat that runs between the point and flat.

Finally, trim any ugly-looking fat from the meat side of the brisket.

Season with a classic Texas-rub of equal parts kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Set the brisket on a cooling rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to cook. This allows the seasoning to penetrate the meat.

I’m using a 12 pound brisket that weighed 9-10 pounds after trimming. It’s important to judge your cook time based on the final weight, not purchase weight.

Plan for about 90 minutes per pound for the total cook time, including the resting time.

4 a.m.

Pour yourself a strong cup of coffee. It’s going to be a long day. At 4 a.m., get the Big Green Egg set up for indirect cooking at 250 degrees with 10 hickory chunks for smoke flavor.

Light the grill and allow to come to temperature. Allow the egg to stabilize at 250 degrees before placing the brisket on the grate.

While the grill is heating, remove the brisket from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.

5 a.m.

Place a temperature probe into the thickest part of the brisket and put the meat on the grill, fat-side down to allow for extra protection from the heat, while maximizing the amount of meat exposed to the smoke. This will also better allow for the bark to form.

The point should be toward the back of the grill, so the flat and the point cook more evenly.

Close the lid and cook for 7-8 hours, or until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees and the bark is where you want it.

12 p.m.

Wrap the brisket tightly in butcher paper and return to the grill. I wrapped mine at 180 degrees because the bark wasn’t where I liked it when it was at 165.

Cook the brisket for an additional 2-3 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 202 degrees.

2 p.m.

The brisket hit 202. Remove the probe, keep the brisket in the butcher paper, wrap the whole thing in towels and put into a cooler or a cold oven and let rest up to 4 hours, but a minimum of 1 hour.

5 p.m.

Dinner is served! Cut slices across the grain about the size of the thickness of a pencil.

Serve with collard greens, mac and cheese, bread and beans.

Perfection!