My Process for Smoked Brisket and Burnt Ends

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This works on this great thermometer!

Thermapen ONE

Hands on Review: ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE!


Brisket and Burnt Ends!

This was a 12.72 lb choice brisket purchased. I love to do prime brisket when I can but cost was an issue when I we were shopping.

Brisket trimmed and ready for rub.

I trimmed about 29.55 ounces of fat of this brisket. That’s about 1.85 lbs.

Applying rub

 My BBQ Rub Recipe

Tip: wrap your rub shaker in food wrap when it comes to applying. This allows you to grab it with meaty/contaminated hands. When prep is done, discard the food wrap and

Here’s the brisket trimmed and rubbed.

I’m a big fan of Rubbermaid’s Commercial’s utility tubs. I literally have a stack of these, in different sizes, for different things around the house.

I use the 4.625 gallon size to thaw meat, trim, apply rub, carry around cook day tools and more. These are NSF rated and big enough to hold larger cuts of meat. They catch excess rub and drips and make clean up easier. With handles on every side, they’re easy to carry and move. You can also spin it around as you’re trimming or applying rub for easy access.  See my Hands on Review of these great tubs.

For pellets, I used the pictured Oklahoma Joe’s Hickory Pellets. I’m a big fan of these pellets. Oklahoma Joe’s 2778406DP 100% All-Natural Hardwood Hickory Wood Pellets, (20 lb. Bag) – via Amazon

Ready to go on the smoker

On the smoker. This is the brisket on my Recteq RT-700 “The Bull”. Smoke tube to the left (this one).

Smoke rolling!

After the first spritz. This happened at about 3 hours. I used a 50/50 water and apple juice solution

Temp check, just prior to wrapping using my Thermapen One


Related: Thermapen ONE Review!


Brisket removed from the smoker ready to wrap

Wrapped in butcher paper at about 6 hours. Here’s what I’m using – Pink Kraft Butcher Paper Roll – 18 Inch x 100 Feet


Side Note: Dessert

This brisket was smoked on Saturday in preparation for a Father’s Day Celebration the next day. Of course, we’d need dessert.  While the brisket was smoking I prepped homemade ice cream to be made in my Ninja Creami. I got that for my birthday and have been loving it. Really stellar results with minimal ingredients.


Later in the cook

Pulled off the smoker to rest

Beautiful, beautiful brisket!

This is the first time, I’ve waited to cut a brisket until the next day. Normally I would use my brisket knife (Mercer Culinary 10″ Knife) but it doesn’t play well with chilled brisket. These results are just with a freshly sharpened chef’s knife.

Cutting a cold brisket worked… really, really well. Easy and great results.

I cubed up the thicker, fatter side of the brisket for burnt ends

Tossed in Tuffy Stone’s Cool Smoke Spicy BBQ sauce and returned to the smoker.  Keep in mind, this is now the next day, Sunday.  I put these on at 200 degrees for 2 to 3 hours.

Finished burnt ends. Beautiful and simply delicious.

My Brisket Process

My process is based on Aaron Franklin Brisket process – Amazon author page – with a few tweaks

  • Trim brisket fat to 1/4″ or less
  • Apply rub – I usually use my rub recipe – this is a deviation from Aaron’s method.
  • Let brisket warm for an hour.
  • Warm smoker to 200 degrees F – this is a deviation from Aaron’s method – I do this to try and maximize smoke ring and smoke flavor
  • Hour 1: 200 degrees F
  • Hours 2 and 3: 250 degrees F
  • Spritz at the end of hour 3 with half apple juice, half water
  • Hours 4, 5 and 6: 260 degrees F
  • Spritz Hourly
  • Hour 7: 280 deg F
  • At the end of Hour 7: Wrap with butcher’s paper
  • Hours 9 through 12: Gradually increase temperature to 275 to 285
  • When the brisket an internal temp of 200 start to taper off the temp, reducing 5 to 10 degrees every hour
  • Pull the brisket when it reaches an internal temp of 205 deg F – this is another deviation, Aaron goes by look at feel.
  • Rest the brisket for at least an hour,

Chart via How to Smoke Brisket With Barbeque Pitmaster Aaron Franklin

If you interested in the specifics here is a write up on the process, including a really helpful chart from MasterClass

Aaron has also has a MasterClass on his method

aaron franklin brisket masterclass

Related: My Rub Recipe

My Rub Recipe

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