Traeger BBQ Brisket
Since we’ve made Brisket about 5 times now, we decided it’s time to post our “how to”.
Low and slow is the way to go. Just keep saying that.
It really needs to cook smoke for 18-22 hours to get the best flavor and tenderness. There are speed methods for cooking brisket, which result in a fine piece of meat, but it just doesn’t have that same tenderness and finger-licking goodness as smoking it. We’ve done both methods so I can speak from experience on this.
For either method, the first step is trimming the fat to 1/4″ thickness. I also like to cut out some of the deep fat pockets.
After the meat is trimmed, rub it down with olive oil and then season it with some Sweet BBQ Rub. Heavily season it.
Get the Traeger fired up. Oak pellets are known to produce more smoke than other pellets, so we always use Oak. (We are so serious about this that if there’s already pellets in the hopper, we scoop them out and replace them with oak pellets).
Set the Traeger to “smoke” (or 180-degrees, depending on your Traeger thermostat). You want to maintain 180-200 degrees for the duration of the cooking period, which is approximately 18-22 hours. (So yes, you will start cooking this 18-22 hours before you plan to serve it!) DO NOT OPEN THE LID TO CHECK THE MEAT. We use a digital remote thermometer to keep an eye on the meat temperature.
Also, be sure to monitor your Traeger- keep the hopper full of pellets, which means for the overnight portion you are going to want to set alarms to monitor the hopper. You do NOT want to run out in the middle of cooking! Trust me!
The temperature of the meat will increase steadily, and then hover around the 170-degree mark for HOURS. Don’t worry- that is the point where all the “magic” happens and the meat really starts breaking down.
The goal is to take the meat off at 185-190 degrees, wrap it in foil tightly, then wrap it in towels, set it in a cooler filled with towels and let it “set” for another 1-3 hours. During that time the internal temperature will actually rise another 5 degrees and this process causes the fat to melt through all the meat and moisten the meat so it’s extra tender and juicy. To serve it, simply cut into slices.
SPEED METHOD: This method results in a less tender cut, but it’s still really good! Cook in the Traeger at 300-degrees for 5 hours, then turn down to smoke (180-200 degrees) for 3-4 hours.
Side note:
If you get within 3 hours of your serving time and the meat has not reached 185 degrees yet, go ahead and turn the Traeger up a notch (200-degrees) to speed up the final cook. It will cook fairly fast, pull it at 185 and do the foil, towel, cooler method to finish it.
If your meat is done earlier than anticipated, just keep it wrapped in the cooler until you are ready to serve it. It will stay warm for hours.
Elisa's Ramblings 
This is the best recepie I have found to cook a brisket. I am a little nervous to cook a brisket and to be honest I do not have a Traeger (it is on my wishlist however) so I have to do it on my own smoker.
The oak tip is great. I like the smoke flavor and did not know that oak had more smoke than other wood.
I will prepare this for next weekend probably and try it.
Any idea what the best weight is for a brisket to start out the first time?
Thanks for sharing and I be back to let you know how it went.
Eddie
We usually get a 16-pound brisket because we are feeding 30 people! A brisket is a brisket- they are all going to be 13-16 pounds. You could probably talk to a butcher and see if they’ll separate the point from the flat and let you purchase just one of those cuts. The flat would be a better cut for slicing meat (it’s what they use for pastrami), but the point makes better shredded meat. I’m excited to hear how it works out on a traditional smoker instead of the Traeger. Post back!
If I smoke 2 8lb briskest, how much time do you estimate with your method?
Good recipe. Trying it for my Xmas brisket. Thanks for writing this up.
We are trying our hand at a brisket this weekend. I’m a little nervous and have been searching for the right recipe and it looks like I may have found it! Every recipe that the Traeger recipe books have are for briskets that are 6-8 lbs which I haven’t found anything less than 13 lbs! Looking forward to it! Thanks
I followed this recipe exactly over the weekend, and the brisket turned out AMAZING! Thank you for sharing your method, it was really a hit with my family.
I’m glad you liked it!
Fat cap up or down?
Up.
I’m going to try this his weekend. My traeger has smoke and 180. Which would you recommend? It’s last years model. Thank you for the write up!
I would recommend the 180-degree setting. Smoke might be too low and you could risk burning out the flame.
Hi. I’ve always done the Franklin method on my traeger and it’s worked quite well. I have some friends coming over this week and I was going smoke a 15lb. Your method sounds great but it scares me to cook it at 180. What p speed do you use. Does it really turn out that good. You cook it fat side up and then I’d do the cooler wrap in butcher paper. Thoughts.
We haven’t adjusted the p-setting so it’s whatever the default is…..and our new Traeger maintains “smoke” temperature without burning out, so we just keep it at smoke the entire time. ALWAYS turns out perfect. We cook at least 2 per year and it never fails. I’ve never thought of wrapping in butcher paper- we’ve always used foil.
Low and slow is definitely the way to go! This looks delicious!! Can’t wait to try it on the traeger! Great recipe!
I did it! It worked! Thank you sooooo much for your detailed instructions!
One thought. I never made it to the 185-190 temp, but that makes sense if I am smoking at 180. (After a bit more reading while smoking my brisket, I did see several people mention that 225 is their go-to temp for smoking.
22 hours! 15 minutes out to rest. 3 hours in the cooler. Started cutting it on the cutting board, juices started flowing out around the knife and the most delicious mouth-watering aroma filled the air.
My friend Scott, whom I consider a smoking pro, gave me high compliments on my first brisket! And insisted he doesn’t give compliments lightly when it comes to smoking food. Scott mentioned 220 is his preferred temp.
I’m so glad it worked for you! And thanks for commenting!
I have followed your way about 6 times now! Everyone who has had it loves it! Best method by far!
I have followed your way about 6 times now! Everyone who has had it loves it! Best method by far!
Great blog you have heere