Tender and Flavorful Smoked brisket is on tonight's menu. It's tender, juicy, and loaded with flavor! Serve this delicious smoked brisket with some Easy Scalloped Potatoes and Low Carb Cheesy Brussel Sprouts. Use any leftovers to make my brisket-stuffed Chile Rellenos!
Although I love corned beef, this smoked brisket recipe blows corned beef out of the water! All you need to make a delectable brisket is my Santa Maria dry rub, some time, and a smoker. So, skip the high-dollar restaurants, and make your own smoked brisket at home!
🍖How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Prepare Sauce: Mix oil, vinegar, and crushed garlic cloves. Set aside until needed.
Step 2: Prepare the Rub: Mix smoked brisket rub ingredients. Generously rub the spices all over the meat, making sure to cover the entire surface of the brisket. Allow the meat to rest for a minimum of two hours or overnight.
Step 3: Smoking Instructions: Heat an electric smoker to 250 degrees F. and soak mesquite or hickory wood chips in water until the smoker is ready. When the smoker reaches the proper temperature, add drained wood chips to the smoker.
Trim brisket if necessary and brush sauce generously all over the brisket, then place the brisket directly on the center shelf of the smoker. Smoke the brisket for two hours with heavy smoke.
Pro Tip: Don't toss the fat, use it to make beef tallow!
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Remove brisket from the smoker, and turn down the temperature to 175 degrees F. Brush brisket with more sauce and seal in heavy foil. Smoke for an additional three hours.
Tent the smoked brisket with foil and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
🤷🏻♀️Recipe FAQ
Brisket is usually sold as a large, boneless slab of meat. It comes from a cow's lower chest region. Brisket is the same cut used to make corned beef and pastrami.
As you may already know, corned beef is cured with salt, pepper, mustard seeds, crushed bay leaves, and other spices. It is then simmered for hours, until tender.
Corned beef is traditionally served on St. Patrick's day, along with steamed cabbage and vegetables.
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may know that I always manage to find an Assyrian or Middle Eastern connection. Pastrami is no exception.
The first pastrami sandwich is credited to Sussman Volk, a Jewish man who immigrated to New York from Lithuania in the 1800s.
In 1887, he received the recipe from a Romanian man, in exchange for storing the friend's luggage, while the man returned to Romania.
Volk tried the recipe and liked it so much that he began serving it in his butcher shop. As a result of its popularity, Volk opened up a restaurant, featuring his pastrami sandwiches.
Pastrami was originally called "Pastrama" (Romanian), or "Basturma" in Arabic. Both words refer to meat that has been cured in spices.
It is believed that the name was changed to "pastrami," imitating another popular meat at the time, "salami."
Technically, Pastrami is quite similar to this smoked beef brisket recipe. Both use the same cut of meat (brisket). They also utilize the same method of applying a dry rub and smoking the meat.
The only difference is that pastrami goes through a brining process prior to being coated in the dry rub.
👩🏼🍳Pro Tips
- The wood used to smoke your brisket really depends on your preference. However, mesquite would be my first choice, followed by hickory. You are encouraged to try those flavors or use your favorite wood chips.
- Although I don't add brown sugar to the rub used in this smoked brisket recipe, you can add one tablespoon to the great rub mixture, if you'd like.
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📖 Recipe
Smoked Beef Brisket with Santa Maria Dry Rub
Ingredients
- 4 lb. beef brisket
Sauce
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
Dry Rub
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary minced
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
Sauce
- Mix oil, vinegar, and crushed garlic cloves. Set aside until needed.
Rub
- Rub the spices all over the meat. Allow the meat to rest for a minimum of two hours or overnight.
Smoking Instructions
- Heat an electric smoker to 250 degrees F. and soak mesquite or hickory wood chips in water until the smoker is ready. When the smoker reaches the proper temperature, add drained wood chips to the smoker.
- Brush sauce generously all over the brisket, then place the brisket directly on the center shelf of the smoker. Smoke the meat for two hours with heavy smoke.
- Remove brisket from the smoker, and turn down the temperature to 175 degrees F. Brush brisket with more sauce and seal in heavy foil. Cook for an additional three hours.
- Tent the smoked brisket with foil and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.
Notes
- The wood used to smoke your brisket really depends on your preference. However, mesquite would be my first choice, followed by hickory. You are encouraged to try those flavors or use your favorite wood chips.
- Although I don't add brown sugar to the rub used in this smoked brisket recipe, you can add one tablespoon to the great rub mixture, if you'd like.
Joel Fluharty says
Tasty & extremely tender. I love this recipe and can't wait to try another recipe!
Hilda Sterner says
Thanks, Joel! My Traeger collection keeps growing. Definitely try some of the other Traeger recipes. 🙂
Marjo says
Have just viewed your Smoked Meat recipe, It seem to be the only real one I have found.
I would like to try it but there is no mention as to what type of Wood chip you use for the smoker.
Thank you
Your site is out of this world!
Marjo
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Marjo,
Thanks for the comment. You can use either hickory or mesquite chips. They both work well with this recipe.
karl says
oh my love my meat and will ova etc give this a go as in the UK we don't do enough brisket recipes like this
HildaSterner says
Hi Karl,
Thanks for stopping by! I celebrated my 50th in the UK two years ago. I lived on meat pies while there,so yummy. 🙂 You should definitely give this brisket a go, it's to die for. I'll stop by and check out your blog in a bit. Have a great day!
Kelly M. says
Sounds fantastic! I love smoked brisket!
HildaSterner says
I wasn’t a huge fan, until we started using this recipe. It’s so good!