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How to Cook Smoked Brisket With Matt Pittman

Watch Matt Pitman, a Texas pitmaster and the CEO of Meat Church, explain how to smoke brisket in four simple steps.

I enjoyed the clear steps that Matt shares in this video for successfully smoking a brisket. If you’re looking for some solid guidelines to tackle your first brisket or needing some pointers for perfecting your brisket, this video is a great place to start.

In this video Matt uses a pellet smoker and some of his famous Meat Church BBQ Rubs. He started out with one full packer brisket which is made up of two muscles, the flat and the point. The flat is the wider thinner part of the brisket and the point is the narrower thicker part.

Below is an outline of all the key information in the video.

Meat Church Seasonings

How to Smoke a Brisket

Step 1: Trim the Brisket

There are a lot of preferences in how to trim a brisket. Here are some basic guidelines to get you started:

  • Shave off the hard fat on the meat side of the brisket without digging into the meat.
  • Trim off any gray edges on the brisket.
  • Fillet off any loose fat on the meat side of the brisket. No need to stress over this.
  • Trim the fat side of the brisket down to about 1/4″ layer of fat, or 1/2″ maximum.
  • Slice off some of the hard fat on the thick edge of the brisket between the flat and the point.

Step 2: Season the Brisket

Central Texas barbecue uses equal parts of coarse cracked pepper and Kosher salt. A lot of people like to add other ingredients, and Matt’s seasonings make it easy to achieve a balanced flavor profile:

  • Season the meat side and edges with a medium layer of Holy Cow BBQ Rub (salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika) and pat the seasoning in.
  • Add a light layer of Holy Gospel BBQ Rub to the meat side and edges and pat it in.
  • Ideally, let the brisket sit 20-30 minutes, then flip and repeat this process on the fat side.

Pro tip: When applying rub, shake the rub from high above the meat to get a more even layer.

Step 3: Cook the Brisket

  • Set your smoker to 275° F and smoke the brisket fat side up for around 6 hours until the internal temperature in the center of the flat is 165° F.
  • Remove the brisket from the smoker and wrap it in heavy aluminum foil or unwaxed butcher paper.
  • Put the wrapped brisket back in the smoker fat side up at 275° F for about 4 hours until the center of the flat has an internal temperature of 200-225° F.
  • Remove the wrapped brisket and let it rest in an empty cooler for an hour.

Step 4: Slice and Serve

  • Slice the brisket into two pieces 1/3 of the way down from the point (the thicker part of the brisket).
  • Slice the flat in the same direction as your first cut.
  • Turn the point a quarter turn and cut it into slices lengthwise to the brisket.
  • Serve and enjoy!

What pellet grill should you use?

There are a few good companies making quality pellet grills. Here at Meadow Creek Barbecue Supply we carry Green Mountain Pellet Grills and Yoder Pellet Grills. 

Browse our pellet grills on our website to see videos and more information or visit our showroom to get your hands on them.

Click here to learn more about Green Mountain Pellet Grills

Click here to learn more about Yoder Pellet Smokers

Don’t have the rubs for this recipe?

We sell the popular line of Meat Church barbecue rubs in our specialty barbecue store and online. There’s no better time to try these rubs then now.

Now go cook a great brisket!

D​id you know we carry Wagyu briskets, smokers, accessories, and everything else you need to cook outdoors?​ Call us at (717) 355-0779 or visit us at 140 W Main Street in New Holland, PA to check out our full line of barbecue ​equipment and supplies or for help planning a successful barbecue party.