Low and Slow Smoked Beef Brisket

Name: Low and Slow Smoked Beef Brisket
Total time: 11 h 30 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3kg beef brisket, whole packer cut if you can, or a large flat; 4 tbsp coarse black pepper; 3 tbsp flaked sea salt; 1 tbsp smoked paprika; 1 tbsp garlic granules; 1 tsp cayenne pepper; 3 tbsp gluten free yellow mustard, as a binder; 150ml apple cider vinegar, for spritzing; 150ml water, for spritzing; 6 oak or hickory wood chunks, for smoking, not for eating

A peppery, dark-crusted brisket smoked slowly until it slices like butter, with a gas or charcoal barbecue method included.

Time11 hr 30
LevelHard
Costabout £4.25 a head

Cost is worked out from Aldi and Tesco shelf prices in October 2026. Your shop and brands will differ.

Estimated nutrition per serving

886kcal
4gcarbs
2.5gof which sugars
57gfat
24.5gsaturates
82.9gprotein
0.8gfibre
7.4gsalt

A rough estimate worked out from the ingredients, for the serving size above. It is a guide only and not medical advice. If you count carbs or manage diabetes, check with your own tools and your care team.

8 servings

Ingredients

Tick what you need to buy. It goes on your shopping list.

3 kgbeef brisketwhole packer cut if you can, or a large flat
4 tbspcoarse black pepper
3 tbspflaked sea salt
1 tbspsmoked paprika
1 tbspgarlic granules
1 tspcayenne pepper
3 tbspgluten free yellow mustardas a binder
150 mlapple cider vinegarfor spritzing
150 mlwaterfor spritzing
6oak or hickory wood chunksfor smoking, not for eating

Method

1
Trim the brisket so the fat cap is about 6 mm thick and cut off any hard, waxy fat. Mix the pepper, salt, paprika, garlic granules and cayenne. Smear the mustard all over the meat, then press the rub on thickly. Leave for 1 hour at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge.
2
Set up the barbecue for indirect cooking at 110C to 120C. On charcoal, pile lit coals at one side with a few wood chunks on top and a tray of water on the other side. On gas, light one burner on low and put the wood chunks in a foil pouch with holes over it. Put the cooking grate on and wait for thin blue smoke, not thick white smoke.
3
Put the brisket on the cool side, fat side up, and close the lid. Smoke for 5 to 6 hours, topping up coals and wood as needed, until the crust is deep mahogany and set, and the meat reaches about 70C in the thickest part. After the first 3 hours, mix the vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spritz the surface every hour.
330 min
4
Wrap the brisket very tightly in two layers of foil with a good splash of the spritz liquid. Return it to the cool side and cook for a further 3 to 4 hours, until a probe slides in with almost no resistance and the meat reads 93C to 96C.
210 min
5
Take the wrapped brisket off and rest it in a dry towel inside a cool box for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 hours. This keeps it juicy.
60 min
6
Unwrap and keep the juices. Slice the flat across the grain into pencil-thick slices, and cut the fattier point into chunks. Spoon the juices over and serve with pickles and coleslaw.

Double check before you cook. Recipes can contain mistakes. Any diet labels come from the ingredients as written in this recipe and are a guide, not a guarantee. Always check every ingredient and the packet label for allergens and cross contamination, and ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you, especially with coeliac disease, diabetes or a serious allergy. This is not medical advice.