Learn how easy it is to cook a brisket on your backyard gas grill with these easy to follow step by step photo instructions. You too can enjoy one of the Kings of BBQ at home.
Introduction
I love brisket. It is almost my favorite meat. I usually cook brisket with Kansas City Oven Baked BBQ Beef Brisket and it is a family favorite. So I'm treading on dangerous ground here but time for something with a great bark that you don't get from the oven method.
First and most important, you need to set up your grill for indirect cooking and smoking. See my previous post How to Set To Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking . This is the key to any cooking of this type.
I started with a basic rub, some sugar, paprika, salt, and pepper. You can complicate this as much as you want, but these are the basics of a rub. Now cooking it low and slow, add some smoke and you're there. Not a complicated thing.
My Rating
A very nice 5. Very good.
🐄Brisket
Beef brisket is a cut of meat from the lower chest wall. The brisket includes superficial and deep pectoral muscles. The cow does not have collar bones, so these muscles support about 60% of the bodyweight of an 1500 pound cow.
All that work produces a lot of connective tissue, so cooking a brisket is all about melting the connective tissue completely. Read that as low and slow. It is the melted collagen that gives you wonderful results.
Whole briskets are generally vacuum packed for the producers and are usually 8 to 12 pounds which is more meat than most of us “cooking for two” people want except for parties. Think about ½ pound per person as a common serving.
I usually buy half briskets. There are the “point” and “flat” halves. Generally, the point half is two layers, and the flat with only one layer of muscle.
I tend to buy flats, so I don’t need to deal with the two layers, but either is fine. Around me, most “point” cuts include a layer of the flat, so there are two layers usually, but the point is that upper layer. The point may be a bit more tender though.
✔️Tips
Trimming the Fat. Yes or no?
The anti-trimming gang says it is natural and will protect the meat.
The trimmers will argue it makes a big mess and that it is the melting of collagen that produces most of the moisture. Also, more area for the rub to be on the meat. I'm not eating a chunk of fat just because it has the "bark" on it.
A compromise is to trim the fat to ¼ inch thick. This is usually what I do now but the picture is a full trim.
To Inject or Not to Inject?
I don't. You can add a variety of flavors, but I don't want to do that.
Is it moister? Some say yes, some say no. If yes then it is marginal.
Research it carefully before doing this. Mistakes can ruin your brisket.
Should You Brine?
Some people swear by it, but most competition smokers don't. I have never been a fan if brining beef. I have experimented with it with other cuts of beef and I felt it took away the "beef" flavor a bit.
🌡️Temperature
I usually do 250° but feel that is the highest you should go or you may have more drying. Most smokers will use 225°.
Some recipes will suggest all the way to 300° and talk about how wonderful it is. Yep, it is wonderful because it is brisket, but it would be moister, and "wonderful-er" if cooked lower.
Please see How to Set Up a Gas Grill for Smoking and A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for low and slow grill set up instructions if you need help.
You must have a good grill surface thermometer to do this correctly. Along with the required surface thermometer, a continuous read probe thermometer is a good idea.
I used the Thermoworks Therma Q Blue (This is an affiliate link, meaning I do make a small amount from your purchases. Your price is not affected by this commission.)
⏰Time
Most will say 1 to 1 ½ hours per pound assuming a 250° grill. Not a bad starting point for time management but a wide range.
More important than weight is probably thickness. A plump 8-pound brisket may take as long or longer than a thinner 10-pound brisket.
There are lots of variables: grill temperature, thickness, weight, and if you do a Texas crunch wrap (see two sections down). There are probably more. So no two briskets will cook the same.
When is a Brisket Done?
I like 200°-205° but this is a personal test thing. I think 190 is too low. 195°-200° will slice nicely. 203° seems to be the number I see from competition smokers. 205°-210° is ok. But over 210° is probably too much and will become a texture and moisture issue.
The Stall
“The Stall” happens when the fibers of the meat contract when nearing the “well done” zone of 150° to 160°. This occurs with both beef and porks and continues to about 180°F when the meat fibers start to relax.
Since it occurs past "well done" temperature for most meats, it is not an issue for steaks, pork chops or similar cookings. But with brisket or pork butt where we are cooking to the 200° plus range, you may want to consider this issue.
The water in the meat fibers will be forced out of the cells as they contract and will make its way to the surface. On the surface, the water will evaporate as cooking continues. Evaporation uses energy and will “stall” the cooking process.
This stall can go on for hours depending on the size of the meat and other factors. Six hours sometimes for a large whole brisket.
The Texas Crutch
This is a common method used to counter “the stall”. It as tightly wrapping the meat to prevent evaporation. 90% of competition smokers do this. But remember they are cooking large whole briskets.
By tightly wrapping, you are creating a “mini-environment” next to the meat which will quickly reach 100% relative humidity and prevent further evaporation.
While the meat fiber will continue to contract and force out water, it can not evaporate cooling your meat and prolong the cooking time.
Pros and Cons of “The Texas Crunch”
Pros
- By far the biggest pro is time. You can save hours in cooking time especially with larger cuts.
- Moisture. It can help maintain moisture in the meat. As the meat passes the 180° range and the cells relax, the moisture can re-absorb into the cells. This is not a huge effect.
- You can control the “color” better and prolong holding time some if needed.
- If on a smoker, you can also control the smoke exposure.
Cons
- The main con is water can destroy your bark. Your hard-earned crunchy bark becomes soft. You can counter this some (not completely). See the next section.
- The fussiness and a bit of work. Yep, some people complain about anything.
- Your grill temp goes down. I work hard to keep my temperature stable. I try to keep my hands off.
The Technique of the Texas Crunch
While some will use butcher paper (the pink butcher paper, not the white wax-coated stuff), I don’t want to buy hundreds of feet of it. It may be a bit better on the bark issue. Most people use heavy-duty foil since we all have that.
- You will want to do this in the 150°-160° range when the meat temperature “stalls”. Also, the bark should be dark red approaching black and “set up” meaning not mushy looking.
- Get an area close to the grill and get two large pieces of foil ready to double wrap.
- Quickly grab your meat off the grill. Do not just flip the lid wide open and keep it that way. Open as far as you need and close immediately.
- Wrap tight. I will say that again TIGHT and crimp the seams and ends. The less space in you mini-environment, the better.
- Crimp tightly around your meat thermometer. You must have a continuous read thermometer to do this right.
- Back to the grill until you reach your goal temperature, usually 200°-205° for me.
- If you want to improve your bark some, unwrap at this point and cook 30 more minutes.
Why I don’t usually do this.
- I’m cooking smaller pieces of meat. Less stall. So not much reason to bother with it.
- I love a good crunchy bark. If you don't care about bark, do my oven method.
- The moisture thing is not that much. A lot of that “moisture” you are loving is melted collagen. Collagen melting starts at 160° and increases to 180°.
📖Grill Recipes
Kansas City Oven Baked BBQ Beef Brisket
Pulled Pork on a Gas Grill – Not That Hard
How to Grill Baby Back Ribs on a Gas Grill
Memphis Barbecue Sauce – A Wonderful Thing
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
I started with a 5-pound point half of brisket this time.
Trim brisket of any large chunks of fat and the fat cap. Don't try to be perfect. Some people don't trim or will leave a ¼ inch thick layer. Personal choice.
Use the rub of your choice or you may use mine. For my rub, mix rub of ¼ cup each brown sugar and paprika. Add two tablespoons each of kosher salt and black pepper and mix well.
Give all sides of the brisket a heavy rub of the spices. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Remove from refrigeration about 1 hour before cooking and allow to rest at room temperature.
While the brisket is resting, set up the grill. You want a steady temperature of about 225°-250° with indirect heat with a drip pan on the indirect side and a way to create smoke. See How to Set Up a Gas Grill for Smoking.
Cook on the indirect side over a drip pan.
You need a method of adding some smoke to your brisket. The method, amount, and duration is up to you. I do about 1 hour of hickory with my built-in smoke box. Other methods are reviewed at How To Set Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking.
Cook until internal temp of 200°-205°. About 5 hours total cooking time for me with the 5 pound point.
Remove from grill and wrap in foil and couple of towels.
Allow to rest for 1-2 hours before cutting thin across the grain to serve.
📖Recipe
How to Cook a Brisket on a Gas Grill
Ingredients
- 5 pound Brisket - Size of your choice
My rub for a 5-pound brisket. Scale for different size. You may use the rub of your choice.
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup paprika
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
Instructions
- I started with a 5 pound point half of a brisket this time.
- Trim brisket of any large chunks of fat and the fat cap. Don't try to be perfect. Some people don't trim or will leave a ¼ inch thick layer. Personal choice.
- Use the rub of your choice or you may use mine. For my rub, mix rub of ¼ cup each brown sugar and paprika. Add two tablespoons each of kosher salt and black pepper and mix well.
- Give all sides of the brisket a heavy rub of the spices. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Remove from refrigeration about 1 hour before cooking and allow to rest at room temperature.
- While the brisket is resting, set up the grill. You want a steady temperature of about 225°-250° with indirect heat with a drip pan on the indirect side and a way to create smoke. See How to Set Up a Gas Grill for Smoking.
- Cook on the indirect side over a drip pan.
- You need a method of adding some smoke to your brisket. The method, amount, and duration is up to you. I do about 1 hour of hickory with my built in smoke box. Other methods are reviewed at How To Set Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking.
- Cook until internal temp of 200°-205°. About 5 hours total cooking time for me with the 5 pound point.
- Remove from grill and wrap in foil and couple of towels.
- Allow to rest for 1-2 hours before cutting thin across the grain to serve.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- The set up of the grill for low and slow cooking plus smoking is the most important part of cooking a brisket on a gas grill.
- Use the rub of your choice, but I include a suggested rub.
- I usually will do smoke for about an hour, but more is fine.
- Cooking time varies a lot but 1-1 ½ hour per pound is a good starting point to estimate your cooking time.
- Be sure to wrap and let sit after cooking for 1-2 hours.
- You must cut across the grain.
- See the writeup about injection, brine, the stall, and Texas crutch.
- For serving size, I suggest 6-8 oz. unless you are talking a teenage boy, then double. You also want leftovers.
- This recipe scales up well but a large whole brisket may take 12-16 hours, and you want to read my discussion about the Texas crutch in the main post above.
- Good in refrigerator for 3-4 days and freezer for 3-4 months.
- Please see How to Set Up a Gas Grill for Smoking and A Beginners Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill for low and slow grill set up instructions if you need help.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Editor's Note: Originally Published July 28, 2014. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Today's dog picture features two very tired puppies. We were out of town for a week, and the dogs went to the dog spa. Yep, and it really is doggie vacation time. It took them two days to recover. Countryside Kennels Pet Resort & Spa. If you look around the site, you will see our girls in a few pictures.
Al
Hi there,
I appreciate the information you have put together and the images. I am currently in hour 4 of my first brisket using these instructions. I wanted to ask about the fat cap. There seems to be two sides to this topic. One side removes the fat cap and feels they get better rub flavor and smoke. While the other side thinks leaving the cap evened out gives it more moisture. In this example you removed the cap I was wondering what your thought was.
Thank you
DrDan
My big time smoker friends tell me, it is much ado about nothing. So with a grill, I take it off to get more bark and less mess to clean up. When I do my oven method, there is no bark and it is easy to just scrap it off when done.
Jeff
Very nice write up for gas grill brisket barbecuing.
I'm barbecuing my first brisket in a few days, a 14 pound monster and following your basic method.
Anything I need to do differently with such a large cut?
Do you mop?
DrDan
Hi Jeff,
First lets talk time. Mine usually run about 1.5 hr per pound but this is "cooking for two" so they tend to be smaller/thinner. You may well be 2 hrs per pound or a little more.
Moping and injection are individual choices. But on whole briskets, I would tend to do one or the other. I'm not the biggest fan of moping since you need to open the grill and disrupt the temperature that you worked hard to get. I think that is more for large smokers etc that can maintain temperature better if opened. You can look up some injections. Lots of options.
I love remote monitoring both the surface temperature and meat temperature so I don't need to disturb the cooking. If you can, that would make your experience better.
Don't get discourage about "the stall" where it just sets at the same temperature for a few hours. It's ok.
But like most cooking, you are cooking to a finial internal temperature and you want to get there slow to melt the connective tissue to butter here. 195 is my minimum but probably 198-205 is a better goal for me.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Bill Towner
Using this recipe, cooked the crap out of a $50 brisket! Put a lid on it, leave a fair amount of fat cap on and add some wine, onion and other water bearing veggies so you don't end up serving leather to your hungries
Robert W
Every one buys prepared (dry wood chips. If you have access to fruit trees,ie. apple pear peach cherry. It a great time to lightly prune 1/2" to 3/4" limbs from the inside area of the tree to slowly open the center of the tree to help ripen the fruit. Don't heavy trim cut only what you use that day, Cut with sharp pruning shears into 3 to 6 inch chunks(remove ALL leaves), Load your smoker tray in your gas grill, no tray , wrap in 4 layers of foil, poke tiny holes with a fork, you will get slow heavy smoke for hours, try micing it up. I usr 2 parts Hickory 3 peach 2 apple and 1part cherry, Works much better than any store bought chips I've ever tried...
DrDan
Hi Robert,
I aways thought that might work. Excellent tip. FYI- I'm copying this to the setting up a gas grill for smoking post.
Thanks for the hint.
Dan
Ray Delfranco
What is the desired internal temperature when the brisket is considered done?
DrDan
An internal temp of 195 plus is considered done. I like 200 a little better myself.
Helen
I'm going to make this brisket on Sunday. Any suggestions for a sauce/gravy to make to go with it? I am in Australia so I was thinking maybe a nice red wine jus?
DrDan
Hi Helen,
I don't really see this a wine type of dish.
Try these. We always eat brisket with Gate’s BBQ sauce from Kansas City which I buy by the case and have it shipped to me. Not an option for you but here is their recipe. https://www.food.com/recipe/gates-sons-kc-bbq-sauce-16745?ref=amp&addPhoto=true Note: this looks like a recipe for the hot version. Watch that red pepper.
Also, I have a great Memphis BBQ sauce that will go well with this. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/memphis-barbecue-sauce/
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Dan W
I didn't have kosher salt, so I substituted regular table salt. It made the rub way too salty. My mistake. I think your recipe would have been great if I hadn't screwed it up.
DrDan
Hi Dan (great name by the way...)
Yep that could do it. All rubs like this have lots of salt. Next time cut the salt in half if not kosher. I just did a pork butt today and I cut back the salt in the rub just for personal taste. I find the same thing with some brines. If you look in the FAQs, I do have a brief discussion about salt.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Wynne
Looks delicious! I'm curious, though... Why the long rest (1-2 hours) after cooking? Thanks!
DrDan
Hi Wynne,
The rest is to allow the moisture and fat to reabsorb back into the meat fibers and it will "firm up" a bit. If you try to cut the meat right off the grill, it will just rip apart. But after a rest (1 hour is fine) and cut across the grain, it will be great.
Thanks for the note
Dan
Bruce
Dr. Dan,
We are going to try and cook a 3 lb brisket today, how should we do it? We have a two burning grill and I am going to wrap the brisket in foil with seasoning on it, so what temp. and how long should I cook it?
DrDan
Hi Bruce,
I never cook wrapped in foil so really, I don’t have an answer for you. The following is without foil.
If you know your grill and have a grill surface thermometer, then indirect heat at 250 would be good. See https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/set-gas-grill-smoking-low-slow-cooking/ for more details.
Cook until internal temperature of about 195 or 200. With a 3 pounder, it will probably take about 3-4 hours. Variability due to grill, meat thickness etc.
Cooking at the wrong temp or to the wrong end-point with brisket will not give good results. You might want to look at the oven recipe https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/oven-baked-kansas-city-bbq-beef-brisket/ if you don’t haven’t had time to get the grill right or don’t have surface and instant read thermometers.
Hope that helps.
Dan
Jeannette Paladino
Hey Dan,
It looks like a recipe of delicious Brisket, I must try it out.
Although I do not cook these days, but my daughter will surely cook this for me and I am sure I am going to love it.
Chris Welch
I got a 13.90 brisket what's the best way to cook it and how long??
DrDan
Hi Chris,
This technique will work but cooking time goes up. So no specific answer. Mostly 1-2 hrs per pound is a good guess (from the internet) but it varies by thickness, weight (of course), exact grill temp and closeness to the flame for radiant effect. Mine always run 1 to 1.5 hrs per pound but some thinner ones have been a little less and thicker ones longer. Remember you are cooking to a temperature and not by time. Just my guess since I have never done a 13 pound brisket.
My favorite for very large whole brisket like you have is probably my oven technique. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/oven-baked-kansas-city-bbq-beef-brisket/. Again the time would increase due to the size. If you opt for the oven method you need a large pan with at least 2 inch sides. A sheet pan will not work.
You might want to do some more Googling about large briskets on a gas grill.
Dan
Jay
I used smoked paprika in place of regular and also add 2 tablespoons of garlic powder with the salt & pepper in the rub. I love how it turns out!
Paul
You rock! Thank you,
DrDan
Thanks Paul,
I do love my 70's classic rock
Dan
Gwen
I know this sounds funny but How long do you produce the smoke. Is it during the entire cooking time?
DrDan
You just need some smoke for flavor. 20-30 minutes will do nicely.
Dan
samantha eaton
thanks for the recipe, ill give it a look, im hoping it creates yummy bark!
samantha eaton
Thanks sounds great will give it a shot!
DrDan
Let me know if you do it... sounds like a good post.
Dan
Samantha
Prepped and in the fridge for tomorrow so will absolutely let you know- super excited!
Samantha
Came out absolutely gorgeous!
DrDan
Excellent, I will pickup a brisket and try it next week. Thanks for doing the first cooking for me...
Dan
samantha eaton
I love your recipes, your oven pulled pork is my absolute favorite and now looking to give this a whirl - any suggestions if i want to do this in the oven instead?
DrDan
I have a great easy oven based recipe I have used for 40 years at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/oven-baked-kansas-city-bbq-beef-brisket/ .
There is no "crust of spices" but it's really a great easy recipe.
DrDan
samantha eaton
I should add, I'd like it to have some bark!
DrDan
Well I can take an educated guess... I'm very good at educated guessing.
Prep the brisket per this recipe BUT rub with some liquid smoke before the spice rub. Very much like the pulled pork.
Cook at 250 on a rack like the pork to the final temp of 195 to 200. Uncovered of course. The size of the brisket will somewhat dictate the time but I'm guessing 4-6 hours. It could be a little longer if a whole brisket. Then follow the after cooking instructions above.
How is that....
Dan
PS there is no bark on my other oven recipe.
Franklin Thompson
How large a brisket for various cooking times?
DrDan
Excellent question... No specific answer. Mostly 1-2 hrs per pound is a good guess but it varies by thickness, wt (of course), exact grill temp and closeness to the flame for radiant effect. Mine always run 1 to 1.5 hrs per pound but some thinner ones have been a little less and thicker ones longer. Also it can be a little hard to keep the temp exactly where you want it.
DrDan
Laurie Peters
1.50lbs
Brigitte Nelson
It sounds wonderful, I would make this recipe for my Memorial Day Party. However, I do not have a temperature gauge on my grill. How do I know what the grill's temp. is? I do not want to find out, after 5 hours of grilling, that the grill was not hot enough and we would need more hours to get the meat done.
DrDan
The temperature gauges in the grill are almost worthless anyways. For 8-10 dollars you should be able to pick up a grill surface thermometer at a Home Depot or a hardware store. It will serve you well. Get the grill setup a day early and try to get the temp correct.
DrDan