Cooking beef brisket on a grill is easier than most people think. With indirect heat, a good BBQ dry rub, and optional wood smoke, you can make tender low-and-slow brisket with great bark without a dedicated smoker.
This beginner-friendly guide walks you through gas grill setup, timing, and temperature tips for tender brisket with great bark.
⏰ Quick Answer: How Long to Cook Brisket on a Gas Grill
Cook beef brisket at 225°–250°F with indirect heat on a gas grill.
- Brisket takes about 1 to 1½ hours per pound, depending on thickness and weight.
- A 5-pound brisket usually takes about 5–6 hours.
- Brisket is done at 200°–205°F internal temperature—not by time alone.
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐄 TL;DR — Recipe Summary
- 🐄 Ingredients
- 👨🍳 Quick Overview: How to Cook Brisket on a Gas Grill
- ⏰ How Long Does Brisket Take on a Gas Grill?
- 🌡️ What Temperature is Brisket Done?
- 🔥 What Temperature to Grill Beef Brisket
- 📚Reference posts for more information
- 🐄 What Brisket to Buy (Flat vs Point Cuts)
- ❄️ Storage and Reheating Leftovers
- 🌡️ What is “The Stall”?
- 📦 The Texas Crutch
- ❓ FAQs
- 📖The Recipe Card
Featured Comment from Matt:
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"Thanks, this technique and explanation is fantastic! Haven't done it for a few years and these instructions are great."
🐄 TL;DR — Recipe Summary
What it is: A beginner-friendly way to cook tender beef brisket on a gas grill with indirect heat and wood smoke.
Why you’ll love it: Real low-and-slow BBQ flavor and bark without needing a smoker or complicated setup.
How to make it: Season the brisket with dry rub, cook at 225°–250°F with indirect heat and optional real wood smoke, then rest well before slicing.
🐄 Ingredients
- Beef brisket – use the size that fits your needs. I usually cook a 4–5 pound point or flat cut, which fits well on a gas grill.
- Dry rub – a simple mix of brown sugar, paprika, kosher salt, and black pepper. Or use your favorite brisket rub.
- Wood chips (optional but recommended) – hickory, mesquite, apple, or cherry add smoke flavor on a gas grill.
👨🍳 Quick Overview: How to Cook Brisket on a Gas Grill
1. Season: trim some fat if you wish, then coat all sides generously with dry rub.
2. Set up the grill: steady 225°–250°F with indirect heat, a drip pan underneath, and a way to generate smoke.
✅ Pro Tip: Opening the hood can drop the heat and take up to 30 minutes to recover. Use a remote thermometer to monitor grill temps (225°–275°F).
3. Cook: place the brisket on the indirect side over the drip pan.
✅ Pro Tip: Keep a backup propane tank handy for this long cook. Always go by final temperature (200°–205°F), never just by time.
4. Add smoke: if using wood chips, replenish as needed. Cook until the internal temp reaches 200°–205°F — about 5–6 hours for a 5-pound brisket.
✅ Pro Tip: Wood smoke is optional but highly recommended. I like 1–2 hours with hickory, mesquite, or fruit woods.
5. Rest: remove, wrap in foil and towels, and rest 1–2 hours.
✅ Pro Tip: Don’t skip the rest. Even 20 minutes helps, but 1–2 hours is best. Well-wrapped brisket can rest up to 4 hours to fit your timing.
6. Slice or chop to serve: cut thin across the grain for slices, or chop for sandwiches.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
⏰ How Long Does Brisket Take on a Gas Grill?
Brisket takes about 1 to 1½ hours per pound at 225°–250°F. A 5-pound brisket normally needs 5–6 hours on a gas grill. But the stall at 150°–160°F can add extra time, so treat the estimate as a guide—not a promise.
✅ So plan your day accordingly — cook until the internal temp hits 200°–205°F, even if it takes longer than the estimate.
🌡️ What Temperature is Brisket Done?
Brisket is done when the internal temperature reaches 200°–205°F. Below 195°F, it won’t shred or slice as tenderly. Around 203°F is the sweet spot many competition smokers target. 205°–210°F is still acceptable, but beyond 210°F the brisket will start to dry out and lose texture.
🔥 What Temperature to Grill Beef Brisket
Low-and-slow indirect cooking at 225°–250°F gives brisket time to break down connective tissue, become tender, and build bark.
✅ Final internal temperature matters more than cooking time estimates. Brisket is only done when it reaches an internal temperature of 200°–205°F.
Grilling tips for beef brisket
- Use the grill you have. Gas, charcoal, pellet — any grill works as long as you can keep a steady 225°–250°F and enough space for indirect heat.
- Keep the lid closed. Every time you open it, the heat drops and can take up to 30 minutes to recover. Use a remote thermometer so you don’t have to peek.
- Stay in range. Above 275°F brisket can dry out; below 225°F it may never get tender. Aim for steady heat, not perfection.
- Fuel matters. Brisket cooks take hours. Have a backup propane tank or extra charcoal so you don't run out halfway through.
✅ Pro Tip: HELP — I’m out of gas. All is not lost: move the brisket onto a rimmed baking sheet (with a rack if you have one) and finish in the oven at 250°F until it reaches the final temperature.
You must have a reliable grill surface thermometer to do this correctly, and a continuous-read probe meat thermometer for the brisket itself is very useful.
🛒 Recommended Thermometers
Here are some suggestions to help you succeed, but you can find many more good products at your local stores. All links below are affiliate links, meaning I make a small profit from your purchases. This commission does not affect your price. We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Maverick XR-50 4 Probe Remote Thermometer
Thermapen™ One from Thermoworks™
CDN Grill Surface Thermometer
Thermopop™ by Thermoworks™
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📚Reference posts for more information
- How To Set Up Your Gas Grill for Smoking and Low and Slow Cooking
- A Beginner's Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill
- BBQ Dry Rub – for a more complicated flavor profile
- Memphis Dry Rub Recipe
- Memphis BBQ Sauce Recipe
🐄 What Brisket to Buy (Flat vs Point Cuts)
Brisket is sold either as a whole packer brisket (8–12 pounds) or cut in half into the flat and the point. Unless you’re feeding a crowd, most home cooks will want one of the halves.
- Flat cut (4–6 pounds): leaner, slices neatly, and the cut you’ll most often find in grocery stores.
- Point cut (4–5 pounds): more fat and marbling, juicier, and develops an excellent bark.
- Whole packer (8–12 pounds): great for parties, but usually too big for a standard gas grill.
👉 For two or small families, choose a flat or point in the 4–5 pound range — it fits most gas grills and will cook in about 5–6 hours at 225°–250°F.
❄️ Storage and Reheating Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Brisket freezes well for up to 3 months.
Reheating: Cover and warm in a 300°F oven until hot. Unlike pulled pork, brisket can handle a splash of BBQ sauce during reheating — the acidity won’t hurt the texture. Add sauce if you like, or reheat plain.
Easiest Oven Baked BBQ Beef Brisket
Learn how simple it is to make smoky and tender oven-baked BBQ Beef Brisket with this never-fake brisket recipe—just two ingredients and 5 minutes of prep time—everybody deserves great BBQ.
🌡️ What is “The Stall”?
“The Stall” happens when brisket (or pork butt) reaches about 150°–160°F. At this point, the meat fibers contract, squeezing water out of the cells. That moisture evaporates from the surface, cooling the meat and slowing (staling) the cooking.
For most meats, this wouldn’t matter — steaks and pork chops are done long before 200°F. But with brisket (and pork butt), it matters because they need to reach 200°+ to become tender.
The stall may last for hours, depending on the size of the cut and other factors — sometimes as long as 6 hours for a large whole brisket.
The stall can be minimized with a classic smoker technique known as “The Texas Crutch.”
📦 The Texas Crutch
The “Texas Crutch” is a classic smoker’s trick to push through the stall. It means tightly wrapping the brisket (usually in butcher paper, though heavy-duty foil is more common at home) to trap moisture and stop evaporation. Around 90% of competition smokers use it — but remember, they’re usually cooking very large whole briskets.
By wrapping, you create a mini-environment with 100% relative humidity next to the meat. The fibers will still contract and release water, but without evaporation, the brisket won’t cool itself down — so the cooking continues instead of stalling.
✅ Pros of the Texas Crutch
- Time: You can save hours, especially with larger cuts.
- Moisture: Some juice re-absorbs as the beef passes 180°F, making the meat a little moister (though the effect is modest).
- Smoke control: On a smoker, wrapping limits smoke exposure if you don’t want it too strong.
⚠️ Cons of the Texas Crutch
- Bark damage: Steam softens your hard-earned crunchy bark. You can counter this a bit, but not completely.
- Extra fuss: Wrapping takes work, and many people find it more trouble than it’s worth.
- Heat loss: Opening the grill to wrap drops the temperature, and it takes effort to get it steady again.
📝 The Texas Crutch: Technique and My Take
- Choose your wrap: Butcher paper (the pink kind, not wax-coated) is best for bark, though most people use heavy-duty foil since it’s always on hand.
- When to wrap: Start in the 150°–160°F range, once the bark is dark red to black and “set up,” not mushy.
- Prep the wrap: Get two large sheets ready so you can double-wrap quickly.
- Handle the grill lid: Open only as far as needed and close immediately — every second open costs heat.
- Wrap tight: Really tight. Crimp the seams and ends to leave as little space as possible.
- Probe access: Crimp snugly around your remote, continuous-read thermometer — it’s required to do this right.
- Finish the cook: Return to the grill until the brisket reaches 200°–205°F.
- Optional bark boost: If you want a firmer bark, unwrap around 195°–200°F and then finish cooking to 205°F.
Why I don’t usually do this
- I rarely bother with the Texas Crutch. I’m usually cooking smaller brisket cuts, so the stall isn’t as long.
- I also love a good crunchy bark, which wrapping tends to soften.
- The so-called “moisture boost” isn’t huge — much of what people think of as moisture is really melted collagen, which happens naturally between 160° and 180°F.
❓ FAQs
Plan on about ½ pound per person. For teenage boys, aim for a figure closer to 1–1½ pounds – and always plan for leftovers.
It doesn’t really matter. The moisture comes from melted connective tissue, not the fat cap. Most competition smokers agree it makes no difference.
Some pitmasters leave it on, arguing it protects the meat. Others say it makes a greasy mess and that collagen provides most of the moisture anyway.
A compromise is to trim the fat cap to about ¼ inch thick. That’s what I usually do – I want tender brisket with bark, not a chunk of fat on my plate.
I usually skip both. A good brisket already has plenty of beef flavor and connective tissue for tenderness. Injecting may add flavor, while brining can slightly change texture, but most backyard cooks won’t notice a major difference.
Yes. A gas grill works very well for brisket if you can maintain indirect heat around 225°–250°F. Optional wood smoke adds traditional BBQ flavor and helps create bark without needing a dedicated smoker. Other grills also work if you can maintain steady low-and-slow temperatures.
📖The Recipe Card
Brisket on a Gas Grill (Low and Slow BBQ)
Ingredients
- 5 pound beef brisket - (or size of your choice)
- wood chips (ickory, mesquite, or fruit woods suggested)
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup paprika
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Use a half or whole brisket and rub of your choice.
- (Optional) Trim large chunks of fat and the fat cap. Some leave it untrimmed or at ¼ inch thick — it’s a personal choice.
- Use the rub of your choice, or you may use mine. For my rub, mix ¼ cup each of brown sugar and paprika. Add 2 tablespoons each of kosher salt and black pepper and mix well.
- Coat all sides of the brisket heavily with rub. If time allows, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Remove from the fridge about 1 hour before cooking.
- While the brisket is resting, set up the grill for a steady temperature of about 225°–250°F with indirect heat, a drip pan on the indirect side, and a way to create smoke (optional).
- Place the brisket on the indirect side, over the drip pan.
- Add smoke (optional): Use a smoker box or foil packet for 1–2 hours of wood smoke using hickory, mesquite, or fruit woods.
- Cook to an internal temperature of 200°–205°F, approximately 6 hours, for a 5-pound brisket.
- Remove from the grill, wrap in foil and towels, and rest 1–2 hours.
- Remove any fat layer, then cut the meat thinly across the grain or chop it to serve.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Grill setup is the most important step – indirect heat and steady low-and-slow temps are key.
- Use any rub you like, but the simple one provided works well.
- Expect 1–1½ hours per pound as a rough time estimate.
- Be sure to wrap and let sit after cooking for 1–2 hours. But the absolute minimum is 20 minutes.
- You must cut across the grain or chop to serve.
- See the post for details on injecting, brining, the stall, and the Texas Crutch.
- For serving size: cook ½ pound per person, but double or triple for teenage boys. And you want leftovers.
- Whole packer briskets (8–12 lbs) may take 12–16 hours – see the main post for tips.
- Storage: Refrigerate up to 4 days, freeze up to 4 months.
- Need help? 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 setup instructions if you need help.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Editor's Note: Originally Published July 28, 2014. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Bill Towner says
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 says
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 says
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 says
What is the desired internal temperature when the brisket is considered done?
DrDan says
An internal temp of 195 plus is considered done. I like 200 a little better myself.
Helen says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
Looks delicious! I'm curious, though... Why the long rest (1-2 hours) after cooking? Thanks!
DrDan says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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 says
I got a 13.90 brisket what's the best way to cook it and how long??
DrDan says
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 says
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 says
You rock! Thank you,
DrDan says
Thanks Paul,
I do love my 70's classic rock
Dan
Gwen says
I know this sounds funny but How long do you produce the smoke. Is it during the entire cooking time?
DrDan says
You just need some smoke for flavor. 20-30 minutes will do nicely.
Dan
samantha eaton says
thanks for the recipe, ill give it a look, im hoping it creates yummy bark!
samantha eaton says
Thanks sounds great will give it a shot!
DrDan says
Let me know if you do it... sounds like a good post.
Dan
Samantha says
Prepped and in the fridge for tomorrow so will absolutely let you know- super excited!
Samantha says
Came out absolutely gorgeous!
DrDan says
Excellent, I will pickup a brisket and try it next week. Thanks for doing the first cooking for me...
Dan
samantha eaton says
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 says
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 says
I should add, I'd like it to have some bark!
DrDan says
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 says
How large a brisket for various cooking times?
DrDan says
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 says
1.50lbs
Brigitte Nelson says
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 says
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