Cooking juicy and tender brisket on a gas grill is easier than you think. A 5-pound beef brisket takes about 5–6 hours cooked low and slow at 250°F, until it reaches a final temperature of 200°F+. Along the way, you’ll get wood-smoke flavor and a crispy bark.
Learn how to grill beef brisket with a simple dry rub and an easy gas-grill setup for low and slow cooking. Everything you need for tender, flavorful grilled beef brisket on the grill, plus clear time and temperature guidance and troubleshooting tips.
Jump To (scroll for more)
- ❤️ Why Grill Brisket on a Gas Grill?
- 🐄 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:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"Thanks, this technique and explanation is fantastic! Haven't done it for a few years and these instructions are great."
❤️ Why Grill Brisket on a Gas Grill?
- Steady low-and-slow heat. Gas grills hold 225°–250°F without the fuss.
- Real smoke + good bark. Wood chips give classic brisket flavor.
- Easier for beginners. Heat control is simple and predictable.
- No fancy gear needed. If you have a gas grill, you’re set.
- Clear time and temp targets. No guessing when it’s done.
- Short
🐄 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
Keep your gas grill steady at 225°–250°F in the indirect-heat zone. This low-and-slow range melts collagen, builds bark, and keeps brisket tender.
✅ Never cook by time alone — 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 water moves to the surface and evaporates — which uses up heat energy and stalls the cooking process.
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.
Injecting: I don’t inject — I want brisket to taste like brisket, not apple juice. Injecting can add flavor, and some cooks say it helps with moisture, but others say it makes little difference. If there is an effect, it’s usually marginal. If you decide to try it, research carefully — mistakes can ruin a brisket.
Brining: Some people swear by it, though most competition smokers don’t. I’ve never been a fan — in my experience, brining beef mutes the natural “beef” flavor rather than improving it.
📖The Recipe Card
How to Cook Brisket on a Gas Grill (Low & Slow)
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.
Alana says
Hi Dan,
we are planning to make this brisket recipe, but have one question. After it rests for 1-2 hours, will the brisket be cold? Do you recommend 1 hour or 2, or does it not make a difference?
Thank you.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Alana,
The rest will let the meat fibers relax and absorb fluid and the melted collagen. A minimum rest is 30 minutes but 1 hr is better. I give a range of 1-2 hr to help with the timing of eating. Well wrapped with foil and a few towels, it will usually be warm up to 3-4 hours.
Dan
Baker says
OMG. My hubby said to cook this again ASAP thank you for the great instruction and helpful hints. We are one happy couple tonight.
Jamie says
Do you wrap the brisket while cooking or only after cooked?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Jamie,
Welcome to the blog.
If you are talking about the Texas Crutch for the stall then you wrap when the internal temp is 150-160. That is discussed in detail in the post. That is separate and optional. I generally don't do this since it is more important in large briskets.
But when done with cooking, you should wrap with foil and towels to slow the cooling. That will help the meat fibers absorbed the melted collagen and any fluid. I don't consider this wrap as optional. It is a must-do.
I hope that clarifies.
Dan
Christy says
This was delicious! My timing was off and after 5 hours on grill, I ended up finishing it the next day in the oven. Best ever! Thank you
Kirk Reynaud says
When do you if at all . Put home made BBQ sauce on it ?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Kirk,
Welcome to the blog.
The sauce should be added at serving. Try to just reheat and sauce what will be eaten at that time. The acid of the tomatoes will hurt the texture. So with brisket and pulled pork, you should protect them from that until time to consume.
Dan
Ramus says
I got one more question for now.
You write that you add smoke for 1 hour. Is that at the start, the middle, or the end of the grilling, or?
Best regards,
Rasmus
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Ramus,
Welcome to the blog.
For a long cooking like brisket, I don't add water anymore. A gas grill is just not a tight enough environment that is matters much in any case. If you are cooking something with lots of un-trimmed fat, it might help prevent flareups.
My smoking is at the start. I find one hour is enough for most people to have a nice smoke taste (and it makes for good pictures of smoke coming out of the grill.) Some people will argue about the amount and timing but it is like fat-pad up or down with pork butt. Just a matter of opinion.
Enjoy your brisket.
Dan
Greg Silvers says
Hi, how long and what temperature would you recommend for a 2.5 lb brisket please? We’ve just cooked ours for 5 hours but it turned out really tuff.
Thanks for your help.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Greg,
Welcome to the blog.
The most common reason for "tough" brisket is not getting it to the right internal temperature. I have had a few briskets that I think were just "tough"- probably miss graded by the inspectors.
If you had your grill temperature correct (250), generally a 2.5 pound brisket would usually take about 4-5 hours, give or take some. Be sure your surface thermometer is correct and your internal meat thermometer and get to 200 degrees or a bit more as discussed. 5 hours seems a bit long.
So I'm not much help other than just to say check the thermometers carefully. I have had both surface thermometers and meat thermometers malfunction.
Dan
Rasmus says
Hi DrDan,
I am planning to try this out tomorrow. The meat already got the rub, and is waiting in the refrigerator :)
After reading you guide here and the one about the low temperature in the grill, I do have a question that I hope you can clearify.
Should there be water in the drip pan? I don't see it mentioned here, but in the other guide you write
"Usually, you should add water to the drip pan for added moisture in the grill".
I don't know if it is important whether there is water in the pan or not, so hopefully you can tell me:) ?
Best regards,
Rasmus
Jim Bonk says
You might want to try cooking on the Warming Rack ! It gets the meat away from the high heat of the grill and you can put a pan of wood chips under the meat on the grill surface. The smoke has to pass around the meat to exit out of the back of the grill. I cook several items up on the warming rack, it's a must gentler place to cook things that do not require high heat.
Jim
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Jim,
Welcome to the blog.
Yep, that will work too. The meat must get "out of the line of fire" so to speak and have the right temperature. I do like the idea of the smoke directly under the meat.
If you set the grill up for indirect cooking correctly, either will work. My warming rack is only about 4 inches wide so brisket would not fit well for me. I have experimented with chicken breasts there and use it for things like potato wedges especially if I need my grill surface area for something else.
Thanks for the note and rating. Have a good holiday weekend.
Dan
Marshall says
Good day! We are loving this recipe and discussions. We have a masterbuilt electric smoker that we'd like to use rather than the grill. Would everything be the same? We have i'd say a 2 1/2 lb beef brisket that we cannot wait to try. The question comes up again about the water tray.
Suggestions please?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Marshall,
Welcome to the blog.
I would say the instructions are basically the same as long as you are monitoring the internal temperature. The shape of the cut will affect the cooking time a lot, specifically the thickness of the cut perhaps more related to the cooking time then the weigh.
The water tray is traditional. I don't feel it does much in a grill but in more closed environment like you have, it may have some effect.
Dan
Philip Dally says
Losing all the fat and moisture while grilling, if you started with a 5 pound brisket what do you think it would weigh afterwards?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Philip,
Welcome to the blog.
I'm losing that fat cap either before or after cooking. I'm not serving it. So without the fat cap and the fat/moisture loss of cooking, the loss is probably about 25%. My "8 oz" serving is a "how much to cook" not a weight at the end. As McDonald's would say of the quarter pounder, weight prior to cooking. So the 8 oz becomes 6 after but still a large serving.
Hope that helps
Thanks for the question (a good one) and the rating.
Dan
Bill Blankenship says
I'm a novice at this but willing to give it a go. Got all the ingredients you said just go low and slow. I'll let you know how it fairs. Thanks
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Bill,
Welcome to the blog.
Hope it works well for you.
Dan
Monica says
First time I ever cooked a brisket. I did modify the cooking process some, but this recipe and grilling process was the core of it and it was awesome! Delicious, everyone loved it. Thanks a bunch!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Monica,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Thank for the note and the rating.
Dan
Kimberly Auzenne says
I’ve always cooked on a regular smoker, however I only has access to a gas grill right now and purchased a small trimmed brisket last night which I’m cooking tomorrow.
When you are Recommending to “add some smoke” what are you referring to? Like a Liquid Smoke type marinate or what?
Also how/where do you add wood chips to a gas grill?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Kimberly,
Welcome to the blog.
That step #6 with "Add some smoke" is where you start smoking with the chips by whatever method you are using. I have a built in smoker box for chips with it's own burner but for years I used a cast iron smoking box (I have a link to one in the Shop). I don't use liquid smoke on the grill but I do use some with my oven pulled pork and brisket. And my pork butt in a crock pot.
Since you are not use to a gas grill, you might want to check my guide to low and slow cooking and smoking on a gas grill. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/set-gas-grill-smoking-low-slow-cooking/
Sorry it wasn't clear. Let me know if you have other questions.
Dan
Ant in Cle says
Many tipsters recommend covering brisket with foil after reaching about 150 degrees. What are your thoughts?
DrDan says
The foil trick is one commonly suggested. When cooking brisket, it will hit “the stall” at about 150 degrees. At that point, moisture is rising to the surface and evaporating which keeps the meat at the same temperature for a while.
I think it happens more when you inject the meat and have more free liquid to evaporate. By wrapping with foil you can stop the evaporation and “power through” the stall. The cooking time will actually decrease by a few hours. If you wrap, that crust is not as firm but it will be slightly more moist.
If you want to wrap then use a double layer of heavy duty foil wrapped TIGHT. You want as little air space as possible. The foil stays on until ready to cut. Obviously leave a thermometer probe in place.
Kevin Jupena says
Hey, Dan. Great article on cooking Brisket on the grill. I have smoked chicken, steaksand pork. I do know my grill, but your article on getting to know what your grill can/does do, is a great read.
I am about to attempt an 8-10 lb brisket. Been grilling for about 20+ years. And always learn what each grill can do. I have never attempt a beef brisket before, in all my years cooking at home. On the professional side, I am a chef by trade.
I am getting to my question... (retired now)
I am going to use ground Chipotle with smoked paprika, brown sugar, granulated garlic, onion powder, fresh craked blackpepper, kosher salt, (your suggestion) going to rub smoke before I season the meat. What is you thought on the season mix?
I do use a home make smoker box. Made out of aluminum.
And would you want to come for dinner?
DrDan says
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the invite but my wife has me scheduled. Also, if you're doing it today, you won't be done by dinner.
Now your rub. It sounds wonderful. Good luck with dinner.
Dan
Anne says
Great comments. May I offer for consideration:
Our home town butcher recommends to marinade the brisket overnight in the refrigerator: place meat in a very large bowl and add a full 2-liter of name brand cola. It breaks down the membrane. I use this practice every time I grill my very large brisket. I start out very early in the morning making my own smoke box and while the grill is heating add a little rub tot he meat; place on grill and let it cook low and slow for no less than 7 to 8 hours. Mop with bbq sauce last half hour. Remove from the grill and wrap in heavy duty foil, then in heavy bath towels and place in a picnic cooler to rest for at least 2 hours. Falls apart. Still hot so we have to wear gloves to tear the meat.
Al says
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 says
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 says
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 says
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