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:
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"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.
Mitch says
you have point and flat backwards in the photo
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Mitch,
It almost looks like it but that is a large point. The point is a fattier part and if you buy a "point" it will generally have a layer of flat with it. I have never seen it sold separated but it would be more correct to me.
Dan
Andy C says
I do about 1 hour of hickory with my built-in smoke box...
So, you only keep the wood chips in the box, in the grill, smoking for 1 hour?
I thought the idea was to smoke it continously during the entire cook.
Could you clarify: how much smoke time is ideal (for a 5 lb brisket)?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Andy,
Welcome to the blog.
I generally smoke for an hour or two at most. That gives a lot of smoke flavor. It would be hard to do much more on a gas grill since you will need to keep opening the lid and I don't see it as needed.
Dan
Jim Green says
My goodness!! It’s a piece of meat. I was raised on a farm where we slaughtered our own beef, hogs, etc. and we didn’t have fancy grills like we have today- so you have to use a little common sense. My mom could cook this on a wood fired Home Comfort Range. I am lucky I am using a Beef Eater natural gas grill with all the bells and whistles. I really do like the recipe and a meat thermometer is a necessity! Cheers.
David says
You mentioned to smoke for an hour. Is this at the beginning or at the end?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi David,
Welcome to the blog.
I do it near the beginning. The amount of smoke is more of a personal taste. I find an hour or a bit more is enough for me. 2 hours is pushing it. One local smoker (with a restaurant) smokes the entire time. Way too much smoke for me.
Also, if you decide to do the Texas crunch for the stall, it would obviously block smoke.
Hope that helps and feel free to ask if you have other questions.
Dan
John Vaughan says
Hi Barry. Thanks for this. Great post! I’ve been searching all over for a brisket recipe to do in my bbq for my family. I now have a 2kg “flat” angus and will give it a burl tomorrow. Just a quick request, and I know I could do the conversions, but would you be able to do a quick edit of the key weights and temperatures to give us metric users a feel for what your talking about? For example, a 5 pound brisket is about 2.2kg, the key temperature of 225-250F would be 110-110C. It’d make reading it so much easier for the rest of the world! Cheers mate, John
Brisket says
Degrees what? C or F?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
American blog so all temperatures are Fahrenheit, not Celsius. I lived in both worlds in medicine for 40 years, patients talked in F and we talked to each other in C but then back to patients in F. I got very good at conversion.
Dan
Al says
Hi Dr Dan
I'm wondering what you would think of parchment paper as a simple substitute for butcher paper.
Thanks for sharing this. Will be trying it (very) soon.
Kindly,
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Al,
Welcome to the blog.
I have heard of it but never used it. The issues with it are it doesn't "breath" (let some mosture through so the bark is not as good), and it is thinner and not as wide (so it harder to use). While some will use it routinely, most seem to use it only in an emergency. Do some Googling for a variety of opinions.
Dan
Downtowndad says
Thank you so much for the guidance. I did a 10# brisket on my Weber Summit using indirect heat from the side burners at around 250 on a half-sheet pan with a grate. I put a water/cider vinegar 1:1 mix in the pan.
One thing that I don't recall seeing in the instructions: FAT SIDE DOWN. Otherwise, no bark will form. You can, theoretically, start with fat up and then flip at some point "halfway."
I used your salt:pepper ratio, which I found too peppery for my taste (to each their own!) Next time, I will do a 2:1:1 (salt:pepper:granulated garlic).
I did NOT use any smoke. Just rub. It still was fantastic.
Took about 10 hours. The stall at 160 lasted about 3 hours.
That is definitely something that will give a person a false sense of security - you'll get to 140/150 in not-too-long, then at 160, it'll suddenly stall. Of course, it's to be expected. Just ride it out and trust your thermometer (as long as you can trust it.) If you start opening the grill to check on it, you'll lose heat.
The good think for me is that, when I did add water/vinegar to the pan, I was able to lightly increase the heat to get the temp back to 250.
Ronni says
Dan,
I used this recipe on Thanksgiving with an Angus flat and used smoked paprika. It took about 1.5 hours per pound and everybody loved it!! I used a 3-burner Weber Genesis grill with hickory chips. I did my best to keep the heat at or below 250, adding a handful of chips about every 30 minutes and flipping the meat every 2 hours. Thanks for a great recipe!
Josh says
Thanks for posting this. You mentioned to set up the grill for smoking. I have a simple 4-burner propane grill. I don't see a smoking option. I can get the temp right for slow cooking and can heat it directly or indirectly. Is there some way I can generate smoke inside my grill to accomplish what you're recommending? What if I just put a wood chips in a metal bowl inside the grill? Would that do it?
Thanks in advance. Josh
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Josh,
Welcome to the blog.
Grill set up and smoking options are linked in the post but you may have missed it. It is covered here. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/set-gas-grill-smoking-low-slow-cooking/ Since it is relatively long and used for other recipes in addition to brisket.
Briefly, you can use a foil pouch with holes punched in it or get a cast iron smoking box discussed there. Place either over the hot burner.
Hope that helps.
Dan
TJ says
I love the smoke tubes for use with smoke pellets. I use 2 tubes for brisket.
JoyV says
DrDan.. this is my first try at brisket and am using your directions. One question though. Do I turn the meat or just leave it alone throughout the entire cooking process?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Joy,
Welcome to the blog.
No flipping is needed.
Dan
BARRY L PANITZ says
Man, I'm so glad I found your "101 Cooking for two" blog! But I need your help. Here's what I did: Set up everything as per your instructions on my Weber Spirit 2 gas grill. Did the smoker box--but never, ever got any smoke, dunno why. But, that's the first of my problems. I kept the heat as close as I could to your 225-250, and mostly between 240-250, which as I found was pretty hard on the Spirit 2-just a 1/16 inch dial turn would make huge jumps in heat output of my grill ( I had kept off the center and rightmost burners for indirect heat cooking, with the smoker box over the leftmost burner. The brisket was centered between the center and right burners. I reached an internal temp as measured by by Igrill2 thermometer, which backed down to 143. I was surprised by this as I didn't change anything. But, then,the internal temp stalled there for approximate 2 1/2 hours, in which time I was going crazy. Finally, it went to 146, then 148, and stayed there for another 1 1/2 hours. Slowly it went to 151, but this was after 6-7 hours of cooking. (Still, never had any smoke). I got really worried about the whole thing because it was taking entirely too long. I jacked the ambient temp to 260 and the temps started rising, but stalled again in the low 170's. I then jacked the ambient temp even higher to 300 and finally 315 just to get some internal temp movement. After 14 hours, 22 minutes, and these high ambient temps, I took it off at 195 internal temp. I was worn out, and dunno what the devil I did wrong--with the lack of any smoke and the complete stalls I incurred during cooking.
Anyway, we tasted the this morning after a 2 hour rest in towels and inside a cooler, then placed in fridge because it was then 2 am.
This morning, the taste was good, but uber dry. The recipe is pretty doggone good, but next time I'll tone down the salt.
Tell me where I went wrong, please.
Be well.
Barry
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Barry,
Welcome to the blog and let’s see if we can shed some light on this.
I’m not directly familiar with your grill but it seems to have three burners front to back. The iGrill has probes for internal monitoring of the meat. There is an optional probe for air temp that clips to the grates (so a grill surface temperature thermometer.)
I will assume you when through my setup guide for the grill at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/set-gas-grill-smoking-low-slow-cooking/.
So what could go wrong?
Mostly it is temperature and temperature measurement.
The smokebox not smoking seems odd, like it was not hot enough in that area. If it is over a hot burner, it should smoke. So either the hot burner is not very hot or the box is not directly over that burner. One other reason is that to smoke, there has to be the oxygen to be sure if you are using something like a foil pouch, it has enough vent holes punched in it. Wood would generally smoke even at 250-300.
The surface thermometer needs to be measuring the temp in the indirect area of the meat, not the burner that is on.
So check the placement of the air probe. It needs to be in the indirect area away from the direct burner. You might want to do a quick check of the surface temperature in the direct area also for information.
If all that looks good, I would get a $10 grill surface and an instant-read thermometer and double-check if the iGrill is accurate in what it is telling you.
So, check (play with) your grill without cooking things and see if you can get the right temperatures in the right places and smoke. Hot over the direct area (will probably be 500ish) and about 250 in the indirect area.
Let me know what you think.
Dan
BARRY L PANITZ says
Thanks for your response. I'll play around with making some smoke and the internal temps.
Mike S says
Hi Barry, I have done this type of smoking for quite awhile. Usually before putting the meat on I need to put the wood chips on the burner in the smoker box or foil pack I crank the heat to get the wood smoking then drop it to the desired smoking temp. The wood will continue to burn giving off the smoke.
David G Strand says
Hey Dan
My wife is allergic to paprika - so what would you suggest as an alternative for the bark (brown sugar is fine)
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi David,
Welcome to the blog.
My rub is just a simple suggestion so probably look around for one without paprika. Some paprika is for a single chili and some are a mixture of several types of ground peppers. Chili powder is frequently used but is always a blend of various things and may include some paprika or simular ingredients depending on the brand. So probably not very safe for her.
I will say if I had an allergy, I would not use similar ingredients. So probably look around for a rub you can use safely. All the ones I use have paprika or chili powder. You can make your own custom rub - see https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/8311-rub/ for suggestions of what you might want to use.
Hope that helps some.
Dan
Farah says
Thank you for the thorough explanation and recipe! 👏🏼
Here's my review on a 2.6 kilo (almost 5.8 pound) flat brisket :
- I set up the brisket on the upper tray (aka warming tray) of a gas grill with the fat facing up. I placed a punctured packet foil with 1 cup of dry hickory chips on the burner and i replaced it on the hour.
- Next time, I will take the brisket out at 190-195°F as taking it out at 200-205°F was too dry in my opinion.
- I'm also going to change the rub a bit, add some more freshly ground pepper and perhaps even some coffee!
- Total cooking time was 5 hours. Total time wrapped in cooler was 2 hours.
Thank you so much for this recipe, I really enjoyed it. I'm glad I went with it instead of the other (complicated) ones 👍🏼
Thanks, Dr Dan!
Kathleen Velueta says
Early on in your instructions about time, you state 1-1 1/2 hrs. Do you mean "per pound"?
Kathleen
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Kathleen,
Welcome to the blog.
You are right and I have now clarified that point and added it in the recipe card area also.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Wayne Hedrick says
Thanks! Just smoked my very first brisket on a weber grill with the top-of-grates smoke box. I've read everything at Weber, watched a bunch of videos, read a bunch of other posts, read the brisket section in my BBQ Bible...
These are the best instructions that I've seen, so I just followed your instructions exactly, and it worked out beautifully. The little 2 pound brisket is delicious!
Thank you for being so clear in your instructions!
Wayne