Grill Tips, Que&A

How to Smoke a Brisket on Your Oakford Pellet Grill

How to Smoke a Brisket on Your Oakford Pellet Grill

You’d be hard-pressed to find anything tastier than a tender, perfectly smoked Texas-style brisket. And today, we’re gonna walk you through how to smoke one to perfection on the Oakford 790 Pellet Grill. 

Oakford 790 pellet grill

The Oakford 790 features a 6-in-1 cooking system with high-gloss enamel-finish cast iron cooking grids, boasting a whopping 790 square inches of total cooking space. More than enough room for today’s brisket. Meanwhile, the digital SureTemp™ controller makes it easy to monitor our cook via the Nexgrill app. And the i-Site™ pellet view indicator will let us know when if we’re ever running low on hardwood pellets. And all these great features come backed by a 5-year warranty.

Brisket 101

Before we start smoking, let’s talk briefly about a brisket’s anatomy…

Brisket Anatomy

There are two important sides to identify: the ‘fat’ side and the ‘meat’ side.

The Point and the Flat

Next, let’s define the two overlapping muscles that comprise a brisket:
You have what’s known as ‘the flat’, seen here – and ‘the point’, here.

Trimming Your Brisket

Here’s how to trim your brisket.

Trimmed Brisket

  1. Trim the fat side of the brisket down to about a ¼”
  2. Over on the meat side, remove any hard fat that won’t render during the smoking process

By removing all this fat, you’re making it easier for the smoke to penetrate and infuse flavor into your brisket. As an added perk, it also cuts down on cooking time!

Seasoning Your Brisket

Seasoned Brisket

When it comes to seasoning, you can ask a hundred pitmasters for advice and you’ll probably get a hundred different answers. There are many different seasonings you can try, but all you really need is a 50/50 mixture of coarsely-cracked pepper and kosher salt.

  • Apply a generous amount of 50/50 mixture evenly across the entire brisket and pat it in.
  • Let the seasoned brisket sit for about 30 minutes, flip it to the other side – and repeat the process.

Grilling Your Brisket

Brisket being smoked

Now it’s time to fire up your Oakford Pellet Grill on Smoke Mode at around 225°F.

Today, we’re using oak hardwood pellets, which we can’t recommend enough when it comes to grilling brisket.

To start, set your brisket into the grill, fat side up.

Brisket with probe

If you want to track your brisket’s internal temperature, insert a probe into the thickest part of the flat.

Smoke your brisket with the lid closed for 5-6 hours, or until your meat probe reads 160°F.

Texas Crutch

Then remove the brisket from the grill and apply a Texas Crutch, which is grill code for wrapping it in foil or butcher paper! This technique keeps the meat tender and juicy while your brisket finishes cooking.

Once you’re all wrapped up, the brisket is ready to return to the grill for another 1-2 hours, or until the internal temperature hits 200°F.

Resting Your Brisket

When the internal temp hits 200°F, it’s time to remove your brisket, wrap it in butcher paper, and let it rest for at least an hour. If time allows, rest it even longer.

Somewhere in the 2-4 hours range is ideal.

Slicing Your Brisket

Sliced Brisket

Once we’re good and rested, it’s the moment of truth…

Using a long, serrated knife, slice your brisket against the grain of the meat, which will break down the muscle fibers evenly, resulting in tender, juicy brisket you’ll want to smoke again and again.

Now Everyone’s Invited to Smoke Legendary Melt-in-your-Mouth Brisket

For more grill tips, techniques, and Que & A videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or continue exploring on Nexgrill.com. 

Ready to bring legendary wood-smoked BBQ flavor to your backyard? Shop Oakford here.

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