Tender Smoked Beef Brisket Bites Recipe
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Nobody doesn’t like brisket, it’s like meat candy! This beef brisket bites recipe is smoked to perfection and is sure to be a crowd pleaser and one of your family’s new favorites.
Beef brisket is one of those versatile things that you can enjoy in a number of different ways. You can eat it sliced like a roast for dinner, on a sandwich for lunch or cut into cubes and eaten as an appetizer. This smoked beef brisket bites recipe takes advantage of that versatility and can be served as part of an appetizer selection or as the main course of a meal.
This recipe is a Dined and Dashed Level 5 recipe, which means it is an all-day affair. While not overly complicated, this particular recipe does require close attention during the cooking process.
Brisket is not a cheap cut of meat, and a whole brisket will run you easily over $50 depending on how big it is. But if you have ever ordered smoked brisket at any BBQ joints, you know that you probably pay at least double because you are paying for someone else to prepare the brisket for you. So instead of eating out, start up your smoker, and make it yourself. The best part is that if you aren’t serving it for a gathering, you will have leftover brisket for days!
If you don’t have a smoker, there are a lot of different options out there. Your best bet would be a local outdoor store or even a sporting goods store that can recommend the perfect smoker for your needs. If you are on a more limited budget, you can purchase smokers at home improvement stores and even Walmart.
- Two 18 stainless steel racks provide 510 square inches of cooking space
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What you need to make smoked brisket bites
Despite the obvious – needing a brisket, you need a few other things to make this recipe successful. It is recommended that you use a whole packer brisket for the best results. A whole packer brisket has both the point and the flat part of the brisket and averages around 14-15 lbs but can be slightly more or less.
- smoker
- meat thermometer
- hickey flavored wood chips or pellets
- pink butcher paper (aluminum foil will work too)
- large pan (a foil pan will work) big enough for the brisket
- large cooler
- cutting board
- seasonings (salt, pepper, olive oil)
If you are looking specifically for a pellet grill brisket recipe check out: Easy Smoked Pellet Grill Brisket Recipe.
How to make smoked brisket bites
This is an all-day project, but totally worth it! So make sure you have the entire day free to make this brisket bites recipe. The cooking process isn’t complicated, it just takes a long time. But good things come to those who wait, it’s so worth it!
Step 1: prep the brisket
- Your brisket needs to be fully thawed, so if it was in a frozen state, make sure to thaw thoroughly in the fridge.
- The first thing you have to do is trim the excess fat off your brisket with a sharp knife. The layer of fat really should be no more than about 1/4″ thick.
- Next, coat the brisket in olive oil thoroughly. Make sure to cover the whole thing.
- Then cover the brisket in beef rub of salt and pepper liberally. You will use roughly 3 tbsp of each depending on the size of your brisket. Make sure to get the bottom and sides of the brisket as well as the top.
- Some people choose to add garlic powder, onion powder or even chili powder to their smoked brisket, but you get great flavor with only salt and pepper. But you can experiment if you want to.
Step 2: prep the smoker
- Set the smoker temperature to 275 degrees F.
- Add hickory wood chips or pellets.
Step 3: cook the brisket
- Place the meat in the smoker, making sure the fat line is facing up.
- Cook for 1-1/2″ hours using the smoke.
- Remove brisket from smoker and check internal temperature, then wrap the brisket in pink butcher paper or foil.
- The meat will continue to cook and rise in temperature when covered so it is best not to use an uncovered pan. If left uncovered, it can take twice as long. It is arguable whether this adds anything to the cook, so we recommend covering.
- Return brisket to smoker until the internal temperature of the brisket is 200 degrees F. This could take 6-8 hours, it varies depending on the size and shape of your brisket.
- Check the internal temperature of meat every hour.
Step 4: allow brisket to rest
- Remove the brisket from the smoker and place into a pan to rest. Leave the brisket in the pink butcher paper.
- Cover the pan with a lid or foil and place the pan in a cooler.
- Allow to rest for about an hour, until the internal temperature reaches 210 F.
- This also allows the meat fibers to relax and reabsorb some of the juices. This is an important step; resist skipping this.
Step 5: prep to serve
- Remove the brisket from the wrapping, making sure to save the juices.
- Cut the brisket into bite-sized pieces, about 3/4″ each piece. The number of pieces you will yield depends on the size of your brisket.
- Place the cut brisket in the pan with the juices.
- At this point you can serve the bite size pieces of real beef brisket to your family or guests, but we have a pro tips that makes it taste better.
- If you do choose to not serve the brisket bites immediately, cover the pan and refrigerate it overnight. Refrigerating it overnight allows for the flavors to infuse even more in the meat.
- Prior to serving the brisket bites (after refrigerating overnight), heat the brisket and the juices in the pan (covered) until the meat is heated to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. You can re-heat with your smoker, grill or oven. Keep temperature of either around 200 degrees Fahrenheit so as not to overheat and dry out the meat.
Tender Smoked Beef Brisket Bites Recipe
Equipment
- 1 smoker
Ingredients
- 10 to 13 pound beef brisket
Binder:
- Sea or Kosher Salt
- Coarse ground Black Pepper
- Olive Oil
Instructions
- Trim brisket to have no more than ¼” of fat on the top.
- Coat brisket with olive oil.
- Sprinkle/coat brisket liberally with salt and pepper. Amount will vary based on size of brisket, so start with at least 3 tablespoons each and add more if meat is not fully coated.
- Set temperature of smoker at 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the meat fat side up in/on smoker.
- Use hickory wood chips or pellets, depending on the style of smoker you have. Only use smoke for the first 1-1/2 hours of cook.
- After meat is finished with the smoke, wrap brisket in foil or pink butcher paper.
- Keep brisket in smoker until internal temperature is 200 degrees Fahrenheit. This could be another 6 to 8 hours, depending on size and shape of brisket.
- Remove meat and let it rest in a covered pan, (placed in a cooler) for another hour or so. Keep covered, so the internal temperature will keep rising. It should get to 210 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After meat is rested, remove from wrapping and save all of the juices.
- Cut meat into ¾” cubes, place in a covered foil pan with the juices.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Prior to serving, heat the brisket and juices in the pan with the pan covered until meat is heated through to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Notes
