How to Smoke Brisket in a Barrel Cooker

This Turbo Charged brisket will be gone before you can say "hot and fast" if you don't have 8 hours to spare. Follow the instructions below to make our favourite backyard brisket dish.

This photo shows a Brisket

YOU WILL NEED

THE PREPARATION

This photo shows a Brisket Marinated with SPG Rub and Texas Beef Rub

Because this is going to be a quick dish, we'll set everything up quickly as well. While the oven is heating up, lightly trim the brisket. Simply remove any chunks of hard fat that will not render down, as well as any loose flaps of meat that will burn throughout the cooking process.

Now apply SPG to your brisket, followed by Texas Beef. This is what we use, however, you can swap any component if you prefer something else.

Allow the brisket to sweat for 5-10 minutes in the rub.

THE COOK

This photo shows a Brisket on the Barrel

You want your cooker to be set to 300°-325°F (149°-163°C) for a hot and quick brisket. One method for maintaining greater temperatures in a pit barrel is to leave the rebar out, allowing air to enter via the four holes on the sides.

Place the beef on the grill and let the heat do its work. At this point, you want a beautiful colour on both sides of the brisket. Keep an eye on your meat; at these temperatures, it can quickly burn!

Bring the brisket inside once it has reached that rich, mahogany colour (about 2 hours). Wrap it in aluminium foil twice, then add the Brisket Mop and meat.

THE PAYOFF

This photo shows how to drain liquid before unwrapping the Brisket

You can essentially sit back and do nothing for the rest of this cook. Set your thermometer to  203ºF (95ºC). This should take around 2 hours more, putting the total cooking time to 4 hours - ours took even less time!

Bring the brisket back inside and drain the liquids before unwrapping it (save that au jus in a bowl). Cut yourself some burnt ends after separating the tip from the flat. Return the burnt ends to the cooker for 5 minutes with some OP X-1 sauce.

This photo shows how to slice Brisket

And that's the end of it! When you don't have the time or patience to go low and slow, try this quick recipe. I hope you enjoyed it!

This photo shows a Sliced Brisket on the Barrel

I'll see you on the next recipe.

Check out our range of Spit Rotisseries

Check out our range of Smokers