Beef · smoker
Smoked Brisket
Smoked Brisket
cooking times
12 hr – 15 hr At the most common temperature, 250°F, a whole packer brisket runs about 12 hr – 15 hr at 12 lb. Pick your temperature below for the full chart. Done is always 145°F internal.
When is it actually done?
145°F internal The USDA FSIS safe minimum internal temperature for this cut is 145°F, followed by a rest of about 60 minutes. The clock estimates; the thermometer decides. Every time on this page is a planning range, not a doneness test.
Pull temperature vs safe temperature: Brisket is safe at 145°F and inedible at 145°F. It is pulled at 195–203°F — most pitmasters probe for 'butter-soft' around 203°F in the flat — because only there has the collagen fully rendered.
Worth knowing before you start
- Plan for the long end of the range plus an hour of buffer. A brisket that finishes early holds happily for hours wrapped in a cooler; a late one ruins dinner.
- The stall (150–170°F, sometimes 2–4 hours of no progress) is evaporative cooling. Wrapping in butcher paper or foil pushes through it faster at some cost to bark.
- Thickness beats weight: a thick 10-pounder can outlast a thin 14-pounder. That is why every serious time estimate is a range.
- Rest a minimum of one hour, wrapped. Many BBQ joints hold brisket 4+ hours — the rest is part of the cook, not an afterthought.