Smoke Brisket at 180 or 225 °F
When you cook brisket at a too lower temperature, like 180 or 200 degrees, the meat gets plenty of time to break the connective tissues nicely and slowly. It can make the meat intensely flavorful and tender, which some people like and some don’t.
Although 225 degrees also provide all these results, it keeps the taste and flavors as authentic as possible without you waiting too long for your meat to cook properly.
Moreover, at this temperature, you can also achieve a nice caramelized crust on the outer layer of your brisket.
So according to my observation, 225 °F is undoubtedly an optimal temperature to smoke brisket unless you are fond of intense smoky flavors and tenderness in the meat.
Smoking duration is one of the most significant differences between these heat settings. So, let’s move on and see how long you will need to smoke a brisket at 180 °F or 225 °F.
Recommended Read: Figure out another perspective on whether you should smoke your brisket at 225 or 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
How Long to Smoke Brisket At 180 °F?
If you smoke your brisket at 180 °F, it can take roughly about 2 to 2.5 hours per pound. For instance, smoking a 10 lb brisket at such a low temperature will require 20 to 25 hours to get smoked to perfection.
A few other essential factors can also expand the smoking session, like brisket’s weight, smoker’s type, the weather outside, etc.
Now here comes a tricky thing. You may prolong the smoking duration of your brisket if you keep the temperature at 180 °F throughout the session.
Therefore, I suggest increasing the smoking temperature to 225 °F after a couple of hours. But if you have time, you can keep the 180 °F consistent until the brisket reaches the internal temperature of 195 to 205 °F.
Moreover, you need to save your meat from the danger zone, which is below 140 °F and above 40 °F.
How to smoke brisket at 180 °F?
Let’s discuss how you can smoke your brisket at 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Buying the brisket: When purchasing a brisket, I suggest you choose one with a good marbling over it and must have an even surface. The reason is that a lot of fat will prolong the smoking session unnecessarily because the temperature is too low.
- Seasoning the brisket: I advise you to mix kosher salt and brown sugar with onion and garlic powder to season a brisket. These ingredients seem to be a simple rub, but they make the outcome tasty and flavorful.
- Once you have seasoned your brisket, let it rest for 1 to 2 hours or overnight if you want a more authentic taste and flavor.
- Preheating the smoker: Before you preheat your smoker, ensure to clean its rack nicely so there is no debris from the previous cooking session. Next, set the temperature to 180 degrees and let the smoker preheat for 50 to 60 minutes.
- Begin Smoking: It is an essential step in which the smoking starts at 180 °F, but you should increase the heat to 225 degrees after a couple of hours to save time. But if time is not the concern, you can keep on smoking at the same 180 °F.
- Wrap up the brisket: During the smoking procedure, when your brisket reaches 165 °F, remove it from the smoker and wrap it tightly inside butcher paper or aluminum foil.
- Smoking for the final time: Now, place the wrapped brisket back in the smoker and continue smoking at 225 °F. Ensure to maintain the cooking temperature and wait until the brisket’s internal temperature is above 180 °F and below 210 °F.
- This is the perfect time to pull your smoked brisket from the smoker, and I believe 203 °F is a magical inner temp for smoked brisket.
- Resting the brisket: When you are done smoking your beef brisket, you should rest your brisket for at least an hour, which will help all the juices to redistribute around the meat for an evenly tender and juicy brisket.
How Long to Smoke Brisket At 225?
Now, let me discuss how long a brisket takes to smoke at 225 °F. At this temperature, per pound demands 1.5 to 2 hours of smoking for desired results. This time a 10 lb brisket will take around 20 hours to smoke if you keep the temperature constant.
I consider 225 degrees as a lower heat, too, when it comes to smoking it faster, but it promises one thing, a perfect outcome with a crust on the outside.
Most importantly, you won’t need to increase or decrease the smoking temperature with time as you need to when smoking at 180 degrees.
How to smoke brisket at 225 °F?
If you are wondering how to smoke a brisket at 225 °F, it is the same as smoking at 180 °F. You just need to follow the abovementioned steps and keep the temperature constant.
For further reference, you can read our guide on how long to smoke brisket at 225.
