Hot And Fast Brisket Recipe

I know so many people that love brisket but don’t want to spend +12 hours smoking it. Use my hot and fast brisket recipe to cut the time in half and still end up with an outstanding brisket that is both tender and juicy!

Hot and fast brisket requires smoking at 350 degrees which will cut the cooking time down to 30 minutes per pound. Smoking the brisket hot and fast requires keeping the brisket moist. This is done by utilizing a water pan, injecting the brisket with tallow, and wrapping with butcher paper after the stall until the brisket has finished smoking.

Hot and Fast Brisket

For years I have been a low-and-slow method guy when it comes to smoked brisket. I always worried that smoking my briskets at too high of a temp would dry it out and leave me with a 12-pound chunk of meat that I couldn’t chew through. Especially, since everything I had read or watched on briskets had me believing you couldn’t break down the connective tissue cooking hot and fast.

I also had some bad luck with trying to speed up the cooking time on a few briskets in the past and they ended up terrible.

After all that I decided to give the hot and fast method for smoking brisket a shot. I came up with a game plan to ensure that my brisket wouldn’t dry out while smoking it at 350 degrees.

What I ended up with was a delicious smoked brisket that had a flavorful bark, was tender, and the best part, it was not dry. Follow along and I’ll show you exactly how I cut the cooking time for my brisket almost in half.

On A Side Note: I still find the low and slow method to be my favorite method for smoking brisket. In fact, I have several recipes like my Texas Style Smoked Brisket Recipe and How To Smoke A Brisket that both use this method. Even though they take a long time to smoke, I love the results after patiently waiting for the brisket to come out perfectly.

If you want to use the best brisket in the barbecue game or want something for a special occasion, check out my Snake River Farms brisket review.

Ingredients Needed For Hot and Fast Smoked Brisket

• Whole Packer Brisket: Any size brisket will work. Look for one with a thick flat that won’t dry out as fast.
•  Beef Tallow: You can either use homemade beef tallow or you can use Wagyu Beef Tallow if you don’t make your own.
• 50/50 Kosher Salt & Coarse Black Pepper Mixture: I use this as a simple base layer for the brisket.
• Spiceology Mesquite Peppercorn Lager Rub: I use this as a secondary seasoning to help compliment the meat.
• 50/50 Apple Cider Vinegar & Water Spritz: This is the most common spritz I use but whatever your personal preference is will work.
• Franks RedHot Buffalo Sauce: This is just to be used as a binder. If you aren’t a fan of hot sauce as a binder, mustard makes a great option.

Tools Needed For Hot and Fast Beef Brisket

• Smoker: Whichever type of smoker you are most comfortable with will work for this recipe. Personally, I use a Pit Boss Wood Pellet Grill.
• Boning Knife: A boning knife makes the perfect tool for trimming your brisket.
• Slicing Knife: With brisket being such a huge chunk of meat, the best way to get even slices is by using a long slicing knife. My personal favorite is the Dalstrong
• Large Water Pan: If you don’t have room for a larger water pan, the biggest size will do. In my smoker, I fit in a disposable 9×13 pan.
• Fuel Source For Smoker: For this specific recipe I recommend using mesquite wood or mesquite pellets. The mesquite will complement the seasoning used in this recipe.
• Meat Injector: Smoking a brisket hot and fast, it is important not to dry out the brisket flat. The meat injector is an important tool for adding in your beef tallow.
• Meat Thermometer: The best way to keep track of your brisket is by placing in a wireless meat thermometer. A reliable meat thermometer is the MEATER Block.
• Pink Butcher Paper: It is essential that you eventually wrap your brisket. Smoking your brisket at such a high temp runs the risk of burning, the butcher paper will protect the meat.

Injecting Hot And Fast Brisket

Unless you plan on buying a USDA prime grade brisket or better, I highly recommend injecting your brisket with beef tallow. The reason for this is that the average flat of a USDA choice grade brisket doesn’t have much internal fat.

The problem with the brisket flat having low amounts of internal marbling is that when using the hot and fast method of smoking brisket, it’s easier to dry out the flat. Thankfully the brisket point has a greater amount of marbling which makes it harder to dry out.

By injecting the brisket flat with tallow, it is forcing more fat into the muscle of the brisket which in turn gives you a juicer end product.

With all this fat being injected into the brisket, its nice to enjoy a side that breaks up the richness of the meat. A great way dish for that is a salad using a fresh Avocado Cilantro Dressing from The Honour System that is creamy and quick to make.

How To Inject Brisket With Beef Tallow

Injecting briskets is quite a simple and quick process that will make the brisket juicer, especially when smoking briskets hot and fast.

First, you will need to place your beef tallow into either a saucepan and place it on the stovetop or microwave-safe bowl and heat up the tallow slowly until it has turned into a liquid.

Joshs Cookhouse Tips: You do not need to get the beef tallow hot as we want it to cool down and solidify in the brisket meat.

Once the beef tallow is liquid, fill your meat injector up. Start at one end of the brisket flat and every inch or so, inject the tallow into the brisket about halfway into the brisket. Make sure to inject the brisket with the grain. Do this until you have injected the entire flat with your beef tallow.

Tips and Tricks to Perfect Hot and Fast Brisket

• Wrap Brisket In Butcher Paper: To make sure our brisket doesn’t dry out at the end, wrap the brisket in butcher paper. This will also speed up the smoking process.
• Place Brisket Fat Cap Down: Placing the brisket fat side down will help protect the brisket flat while using the hot and fast method. You will also want to place the brisket point towards the direct heat in order to further protect the flat.
• Set Water Pan Directly Underneath Brisket: The water pan will add moisture in the smoker to keep the outside of the brisket from burning, If you have a multi-level smoker, place a large water pan directly underneath the brisket until the briskets bark starts to form on the meat side that is facing up. Once the bark is formed, offset the water pan so the fat side of the brisket can keep forming its bark.
• Rest The Brisket: This is the most common recommendation from any pitmaster. It is necessary to rest your brisket for an hour. Even better yet, rest the brisket until the brisket hits a serving temp of 140-150 degrees.
• Use Smoke Tube: This is only needed if you are using a wood pellet grill as they do not produce as strong of a smoke flavor in comparison to offset smokers.

Best Temp To Smoke Brisket Hot And Fast

I’ve seen some other cooks say that they smoke their brisket hot and fast at 275 degrees. Nothing against what they recommend, but I still consider this low and slow. I would suggest smoking your brisket at 350 degrees for a truly hot and fast brisket.

Smoking the brisket at 350 degrees does have some risk of burning the brisket and cooking all the juices out, but if you follow my tips, your brisket should still turn out juicy and finish cooking in half the time it would take smoking low and slow.

How to Smoke Brisket Hot and Fast

1. Select The Best Brisket: Even though I have used this method to smoke choice briskets, I recommend purchasing a brisket of prime grade or higher. A higher-grade brisket will have more fat keeping it from drying out as easily in higher temps.
2. Preheat And Prep Smoker: Preheat your smoker to 350 degrees, fill your water pan between ½ and ¾ full of water, and place it in your smoker. If using a pellet grill light and place your smoke tube in the smoker so the smoke will pass over the brisket.
3. Trim The Brisket: If you haven’t trimmed a brisket before, you can follow my How To Trim Brisket guide which explains everything step by step.
4. Binder, Season, and Inject Brisket: Starting with your fat cap side of the brisket, apply your Franks RedHot binder and then evenly coat your brisket with the 50/50 kosher salt and coarse black pepper mixture then apply an even layer of the Spiceology Mesquite Rub. Flip over and following the directions above, inject your brisket flat. After injecting, apply the binder and season that side.
5. Smoke Brisket Hot And Fast: Place your brisket fat side down on your smoker, and if you have an upper rack, place the brisket directly above the water pan. Smoke for two hours without opening the smoker. After the two-hour mark, spritz the brisket every 30-45 minutes until it’s time to wrap.
6. Wrap Brisket: Once the brisket is ready to wrap, warm up ½ cup of beef tallow. Pour half the tallow on the butcher paper and the rest on the brisket. Tightly wrap your brisket and put it back on the smoker. Check out When To Wrap Brisket and How To Wrap Brisket if you need more information.
7. Finish Smoking: Continue to smoke the brisket until it reaches an internal temperature between 203-205 degrees or until probe tender. If you aren’t sure what to look for, check out When Is Smoked Brisket Done.
8. Rest The Brisket: Rest your brisket for a minimum of an hour but ideally, you will rest the brisket until a serving temperature of 140-150 degrees.
9. Slice: Once your brisket has gotten a chance to rest, start slicing your brisket starting at the flat end. Slice about ¼ thick slices across the grain. Once you get to where the point starts, spin the brisket 90 degrees and continue cutting against the grain of the brisket point.
10. Serve Guests: Now that you have a Hot And Fast Brisket, grab yourself some fatty and lean slices. Don’t forget to have some pickled onions and jalapenos on the side with some buns and barbecue sauce for sandwiches.

Recipes Using Brisket Leftovers

With brisket being such a huge piece of meat, you are bound to have leftovers unless you are feeding the whole neighborhood. Check out some of my favorite recipes using brisket leftovers, like my Easy BBQ Brisket Nachos and more!

• Easy Smoked Brisket Grilled Cheese Recipe
• Brisket Sliders: Smoked Brisket Recipe
• The Best Smoked Queso Dip With Brisket
• Baked Mac And Cheese With Smoked Brisket

I hope you enjoyed this Hot And Fast Brisket Recipe from Joshs Cookhouse, where nothing is off the table!

Hot And Fast Brisket Recipe

I know so many people that love brisket but don't want to spend +12 hours smoking it. Use my Hot And Fast Brisket Recipe to cut the time in half and still end up with an outstanding brisket that is both tender and juicy!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours hours

Resting Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 9 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Barbecue

Keyword: brisket, brisket recipe, hot and fast brisket, hot and fast brisket recipe, hot and fast smoked brisket, smoked brisket recipe

Servings: 20 People

Calories: 562kcal

Equipment

• Smoker
• Boning Knife
• Large Water Pan
• Mesquite Wood/ Wood Pellets
• Meat Injector
• Meat Thermometer
• Pink Butcher Paper

Ingredients

• 16 Pound Brisket
• 1/2 Cup Beef Tallow
• 50/50 Kosher Salt & Coarse Black Pepper
• Spiceology Mesquite Peppercorn Lager Rub
• 50/50 Apple Cider Vinegar/ Water Spritz
• Franks RedHot Buffalo Sauce

Instructions

• Select the best brisket, I recommend purchasing a brisket of prime grade or higher.
• Preheat smoker to 350 degrees. Fill a large water pan and place inside the smoker. If using a pellet grill, use a smoke tube.
• Trim the brisket of any excess fat, silver skin, and loose meat. Bring the fat cap down to 1/4 inch. This provides the perfect bite.
• Starting with your fat cap side of the brisket, apply your Franks RedHot binder and then evenly coat your brisket with the 50/50 kosher salt and coarse black pepper mixture then apply an even layer of the Spiceology Mesquite Rub. Flip over and following the directions above, inject your brisket flat. After injecting, apply the binder and season that side.
• Place your brisket fat side down on your smoker, and if you have an upper rack, place the brisket directly above the water pan. Smoke for two hours without opening the smoker. After the two-hour mark, start spritz the brisket every 30-45 minutes until it’s time to wrap.
• Once the brisket is ready to wrap, warm up ½ cup of beef tallow. Pour half the tallow on the butcher paper and the rest on the brisket. Tightly wrap your brisket and put it back on the smoker. There is no longer any need to spritz.
• Continue to smoke the brisket until it reaches an internal temperature between 203-205 degrees or until probe tender. Making sure your brisket is completely tender is the most important part.
• Rest your brisket for a minimum of an hour but ideally, you will rest the brisket until a serving temperature of 140-150 degrees.
• Once your brisket has gotten a chance to rest, start slicing your brisket starting at the flat end. Slice about ¼ thick slices across the grain. Once you get to where the point starts, spin the brisket 90 degrees and continue cutting against the grain of the brisket point.
• Grab yourself some fatty and lean slices. Don't forget to have some pickled onions and jalapenos on the side with some buns and barbecue sauce for sandwiches.

Nutrition

Calories: 562kcal | Protein: 75g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 225mg | Sodium: 287mg | Potassium: 1197mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 7mg

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