Smoked brisket can be an incredible meal if it’s properly cooked and smoked. There are numerous ways of smoking brisket, but only a few of those ways some out as worth trying. All of the other recipes for smoked brisket have some flaws by our opinion, and we’ve chosen this one as the best possible brisket meal you can make in your very own electric smoker.
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The Best Masterbuilt Electric Smokers for Smoking Brisket
Wattage: 800W
Number of Racks: 4
Capacity: 730 square inches
Unit Size: 18.1 x 19.4 x 34.9 inches
How to Smoke Brisket in Masterbuilt Electric Smoker
Smoking brisket in an electric smoker properly is not an easy task, so be sure you follow every step to guarantee the best possible results. Although there are numerous variations of this recipe, feel free to add or eliminate any of the ingredients. At the end of the day, you’re cooking for yourself, so it’s natural you fine-tune your meal for your personal preferences.
We’ve chosen this recipe because it’s pretty straightforward, and anyone can do it. There are no complicated steps or tough preparations; every step is quite simple. The resources you’ll need for this recipe are minimal; all you need is some meat, spice, sauce, and that’s it, you’re ready to cook one of the finest recipes available online.
Make sure you take all the precautionary safety measures before you start cooking. In other words, wear kitchen gloves and tools to avoid burning your skin. Also, check the electronic hardware and make sure it’s not wet or moist before plugging your electric smoker’s cord into the power socket. So, without further ado, let’s start cooking!
The Preparation
We bought a 13-pound piece of brisket so keep in mind that the results may vary depending on the weight. However, it’s not a massive variation, so the flavor and the tenderness will be the same with smaller as well as with the bigger chunks of meat.
First of all, wash the brisket to remove the blood and the smell of raw meat. It’s advised you wash your meat every time before you cook it or smoke it. This process washes down certain bacteria even though the thermal process kills the vast majority of harmful bacteria; you can never be too sure. You should then trim it down to 1/4 of fat and also trim a lot of the fat between the flat and the deckle, almost separating the two parts. It comes down to your personal preference, if you’re a fan of fat, leave more on, if you’re not – trim it down.
However, make sure you leave some fat on because it’s necessary to baste the meat as it smokes. Also, if you don’t have enough space in your electric smoker, feel free to cut the brisket into two halves to fit it in the smoker.
After trimming down the fat, apply and coat the brisket with some rub. Again, you should make the rub by your personal preferences. Mix up the spices and the ingredients you want in a cup, make a mass similar to a paste, and coat the meat. If you’re not sure what kind of a rub you want, feel free to search for it online, there’s a ton of incredible rub recipes available, you’ll find something that suits you, there’s no doubt about it. After applying the rub, leave the meat at room temperature to soak up the ingredients from it before putting the meat in the smoker.
Cook It: Smoking Brisket in a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker
Preheat your Masterbuilt Electric Smoker to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Once your unit gets hot enough, add a combination of wood chips. We advise hickory and apple wood chips. Although many people favor hickory as the perfect wood for smoking meat, it tends to be quite strong and leave a peculiar taste. That’s why we’ve combined it with some apple wood chips to sweeten up the taste.
If you’re a fan of a strong and recognizable smoky taste, just skip the apple wood chips part. Also, you can add whichever wood chips you want, at the end of the day, you’re cooking the meat for yourself, so be sure YOU like the taste, regardless of what the recipe tells you to do.
After you set up the smoker, insert a thermometer probe into the thicker part of the brisket and put it in the unit. Make sure you hit the meat, not the fat. If you insert the probe into the fat part, you’ll most likely get false readings thus jeopardizing the taste. You want to cook the meat to 165 degrees, which takes about six hours. Remember, you want to cook by temperature, not time. So, be sure to check the thermometer occasionally and read the current temperature, instead of setting up the timer for six hours. Some meat needs to be cooked for a longer period to hit the 165 degrees mark.
After about three hours, check the meat and add some wood chips. This step is crucial because meat hits the optimal mark of smoke uptake three hours into the cooking process. So, this is the step where you determine the amount of smoke flavor you want in the meat.
The Final Step
When you’re finished with the cooking, remove the meat from the smoker and start making the final sauce. You’ll need four tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of honey, and a 1/2 cup of brown sugar for this mixture. Rub the mixture all over the brisket and wrap it up in two layers of aluminum foil.
When you wrap it all up, put the brisket back into your Masterbuilt Electric Smoker and wait until it hits 200 degrees. It takes about two and a half hours for the brisket to hit the ending point. Remember, don’t think about the time think about the temperature.
When it reaches 200 degrees, take it out of your smoker and let it rest for at least an hour or two to soak up all the ingredients from the mixture. Once you unwrap it, you won’t believe how tender and sweet it looks. This simple recipe can make a serious impact on your friend’s opinions on your cooking. Serve it with a pint of beer.
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