Smoking a brisket perfectly can be considered the “holy grail” of BBQ achievements… however, with a small amount of planning and attention the Primo can pull it off with ease. This method of smoking brisket on the Primo has its roots in the detail of competition style brisket preparation, but the Primo can still achieve great results even if you opt to skip some of these steps.
Here is the whole packer brisket we used – it was about 12 1/2 lbs and choice grade.
The first step is to trim the brisket- remove any silver skin and excess fat from the top and trim the fat cap underneath. You can see the pile that was trimmed. Next, you can brine or inject the brisket. If you brine it, you can do so for up to 48 hours. For this brisket, we injected it with Kosmos Q Reserve Blend Brisket injection mixed with beef stock. After injecting, let the brisket rest for 1 to 8 hours.
Rub the brisket well with your favorite rub- we used the BBQ Joint’s Brisket Rub. This rub can be as simple as kosher salt and cracked pepper.
Prepare the Primo for smoking using the smoking wood of your choice- hickory, apple, cherry, oak & mesquite all work well for brisket. Also, unique to smoking brisket, we recommend placing pans of water on top of the ceramic d plates. Target a smoking temp of 250.
Smoke until the internal temp hits 160 or so in the flat. This may take 4-6 hours. A thermapen is a helpful tool here.
At this point you can choose to wrap the brisket in foil with some stock or even let it go on the grill. However, we would recommend putting the brisket in a pan with some stock, taking care to elevate the brisket above the liquid. Cover the pan with foil and continue cooking until the flat is 195 to 200. Once it reaches temp let it rest for a moment and then wrap it first in foil, then a towel, and then let it rest in a cooler for 1 to 3 hours. Reserve the pan stock and drippings if desired for serving.
Enjoy!
Could you give me instructions on calibrating the dome thermometer on my new Primo XL
The thermometer can be adjusted with the hex nut on its backside. Remove it from the grill and without touching the pan submerge the tip in boiling water and adjust to 212 degrees.
when grilling, fat side up or down?
When smoking the brisket keep the fat side down.
Any recommendations for smoking two briskest at once? Thx
I would brine or inject them, use a full waterpan, and smoke them at 225-250 or so until they hit 195-203 internal- they will cook beautifully on the Primo even without wrapping them.