How to Make Texas-Style Barbecue Brisket on a Charcoal Grill

Real-deal, Texas-style barbecue brisket might be one of the purest examples of how cooking technique is the bedrock of flavor development. Done right, it’s a miracle. With just salt, pepper, smoke, heat, and time, you transform a tough, weirdly shaped cut of beef into a delicacy people travel for hours just to get a bite.

We turned to Joe Yim of @knoxavebbq to show us the way. In this video, Joe explains everything you need to know to make award-worthy Texas-style brisket in your backyard—all you need is a charcoal grill big enough to fit a brisket.



[Time Codes]
0:00 - How to make the ultimate Texas-style Barbecue Brisket
0:59 - How to trim a brisket
24:29 - How to season the brisket
27:08 - Plotting the timeline for cooking the brisket
28:33 - Fire up the charcoal grill
29:20 - Bring brisket up to temperature
33:24 - Enter “the stall”; build bark and color
35:41 - Brisket cooked on a PK Grill and a kamado-style grill (Big Green Egg)
37:07 - Exit “the stall”; render fat
38:23 - How to wrap the brisket
43:19 - How to further tenderize the brisket
44:15 - Rest the brisket
44:48 - How to slice a brisket and serve like a pro

Equipment guide:


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[MonocleTopHats]

Joe is such an excellent teacher. Honestly just blown away by not only the brisket but the pure teaching technique on display

[MadPick]

I almost didn't watch this video because it's an hour long and I've already seen many how-to brisket videos . . . but WOW, I'm glad I watched it! Joe Yim is THE MAN! What an awesome in-depth tutorial!

[DentalBeaker]

Joe Yim is the best. As is chefsteps. Great job as always guys.

[chrismeyers]

This dude has a PhD in brisket. Amazing video.

[J.C.Clements]

Dang man! A Mighty Joe Yim Master Class!

[gerardovillarrealbojorquez]

The "How to trim brisket" chapter could be a two videos series anywhere! So detailed explanation.
So, the "How to slice a brisket" deserves an Oscar, of all the brisket videos I've seen, they always cut in half, some slices from the point, some from the fat and burnt ends. This dude went aaaall the way through, hot to, how not to, what and how can some parts be used.

[Will.]

You guys always do such an amazing job. Thanks for putting out killer content

[heyitsmeshaz]

This is an excellent video. Thank you so much, saving this to rewatch next time I'm trimming

[gregkrekelberg]

Holy crap, that was phenomenal. What an incredible amount of information. I subscribed to Joe's channel and look forward to watching more of his teachiing.

[erikpechmann]

Wow, what a great video with tons of information. One question I have is, do you find any benefit to dry brining the brisket a day before. If so, would you also add salt and pepper to the outside just before the cook, as you did here. Or would that be too much salt? I have yet to cook a brisket however I do dry brine other cuts before putting them on the smoker. ChefSteps, you are knocking it out of the park with content. Please keep it coming

[terryferguson]

I've watched a lot of Brisket videos - this is the Masterclass!

[lamarwilliams]

This was really a great video. A lot of thought went into this. If I had this video from my first brisket?? I still would have good cooks and bad cooks. This is a great tutorial. Every brisket is different. I had a 12 pound brisket that took me 20 hrs to cook. It came out great. It just took 20 hours for it to get tender. At first I thought I over cooked it. I also cook at 220 Fahrenheit.

[evltwin]

This guy is my bbq yoda. Not to be confused with yoder. Unless he is

[zibMaker]

How could I replicate this in a natural gas BBQ?

[nikkoymana]

Joe Yim is a master at his craft yall, nice video

[MrRatFinkster]

This is a mic drop video. Everyone else should just give up and not bother anymore.

[Trinifood]

This was excellent instruction for a home griller! Plenty of tips. Thanks Joe!

[raskp]

Am I crazy or is this an under seasoned brisket? That was an extremely light coat of salt and pepper from what I've seen from others and certainly much less than I typically go for. If we compare this to other sous vide recipes where we're salting by percent weight, this feels like it's less than 1% for sure.

[drjdchan]

Great video! I don't know if I missed it but did he talk about doing a hot hold?

[DCWhiting]

This is the World's definitive video on how to prepare and cook a brisket!