Maybe you don’t have a meat thermometer, or maybe you’re trying to time your cook so that you can get a little bit of sleep, or just want to know when you’ll need to do certain steps. Either way, its really helpful to know long it takes for a brisket to reach 165 degrees, which is generally the temperature people wrap or cover a brisket.

The time it takes to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees when smoking a brisket can vary depending on a number of factors such as the size and thickness of the brisket, the temperature of the smoker, and the desired level of doneness. On average, it can take anywhere from 1 to 1.5 hours per pound at 225-250 degrees Fahrenheit to be done, and 165 is generally reached about halfway through that. . It’s important to use a meat thermometer to ensure that the brisket has reached the desired internal temperature before consuming.

There are a few factors you need to consider: Is it a whole brisket? Or is it just the flat or point? A flat will generally cook faster than a point. Is it a big brisket? There are a lot of factors to consider, and you’ll want to take all of them into consideration, especially if your brisket is cooking faster than expected.

Factors that Determine How Long It’ll Take to Cook a Brisket

• Size of the brisket
• Is it a whole brisket, or just the flat or point?
• Temperature of the cook
• Humidity
• Type of wood
• Other Factors

It also depends on the temperature of your smoker or oven. I recommend that a brisket cook between 225 and 275. Unless I’m in a hurry (which you shouldn’t be with a brisket), I try to cook at 225.

The short answer is that for me, cooking at 225, I usually get to 165 in 5-10 hours, with the average time being 7 hours. If I had an average brisket and I didn’t have a meat thermometer, I’d go 7 hours, see if I like how the bark is looking, then wrap it up and go another 6-8 hours. Honestly, you NEED that thermometer though. It’s how you know you’re doing it right. It’s how you take that brisket from good to great.

I run a grilling website, so I’ve got a few meat thermometers. My favorite is the Meater Plus. The Meater Plus is a wireless WIFI meat thermometer. It connects to an app on your phone and allows you to track the temp anywhere you’re at. I’ve literally monitored meat from my job. This isn’t the very best meat thermometer on the market, but its the equivalent of the Toyota Corolla of meat thermometers in my mind. It’s reliable, the app is reliable, its simple, and it just plain works.

Meater Plus

About Brisket

Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The cut is a tough, fatty, fibrous muscle that uses a great deal of oxygen during muscle contraction, making it ideal for slow-cooked barbecued meat. Brisket is one of the tougher cuts of meat, so it requires long, slow cooking at low temperatures to tenderize the connective tissue. It is a cut that is growing in popularity with the rise of the pellet smoker grill.

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