This slow cooked BBQ Beef Brisket recipe is made in the oven or crock pot for the most tender and juicy meat ever, with a sweet & smoky barbecue sauce! I'm sharing all my best tips for how to cook brisket for a crowd, since this is a great choice for large dinner parties. It's so good, no one will care the meat wasn't smoked for hours!

A large brisket made in the oven and sliced into pieces then topped with bbq sauce.


Table of Contents
  1. Why this Recipe Works
  2. Ingredient Notes
  3. How to Cook Brisket in the Oven
  4. Recipe FAQ's
  5. Recipe Tips
  6. More Dinner Recipes
  7. More Favorites from House of Nash Eats
  8. Oven BBQ Beef Brisket Recipe Recipe

When I was growing up, my family usually had either Chicken Cordon Bleu or this easy, oven roasted BBQ Beef Brisket recipe for dinner on special occasions and holidays like Christmas.

My mom taught me how to cook brisket in the oven using this easy beef brisket recipe that she got at church when we were living in St. Louis back when I was a kid. It's foolproof and always one of my most requested recipes, so I knew it was one I needed to share on this blog.

For some other delicious oven roasted recipes, be sure to try our Rosemary and Garlic Oven Roasted Rack of Lamb, Garlic Herb Butter Beef Tenderloin Roast, Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Pomegranate Apricot Glaze, and Dutch Oven Pot Roast!

Why this Recipe Works

  • It skips a brisket marinade in favor of simply moistening with worcestershire sauce and rubbing it with a simple brisket rub, then letting it sit overnight to draw out moisture before repeating it in the morning and sticking the brisket in the oven.
  • Total prep is all of 10 minutes, then the oven or slow cooker does the rest of the work in this easy-as-it-gets juicy brisket recipe.
  • You don't need a smoker to get great barbecue-tasting results. True, it's not the same as a Texas Smoked Brisket, but it can definitely be appreciated on its own merits, which are many.

Ingredient Notes

  • Brisket: This large cut of meat requires long, slow cooking to break down the fibers for a succulent, melt-in-your-mouth result but it's totally worth it. It's one of my very favorite cuts of beef with incredible flavor.
  • BBQ sauce: You can use any bbq sauce you like, but I'm partially to the hickory & brown sugar kind by Sweet Baby Ray's for this brisket recipe. It sweet and smoky notes are perfect with the savory, tender mouthwatering bites of meat.
  • Brisket rub: I make a super simple brisket rub to season the meat by combining salt, celery salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and sugar. That's it!
Ingredients for making beef brisket in the oven.

How to Cook Brisket in the Oven

Here is the thing about brisket: it needs to be cooked slowly, at a very low temperature over the course of many hours in order to dissolve the tough connective tissues of the meat. Do that and the meat will be so tender that is should practically fall apart when you cut it.

There is no need to be intimidated by the big piece of meat as you really can't go wrong with this type of approach. You don't even need to sear the thing beforehand! The most important thing to know is how much the brisket weighs because that tell you how long to cook it for perfect results.

Start by trimming most of the fat off the brisket, if it didn't already come that way from the store. I like to leave a ¼-inch fat cap on for flavor, and you can certainly leave more if you enjoy it, but any hard, thick areas of fat should be removed with a sharp knife.

Moisten the meat by dousing it with some worcestershire sauce. Then sprinkle it evenly on both sides with a brisket rub made from salt, celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little sugar.

Making a simple brisket rub with garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, sugar, and salt.

We always stick the brisket in the fridge overnight at this point to let the salt draw some of the moisture out of the brisket. You can skip this step if you are pressed for time and forgot to do it the night before, but I really do think it's worth the little bit of extra effort. It also means your brisket it trimmed and pretty much ready to go in the oven the next morning.

On the day you plan to serve the brisket, douse it once more with additional worcestershire sauce and finish sprinkling with the remaining rub. Then cover it with foil and stick it in the oven to cook low and slow.

The rule of thumb when cooking brisket is to plan on 1 hour for every pound of brisket, then add an extra 30-60 minutes to finish the sauce. It's better to err on the side of starting your brisket too early since you can always wait to slice it and instead just cover with foil and it will stay hot for a long time than to start late and have hungry family members who can't wait and end up stuffing themselves with rolls.

Once the brisket has been cooking for the right amount of time (say, 5 hours for 5 pounds of brisket), pull it out of the oven and cover it generously with your favorite bbq sauce mixed with brown sugar. Even if I'm using a brown sugar bbq sauce I always add the extra brown sugar because I love the contrast of sweet, salty, and savory in this dish.

Let it cook, uncovered, for another 30-60 minutes until the sauce it hot and bubbly and the brown sugar has had a chance to caramelize.

Remove the brisket to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing against the grain into finger-width strips. I like to pour the caramelized bbq sauce into a gravy boat or small serving pitcher to drizzle over the sliced brisket and serve the extras on the side for anyone who wants it.

You can present your oven cooked beef brisket on a serving platter, or take a more rustic approach and return the sliced meat to the pan it was cooked in (my personal preference).

Recipe FAQ's

How many hours does it take to cook a brisket?

The general rule is that you need to cook your brisket for 1 hour for every pound of meat, although with this recipe I always give it an extra 30 minutes to an hour after adding the barbecue sauce so that the sauce can heat up and combine with some of the juices coming off the meat.

So if you are cooking a 5-pound brisket (like the one in these photos), you need to plan on 5 hours of cooking time for the brisket plus a little extra time at the end for heating up the sauce. But it works just as well with a 12-pound brisket that would take 12 hours to cook.

How do you use up leftover brisket?

One of my favorite things about BBQ beef brisket are the leftovers! I love to chop up the leftover meat and use it to make some extreme BBQ beef brisket nachos or quesadillas or serve it on a crusty bun with some extra BBQ sauce for a brisket sandwich. That sandwich is even more incredible if you take the extra minute or two to butter the insides of the crusty bun and grill the buttered sides on a hot pan for a bit before adding your meat to it!

What do you serve with beef brisket?

My favorite side with BBQ beef brisket is my copycat Costco mac and cheese, although I also really love serving it with twice baked potatoes or creamy potluck potatoes. But you could serve it with baked beans, coleslaw, cornbread, baked potatoes, cold macaroni salad or any other Southern sides you like! I'm also partial to green beans with it, either the plain steamed variety or these amazing green beans with bacon & pine nuts!

What is brisket?

Brisket comes from the breast area or pectoral muscles of a cow, so it's worked pretty hard and made up of lots of tough connective tissues that can only be dissolved by slow cooking. A full brisket (the ones you see at Costco) are called a "packer cut" and can be 10-14 pounds! You can use this recipe on a full packer brisket as long as you have a large sheet pan and make sure to start it with plenty of time to cook all the way through. But it works just as well on smaller half cuts of brisket (what you see here in these pics). We like it best for the "flat" cut, which is what you often find trimmed for you and neatly packaged in the grocery store.

Tangy bbq sauce poured over tender sliced brisket.

Recipe Tips

  • Storage: Keep leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container and reheat in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes or in the microwave for a couple of minutes before serving.
  • Freezing: You can freezing the leftover meat for 2-3 months. Just thaw and reheat before adding to things like nachos or one of the ideas mentioned above.
  • Cut against the grain: If you look at the meat you will notice that the tissues run in one direction. You want to slice perpendicular to those lines, called cutting against the grain, for the most tender bites of meat.
  • Plan ahead: The best tip you can have for cooking brisket in the oven is to give yourself plenty of time. Don't forget to check your packaging for weight before throwing it out so you know just how long to cook it for!
  • Fat cap on top or on bottom: I always make this brisket recipe with the fat cap on bottom. Some people swear by having the fat cap on top so the fat can melt down into the meat. I like that approach when smoking brisket, but for brisket in the oven I like the fat cap on bottom so the meat on top can dry out a bit more and develop more of a crust. It's really just personal preference though and I don't think there is really a wrong way, despite what others might say.
  • Brisket for a crowd: I love this recipe for big groups because the results are always reliable, it's practically foolproof, and everybody loves it. I have done this for church Christmas dinners where I needed to cook 120 pounds of brisket for 300-350 people and I just farmed out individual briskets and ingredients to a few friends with double ovens, large electric roasters, or slow cookers who could start the meat first thing in the morning so they could roast all day and be tender and ready for slicing that night at the party.

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Oven BBQ Beef Brisket Recipe

4.85 from 186 votes
Amy Nash
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 hours
Total Time 5 hours 10 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings
This slow roasted BBQ Beef Brisket recipe is made in the oven or slow cooker for the most tender and juicy meat ever, with a sweet & smoky barbecue sauce! I'm sharing all my best tips for how to cook brisket for a crowd, since this is a great choice for large dinner parties. It's so good, no one will care the meat wasn't smoked for hours!

Ingredients
  

Brisket

  • 5-6 pounds brisket
  • 3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 teaspoons table salt
  • 2 teaspoons celery salt
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Sauce

  • 20 ounces hickory-flavored barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's is my favorite)
  • ¾ cup brown sugar

Instructions
 

  • The night before you plan to cook and serve the brisket, combine the salt, celery salt, garlic powder, onion powder and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Place the brisket in a large roasting pan and trim the fat if it is thick, but leave at least a ¼" layer. Moisten the brisket with all of the Worcestershire sauce, then sprinkle the top and bottom of the brisket with half of the mixed seasonings, reserving the other half. Cover tightly with foil and place in the refrigerator overnight.
  • The next day, preheat the oven to 250°F. Remove the brisket from the fridge and uncover. Sprinkle it with the remaining seasonings, then cover it with foil again and place it in the oven to roast for 5-6 hours (plan on approximately 1 hour per pound of meat).
  • Remove the brisket from the oven and remove the aluminum foil. Pour off the fat. In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar and barbecue sauce, then pour it over the brisket. Increase the oven temperature to 350°F, then return the brisket to the oven, uncovered, and roast an additional 30 minutes to an hour, or until the sauce is hot and the meat is tender. Remove from the oven and let the meat rest for 15 minutes, then slice into finger-width strips against the grain or chop and serve.

Video

Notes

  • Storage: Keep leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container and reheat in a 350°F oven for 10-15 minutes or in the microwave for a couple of minutes before serving.
  • Freezing: You can freezing the leftover meat for 2-3 months. Just thaw and reheat before adding to things like nachos or one of the ideas mentioned above.
  • Cut against the grain: If you look at the meat you will notice that the tissues run in one direction. You want to slice perpendicular to those lines, called cutting against the grain, for the most tender bites of meat.
  • Plan ahead: The best tip you can have for cooking brisket in the oven is to give yourself plenty of time. Don't forget to check your packaging for weight before throwing it out so you know just how long to cook it for!
  • Fat cap on top or on bottom: I always make this brisket recipe with the fat cap on bottom. Some people swear by having the fat cap on top so the fat can melt down into the meat. I like that approach when smoking brisket, but for brisket in the oven I like the fat cap on bottom so the meat on top can dry out a bit more and develop more of a crust. It's really just personal preference though and I don't think there is really a wrong way, despite what others might say.
  • Brisket for a crowd: I love this recipe for big groups because the results are always reliable, it's practically foolproof, and everybody loves it. I have done this for church Christmas dinners where I needed to cook 120 pounds of brisket for 300-350 people and I just farmed out individual briskets and ingredients to a few friends with double ovens, large electric roasters, or slow cookers who could start the meat first thing in the morning so they could roast all day and be tender and ready for slicing that night at the party.

Nutrition

Calories: 868kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 79g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 234mg | Sodium: 3299mg | Potassium: 1581mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 218IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 9mg
Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @HouseOfNashEats or tag #houseofnasheats!

This post was originally published in December, 2016. The photos and content were updated in December, 2021.

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About the author

Hi, I'm Amy

I enjoy exploring the world through food, culture, and travel and sharing the adventure with mostly from-scratch, family friendly recipes that I think of as modern comfort cooking.

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Reader questions and reviews

  1. Could I use a slow cooker ?If so would I cook it just the same amount of time and on a low temperature . Thanks in advance

    1. I haven't actually made my brisket in a slow cooker before as mine isn't large enough to hold a brisket or any decent size, but I'm sure it would work. I would set the slow cooker to high and follow the same 1 hour per pound of meat ratio as a starting point, but you will want to check it as the speed at which the brisket would cook might also depend on how much extra space remained around it in your slow cooker.

  2. When it's in the fridge with the rub, is it completely wrapped in foil, or is the brisket in a pan which is covered with foil?

  3. Want to do this in my oven for 25 people. Would be great to figure out a way to do this the day before. Any suggestions?

    1. It's really not hard to do the day of, since really it just roasts the whole time, but if you prefer to do the entire cooking process in advance, I would just cook it all the way through the bbq sauce stage, then wrap it up well in aluminum foil and transfer to the fridge. On the day you plan to serve it, just reheat in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour until heated all the way through.

  4. Question ?
    I want tp pre cook the brisket to take on vacation.
    Could I slow cook my 9.5 lbs brisket for 8 hours @ 250/225 and then finish it off the next day or 2 with the BBQ sauce ?

  5. If I cook it at 200, I'm assuming I can get it more moist. But the 1 hr per pound wouldn't work quite as well as 225 temp. How long if I do it at 200 (per pound)? Or, what internal temp would I cook it to (190??)

    1. I'm not sure how much additional time you would need at 200 degrees, but yes, I would cook it until the internal temperature reaches 190 degrees. Maybe start at 1 hour 10 minutes per pound instead of 1 hour and see where that gets you!

  6. Was thinking about this for a party. Ill have 50 people and lots of other food. I thought some chicken and some brisket. a few questions. 1) does this work as well with chicken? 2) how much food? I was thinking 15 lbs of brisket and maybe 10lbs of chicken. 3) do you always slice or do you shred it? I ask because i was thinking about serving with rolls for people to make bbq sandwiches 4) what sides do you serve with this? typical bbq stuff? Coleslaw, cornbread, greens?

    1. I haven't tried this method with chicken, so I really can't say. Although if I were to try it, I think I would do it with bone-in chicken pieces. I would say for 50 people, you will probably want about 40 pounds of brisket (prior to cooking) if that is the only meat you are doing, and obviously less if you are providing more than one meat option. Although depending on age of eaters and appetites, you might want to adjust from there. It sounds like a lot, but brisket will cook down during the long, slow roasting process.

      I prefer it sliced, but you could definitely shred if you want to. The meat will be tender enough that people could still put slices of brisket on rolls for sandwiches, which is something I love to do myself.

      For sides, I love serving brisket with this perfect cornbread, my favorite macaroni & cheese, and these green beans with bacon and pine nuts. But yes, any other traditional sides like coleslaw, greens, corn on the cob, etc. would be wonderful!

  7. I just found this recipe and an going to try it. My question is about the brisket. I never know how to buy one. I was reading and saw they pretty much sell a flat one, a point and then the whole that is basically both. Any tips on buying one?

    1. It really depends on how many people you want to feed, I think. I almost always just do a flat one if it's just for my family, but if doing this for a crowd, I do the bigger cut that has the flat and the point. Either works great, you just need to adjust the cooking time based on the amount of meat.

  8. 5 stars
    I made this last year when my husband turned 50. It was my first experience cooking a brisket, and it turned out PERFECTLY! I am making it this week for company. Thanks for sharing your techniques and recipe ❤️

    1. Yes, you should be fine as long as there is room in your oven for enough circulation between the briskets. If they are in the same pan together, touching, that's going to affect the cook time. But if they are in two separate pans and both fit in the oven, then it will work just fine!

    2. 5 stars
      Hi Donna. Been a few years since you posted this, but I’m curious how it worked out if you recall. I recently cooked a 10 pound brisket with this recipe and it cooked in five hours when it should’ve cooked in 10. So it was a bit tough. My theory is by ceiling in the meet with tinfoil in a pan I cooked it and what they call the “Texas crutch” which accelerates cooking.

  9. 5 stars
    Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've never been able to do brisket right, but this turned out amazing!! I can't wait to make it again!

  10. 5 stars
    I found this recipe via google and used it to cook a 7lb Brisket for our Thanksgiving dinner this year. I followed the recipe exactly as written and it was REALLY good! It was moist and tender and very tasty. Everyone gave it 5 stars! This recipe is a keeper and I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.

  11. 5 stars
    I made a 5 lb. flat cut brisket today employing your recipe. This was far and away the tastiest brisket I have ever made! Past attempts were always 225-230 degrees. I think the elevated temperature of 250 and then additionally one hour at 350 degrees made all the difference. This brisket emulates a Texas style brisket that is both juicy as well as juicy. You kindness and generosity is exceeded only by your good looks 😉 Thanks for sharing!

  12. 5 stars
    Amy, you were amazing this past weekend. I emailed you directly on Friday clarifying ingredient amounts for a larger brisket than what your recipe calls for. You wrote me back - gave me the increase amounts to use and pointed out the nifty drop down for serving sizes that changes automatically. Then on Sunday I had on other follow up question before I committed my 9 lb brisket to the oven and you again were right there to help me get it right! 9 hours later it's done, its perfect. My guests loved it and no leftovers! Thank you so much for making this meal one that they are still talking about today - credit to your lovely recipe. I am thrilled to be able to leave a public comment - you are the best and I am very grateful to you. Ann

    *** I just realized that I cooked your Instant Pot Beef Stew 2 weeks ago. I didn't pay attention to the website, just the recipe! OK it was the bomb (see my comment on that page). Wow, I'm sold - please move to Colorado and open a restaurant!

    1. Ann, you are so sweet. I'm so glad this turned out well for you and was so happy to help! Sending hugs and warm wishes your way!

  13. I have an 11# brisket that I would like to cook in my electric turkey roaster so that my oven is free for the day to prepare the side dishes. The concern I have is with the depth of the roaster pan. If I cover the roaster with foil will it make a difference if there are several inches of additional air space between the meat and the foil? The pan in my electric roaster is deeper than what I would use if I cooked in the oven and I definitely don't want to roast it for 11 hours and it be dry. The lid to the roaster is vented to release steam so I'm thinking I shouldn't try and use that at all. Also, fat side down and no liquid in the bottom of the pan , right?

    1. Right - fat side down and no liquid. I've done it in one of those roasters before and just covered with foil and then topped with the lid as well. It worked just fine.

    2. I plan to cook pounds of brisket in a large Electric roaster- like one used for a turkey. I have a rack that sits in the bottom of the roaster. I am wondering- would I still put the liquid that the brisket marinated in - into the roaster with the meat? I am wondering since in the comments- you both said- no liquid....Also...how often would I check on it? The foil is a great tip! I haven't done that before!

  14. 5 stars
    Had the brisket last night. A solid hit with our family of seven. Cut with a fork tender. I left most of the fat-cap on, and roasted fat-side up. Finished with Stonewall Kitchen Maple Chipolte Grille Sauce - which has become our family favorite Barbeque sauce. Paired with steamed green beans.

    Only problem - wasn't enough brisket! Next time I'll have the butcher add at lest two more pounds.

  15. 4 stars
    I have always heard to oven bake and/or smoke a brisket with fat cap up for juices to melt down into the meat for best moistness, any reason for yours being fat cap down? Just curious, not negative!
    Thanks

    1. Lol, no reason, I guess I just didn't think about that the day I was making this and taking pictures. Truthfully, we've made it both ways and personally I don't think I can really tell a difference whether it's cooked with the fat cap up or down unless it's being done on a smoker.

  16. Hey im cooking it right now actually but i want to confirm if the temperature you mentioned is in Fahrenheit and not Celsius , thank you. And does it matter if i dont sear the brisket first.?

  17. What are your thoughts about throwing it on the grill after the initial cook time and searing the BBQ sauce mixture that way at about 350-400 degrees for 30 minutes? Add smokiness or will dry out over cook?

    1. Hmm, that's a really good question. My guess is that the amount of smokiness it might add wouldn't be worth it since it wouldn't be able to penetrate into the meat much in that amount of time. But it would be worth a try!

    2. I'm trying this recipe out for the first time, and found a different recipe that suggested searing on the grill at the beginning, before putting it in the oven. Did you try searing after the initial cook? Did the meat stay together? I'd be afraid of it falling apart on the grill.

  18. 5 stars
    This sound delicious, but not everyone in our house likes BB sauce. What would you suggest for the last 30-60 minutes? Thank you.

    1. I don't know that I would do the final 30-60 minutes if I wasn't doing sauce. At that point, the meat should pretty much be close to done anyway - the last bit is to heat and sort of caramelize the sugars in the sauce.

  19. Hi Amy! I’d like to try and make it decent 🙂 Do you have any other sauces that I could use instead of BBQ?

    Thank you.

    1. Hmm, I have never thought to try it with a totally different sauce. Maybe teriyaki? I really don't know! If you try one, let me know what you use and what you think!

  20. Just did the recipe today for my birthday. It turned out great! I cooked a large 12+ lbs brisket over night at 195 degrees till this morning I bumped it to 250 for an hour then to 350 and it was delicious. And also so very tender. Will be using this again, hopefully soon!

    1. I tend to cook it with the fatty side down. Some people prefer it the other way because they feel like the fat melts into the brisket as it cooks, but I haven't ever felt like that makes a difference.

  21. If I have 2 smaller briskets and I want to cook them together, do I use one hour per pound for their combined weight or their individual weights?

  22. Bought a 9# packers brisket
    Cut into 2 pieces. Will cook for 5 hrs@ 250 degrees.
    Thanks for the recipe
    Jim

  23. I would like to cook it without using bbq sauce. We will add the sauce after so that people can put the kind of sauce they like. Since I won’t be putting sauce on it, does that change anything in the recipe?

    1. The sauce adds moisture that helps almost braise the meat for part of the cooking time, so I would add a little beef broth or water to the pan while it is cooking instead.

  24. Question about the brown sugar in the BBQ sauce: wouldn't that make it overly sweet or is it more for caramelization?

    1. Personally, I like a sweet BBQ sauce, but yes, the brown sugar also helps with caramelization. You could certainly cut back on it.

  25. This is the first brisket other than corned beef I have ever made.    Pray tell why have I waited so long!!! This was melt in your mouth absolutely delicious!!  Thank you.

  26. I made this for my family and followed your directions exactly, except doubling the ingredients because mine was a bit over 14 pounds. It was DELICIOUS!!! My two pickiest eaters even loved it! One of them has been eating the leftovers every day after school for the past three days! That NEVER happens. I’ve never commented on a recipe post before, but I just had to tell you. Great job!! This recipe is delicious!!

  27. Hi.  If I use a convection oven that sits on counter top, which function will I use:  broil, bake, or roast? Thanks!

    1. I would use either the bake or roast settings. You might want to check your manual though since I don't have a counter top convection oven and am not too sure what the difference would be between those settings. But definitely don't broil.

  28. Hello - very excited to try this! Question - if I am making a much smaller amount, only 1 lb of brisket, does the 1 hr per 1 lb formula still apply? Any other tips for cooking this amount? Thanks!!

    1. Hmm, that's a great question which unfortunately I don't have an answer too. Theoretically, I would say yes, but I've never tried cooking that small of an amount of brisket.

    1. If it was rubber then it sounds like it needed to cook longer. It really can take quite a while for those fibers to break down at a slow roasting temperature!

  29. This will be my first time cooking a Brisket.  When you say ‘ Pour off the fat’, does that mean pour off all the juices or just skim the fat off?  Not sure what to expect, so wanted to ask before attempting.  Looking forward to trying this recipe.

    1. I just pour the fat into a separate container. You could use a fat separator to save the juices and add them to the sauce with the barbecue sauce and brown sugar, or discard altogether, which is what I have always done rather than bother with skimming the fat off the top.

  30. Hi., I just found your brisket recipe it looks wonderful.  As I have some people who like their barbecue on the side can you just make it separately and have the brisket with just the dry rub on it.  Will it spoil any of the flavour of the brisket?

    1. I think this brisket is best with the sauce added. Once you slice it, the amount of sauce is thin and on the outside of the meat, so I always serve additional sauce on the side.

  31. Hi, we have two Sweet Baby Ray sauce options in NZ.  One is just a BBQ sauce option.  The other is a Hickory and Brown Sugar BBQ sauce.  Which one do you use?  The latter?  Or would this be too sweet when combined with the 3/4 cup of brown sugar?  Thanks!

  32. Just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you. Did this last night with a 12 pound brisket and it was a show stopper.
    I marinated it over night and in the morning before leaving for work I popped it into the oven (there was someone home to check for safety) by the time I got home 9 hours later it was ready for the BBQ sauce. 

    Everyone loved it and it was wiped clean with many people taking seconds!! 

  33. Definitely not an authentic brisket. A Texan would laugh their butt off if you called this brisket.  Good pot roast recipe though! Goes best with carrots and potatoes with brown gravy. 

  34. My family LOVES this recipe - thank you! My son has requested it for his birthday dinner which will be 4 days into a trip we're taking. I won't have time to roast the brisket on the trip so I'd like to do it ahead at home. Is it best to cook until it's time to add the BBQ sauce and then freeze, thawing overnight and reheating with the sauce to serve for dinner? Or should I cook it completely and just refrigerate for 4 days? Freeze after completely cooking? Thank you for any guidance on this.

    1. I'm sorry to just be getting back to you on this, Christine! If you are making it ahead, I would cook it all the way and then just refrigerate. It should still be good for those four days.

  35. I get a hunger for brisket from time to time but going to a BBQ place here in Texas is expensive. one pound of brisket will cost you between $15 and $20. Add to this I have no grill or smoker I could use and I wouldn't know how anyway.

    So I went on the hunt for recipes where I could get a BBQ style brisket but done in an oven. The first few I tried always said 300 degrees and in a roasting pan for several hours. All I got was dry brisket jerky.

    The recipe here said 250 degrees, cover the roasting pan COMPLETELY and roast for one hour per pound. I did a 6 pound brisket and I used a temperature PROBE. The kind you can have a wire coming from the probe, out of the oven to the digital readout. The ideal internal temperature is 195 to 203 degrees. When the brisket came out, following the recipe, I uncovered it.

    IT WAS SO GOOD, JUICY AND TENDER. I didn't do the rest of the recipe for the BBQ sauce, I just started eating it. It was as good or better than what I'd get at some Texas BBQ joint. So now this recipe is in my file. Maybe the next one I'll do the rest of the recipe with the sauce.

  36. When’s the best time to slice it? Just unwrapped a 10lb brisket and I’m thinking about refrigerating it for 3-4 hours, then slicing it, then bbq sauce and finishing it in the oven. I saw this method on another recipe and want a clean cut. Also, do you cut the fat cap off or do you eat it? Thanks!

    1. You can slice it before saucing, if you prefer, although I feel like the meat flavor gets a little overwhelmed by the sauce in that case. Regarding the fat cap, it's kind of personal preference. Some people like to eat it, other's don't. Personally, I trim it down a bit, but enjoy a bit of fat.

    1. I think it would be pretty dried out if you take that approach. You can certainly do it 1-2 days in advance though and refrigerate it, then rewarm in the oven, if that helps.

  37. Are the overnight instructions absolutely necessary for taste and tenderness? Unfortunately, I just found your recipe but I have to cook the brisket today.

  38. Hey Babes! Thanks fer the greart recipe! After the first Brisket,....I've done two more now. On the 2nd I changed from BBQ sauce to tantorri sauce (?), then on the 3rd to a curry paste. MAN O MAN! You just won't believe! It'll knock your socks off! XOXOXO Thanks again fer the recipe Amy, Twig

    1. I'm so happy to hear that! I have never heard of tantorri sauce but now I have to find out what it's like!

  39. I have a question. In the past when I made beef brisket, it came with a large fat cap. I never trimmed it and the fat rendered down and it had a lot of fat to separate out. But I didn't mind because fat equals flavor in my opinion. This time when I bought the brisket at the store, I couldn't tell if it had
    a big fat cap. I just assumed the fat cap was underneath it in the package. But I got it home and there is no fat cap. In a case like that do I add bacon or bacon grease to it before cooking so it will
    be moist? Of will it be OK with no fat cap if I just cook it low and slow for a long time?

    1. Yes, if you cook it low and slow, the brisket will still be good. I agree that fat equals flavor, and some people actually like eating the fat on the brisket so they would miss it, but I sometimes trim off the fat cap if it's too thick and only leave 1/4-inch.

  40. Absolutely delicious! I didn't have any of the celery seasoning so i don't know how it would taste with it but without it is was superb. So moist and tender!! I made a 14 pound brisket. Tripled the spices and used one 28 oz bottle original sweet baby ray sauce with 2/3 cup brown sugar. At the end i baked it until alot of the top was brown and crunchy. Will definitely make this again! Thank you so much for a recipe that doesnt have cumin and cayenne.