No.49 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Texas brisket

Made famous by Aaron Franklin

Photo: Johnsparks75, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto, 2015.

Brisket is the king of Texas barbecue, and people line up for hours at Franklin Barbecue in Austin. His book teaches the salt-and-pepper, low-and-slow way.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in Franklin Barbecue.

Ingredients

• 1 whole packer brisket, 12 to 14 lb (5.5 to 6.5 kg), point and flat attached
• 1/2 cup (60 g) coarse (16-mesh) black pepper
• 1/2 cup (140 g) kosher salt
• Spray bottle of water or diluted cider vinegar
• Pink butcher paper (unwaxed)
• Post oak or other hardwood for the smoker

Steps

1. Trim the brisket cold: take the hard fat down to about 1/4 inch on the fat side, remove the silverskin and hard fat on the meat side, and round off thin edges that would burn.
2. Mix the salt and pepper and sprinkle it evenly over every surface. Let it sit while you light the smoker.
3. Bring the smoker to a steady 250 to 275F (120 to 135C) with clean, thin blue smoke, not white.
4. Put the brisket on the grate fat side up with the thick point toward the fire. Smoke without opening for the first 3 hours.
5. After that, spritz any dry-looking spots every 45 to 60 minutes. Cook until the bark is dark, mahogany and firm and doesn't smear when touched, usually 8 to 10 hours, when the inside is around 165 to 175F.
6. Tear two long sheets of butcher paper, lay the brisket on them, spritz lightly, and wrap tightly. Return it to the smoker.
7. Cook until the thickest part of the flat reads about 203F (95C) and a probe slides in like butter, 3 to 5 hours more.
8. Rest it, still wrapped, in an empty cooler or a 150F oven for at least 1 hour and up to 4.
9. Slice the flat across the grain into pencil-thick slices. Turn the point 90 degrees and slice it a little thicker. Serve with white bread, pickles and onions.

Chef's tips

• Feel matters more than temperature: probe tender is done.
• The stall around 160F can last hours; it's normal. Don't raise the heat.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in Franklin Barbecue by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay: get the book, No. 88 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 48Shrimp and grits→ No. 50Barbecue ribs