Camp Brisket on the Grill Grate
A rubbed brisket, a long low fire, and nothing else to do all day. Car camping only.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 10 oz
- cal / oz
- 62
- protein
- 48 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 390 min
- total time
- 410 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Beef brisket | 6 lb | trim the top fat to about 1/4 inch, leave the bottom fat cap alone |
|---|---|---|
| Coarse BBQ dry rub | 1/2 cup | salt, pepper, garlic, brown sugar, a little mustard powder |
| BBQ sauce | 1 cup | decanted into a squeeze bottle at home |
| Hardwood pellets or split oak | as needed | however your setup burns |
| Heavy foil | 1 roll |
Method
- At home the night before, trim the brisket, pat it dry, and coat both sides with the rub. Wrap it and keep it in the cooler on the bottom, under the ice.
- In camp, get the fire or pellet grill holding low heat, roughly 165 F. A bed of coals raked to one side of the ring does the same job as a smoker set low.
- Lay the brisket fat side down on the grate over indirect heat. Smoke it low for two hours, feeding the fire small and often.
- Bring the heat up to about 250 F and hold it there. Another four to five hours. Check with a probe, not the clock.
- When the thick end reads about 185 F internal, brush on the sauce. Do it twice over the last half hour so it sets instead of running off.
- Pull it to a cutting board, tent it in foil, and let it sit ten minutes. Slice thin across the grain.
This is a car-camping recipe and it does not pretend otherwise. Seven hours of low fire, a cooler, and a probe thermometer are not backpacking gear. What makes it work in camp is that almost all the labor happens at home: trim, rub, wrap, and the brisket rides in the cooler doing its own dry brining overnight.
The two-stage heat is the point. The first two hours at low temperature let smoke settle on the surface while the meat is still cold. After that, 250 F is just a slow oven, rendering the fat cap from the bottom up. Sauce goes on at the end because sugar burns long before the brisket is done. Rest it, or the juice ends up on the board instead of in the slices.
Packing
Rub the brisket at home and pack it wrapped, at the bottom of a cooler with block ice. Sauce goes in a squeeze bottle so nothing leaks into the food bin. Bring a probe thermometer and a real knife.
Variations
- Wrap the brisket in foil once it hits about 165 F internal to push through the stall faster.
- Leftover slices chopped into the next morning's hash or a foil packet of beans.
https://campfirefoodie.com/traeger-smoked-brisket-recipe