This beef brisket made in the oven is about as close as you can come to Texas-style smoked brisket without actually using a smoker. Juicy beef brisket is rubbed with an amazing dry rub and baked in the oven until tender. Learn how to make a great beef brisket right in your kitchen.
For this brisket and many other meats, I use my favorite Dry Rub recipe. Try making corned beef brisket in the oven as well, you won’t be disappointed. If you just love Beef Brisket in the oven, you must try my French Onion Beef Brisket.
BEEF BRISKET
Beef brisket comes from the lower chest area of the cow. It’s a very tough cut of meat because it comes from the area where there is a lot of muscle and tendons. Because it’s a tough cut of meat, brisket should be cooked at low temperature for a long period of time.
There are two basic parts of the whole beef brisket. The bottom part of the brisket is called a “flat” and it doesn’t usually contain much fat at all. Top part of the brisket is called a “point” and it is mostly fat with very little meat on it.
Ideally, the whole brisket is cooked at the same time because the fat juices from the top point part seeps into the flat. This makes brisket flat meat juicier. Unfortunately, many grocery stores don’t carry the whole brisket but only carry the flat. (For the whole brisket, check your butcher shops.)
Because flat is much more common, I normally work with that cut. Try to get beef brisket that has a little more fat on top, in the fat cap. (Flat brisket cut still had a small fat cap on top.)
Of course, for best results and for a true Texas-style brisket, it should be cooked in a smoker. Since not everyone has a availability and time to slow cook the brisket in the smoker, I want to share my recipe for making the beef brisket in the oven.
HOW TO COOK BEEF BRISKET IN THE OVEN
Note: Be prepared to start the brisket a day before cooking it. Giving it time to soak up the flavors from the dry rub overnight will give you a much better result.
Before Cooking
Let’s start with making our favorite dry rub, that should take a whole 5 minutes to make.
Take brisket flat out of the package, lay it on a cutting board and pat it dry with a paper towel.
Spread a generous amount of dry rub on top, flip the brisket over and spread a generous amount of dry rub over that. Make sure there is a good amount of seasoning and rub it all over all the sides of the brisket. Massage the rub into every nook and cranny and make sure it’s nicely coated all over.
Wrap rubbed brisket in a couple of layers of foil, covering it tight. Place in a pan or a dish just in case some juices leak out, so that it doesn’t leak all over the refrigerator.
Refrigerate the brisket overnight or up to 12 hours. Take the brisket out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking it, unwrap and let it get to room temperature.
Cooking Brisket
Preheat oven to 300° and place a rack inside the large roasting pan. Lay a couple of sheets of foil that are long enough to loosely cover the brisket, crisscross, on top of the rack. (You can layer the bottom of the roasting pan with aluminum foil to catch whatever drippings might leak through.)
Place the brisket, fat cap up, in the middle of aluminum foil prepared in the roasting pan. Bring the aluminum foil together and close it, covering the brisket loosely, leaving a little space between the brisket and the foil.
Place in the oven and bake for about an hour and 15 minutes per pound, until the brisket reaches 185°. Use a meat thermometer to measure the thickest part of the brisket.
Open the foil and bake brisket for another 45 minutes to an hour, until internal temperature reaches 200-202°.
Take the brisket out onto the cutting board, tent it with a sheet of foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Make sure to cut the brisket against the grain.
BRISKET SERVING SIZE
Wondering how much brisket to get? That’s the story of my life. Recommended serving size for brisket is 1/2 lb of uncooked meat per person.
It’s also very subjective because it highly depends on the sides that you’re servings with it. Lighter sides will not fill guests as much, so more brisket will be needed per person. Heartier sides, will be more filling.
To me, recommended servings never seems enough so I get an extra pound or two of meat. It’s better to have meat leftover than not have enough.
HOW TO STORE BRISKET
If you have leftover brisket, store it covered in the refrigerator, covered tightly.
Wrap cooled brisket in a sheet of parchment paper and then wrap it in some aluminum foil.
Keep in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
HOW TO REHEAT BRISKET
Brisket is nicely reheated in the oven.
Preheat oven to 350°. Slice cold brisket and wrap the slices in foil.
Reheat the foil packets in the oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on how thick the slices are and how many slices there are in the foil. You can place foil wrapped brisket directly on the oven rack or on a baking sheet.
Note: the little fat layer on top won’t have the crunch once it’s been reheated.
SOME MORE RECIPES YOU WILL ENJOY:
Making Corned Beef Brisket In The Oven
Tips for Grilling The Perfect Steak
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Beef Brisket In The Oven
Instructions
- NOTE: Be prepared to start the brisket a day before cooking it. Giving it time to soak up the flavors and tenderize from the dry rub overnight will give you a much better result.
Meat rub and refrigerating:
- Mix dry rub ingredients. (This recipe for dry rub will cover a 6 lb brisket.)
- Take brisket flat out of the package, lay it on a cutting board and pat it dry with a paper towel.
- Spread a generous amount of dry rub on top, flip the brisket over and spread a generous amount of dry rub over that side. Make sure there is a good amount of seasoning and rub it all over all the sides of the brisket. Massage the rub into every nook and cranny and make sure it’s nicely coated all over.
- Wrap rubbed brisket in a couple of layers of foil, covering it tight. Place wrapped brisket in a pan or a dish just in case some juices leak out, so that it doesn’t leak all over the refrigerator.
- Refrigerate the brisket overnight or up to 12 hours. Take the brisket out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking it, unwrap and let it get to room temperature.
Baking the brisket:
- Preheat oven to 300° and place a rack inside the large roasting pan. Lay a couple of sheets of foil that are long enough to loosely cover the brisket, criss-cross, on top of the rack. (You can layer the bottom of the roasting pan with aluminum foil to catch whatever drippings might leak through.)
- Place the brisket, fat cap up, in the middle of aluminum foil prepared in the roasting pan. Bring the aluminum foil together and close it, covering the brisket loosely, leaving a little space between the brisket and the foil.
- UPDATE: Place in the oven and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes per pound, until the brisket reaches about 180°. Use a meat thermometer to measure the thickest part of the brisket. (My 4.5 lb brisket takes about 5 1/2 hours but there are many factors that can affect exact time. Meat itself will take different time and brisket can also stall at a certain temperature in the oven much like a smoker. Use a leave-in meat thermometer to monitor the temperature of your brisket and that way you won't have to keep opening the oven .)
- Open the foil and place it back in the oven. Bake brisket for another 45 minutes to an hour.
Let it rest:
- Take the brisket out onto the cutting board, tent it with a sheet of foil, and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Make sure to cut the brisket against the grain.
Notes
Nutrition
Judie Warner says
I love corn beef, my husband doesn’t. But he does like beef brisket. Found your recipe and decided to give it a try.
Followed it exactly minus an hour because of a smaller size. Used your dry rub with the brown sugar. Turned out perfect. Will definitely be doing this again.
LyubaB says
Yay! I am so happy you both liked it, Judie! Thanks for stopping by to let me know!
Dave Wharton says
The taste is amazing. I tasted the salt, then the sugar sweetness, smokiness of the paprika, then a hit of pepper and the heat of the cayenne. Without a doubt the best brisket I’ve ever baked.
Recommended heartily.
Thanks for sharing WCFS 😊😊👍👍👍
LyubaB says
Thank you, Dave! You are too kind! I am so happy you liked the brisket! Thanks for stopping by to let me know!
Joe says
Hello,
I found your recipe while at the meat counter today, looking at briskets. I have had brisket once in my life, from a smoke house. it was good. Your recipe inspired me to try an “in the oven” brisket. I give you 5 stars as my mouth watered standing at the counter reading it! ‘Heh”. I have my meat in the fridge, ready to go in the oven tomorrow!
Thank you.
LyubaB says
Yay! So glad you liked it! Thanks for stopping by to let me know! 🙂
Eric says
Made this recipe today. I used two small briskets at 1.7 and 1.6 pounds. Took close to 7.5 hours to get up to 180 degrees, which was surprising. Flavor was fantastic!
LyubaB says
Awesome! I am so glad you liked it!
Cicely says
I absolutely loved this recipe. I used this recipe to cook my first ever brisket and it turned out perfect. The rub is amazing and the only one I will ever use. Thank You for sharing.
LyubaB says
Awesome! So glad it worked out!
Candi says
The dry rub was great. It made more than we needed. The cook timing did not work out for us at all though. Our 4 lb brisket was totally over cooked. I threw half away. My guess is that it should have been more like 1 hour per pound.
LyubaB says
I am sorry it didn’t turn out, By overcooked do you mean tough? I am only asking because brisket is a tough meat so maybe it wasn’t cooked enough. Temperature is the best way to check for doneness because cuts of meat and ovens can be slightly different you should use a thermometer and take it out of the oven when it reaches 200-202°.
Geni Certain says
I bought an expensive 2.5 pound brisket from a mail-order specialty meat company, expecting it to be superb. After nearly four hours in the oven, it was so tough the thermometer probe would barely pierce it. We hacked off a few bites, but ultimately found eating it to be too much effort. Fortunately, I had read your advice about cooking it longer to tenderize it, so I put the meat, the pan drippings and a good slosh of chicken broth into my slow cooker and let it bubble for another three hours. Now it’s great!
Courtney says
I don’t have a roasting pan with a rack. I was wondering if I could use a 13×9 pan? If not what would you suggest I use. Thanks. I am making this for our Christmas Eve dinner.
LyubaB says
Hi Courtney,
I am sorry I am just now seeing your comment, I hope it worked out. But yes you can use a 13×9 pan.
Rebecca says
Wonderful recipe easy and food was great and no mess
LyubaB says
Thank you, Rebecca! Glad you liked it!
LyubaB says
Since it’s all cooking in the oven it’s fine to use the same foil. I hope you enjoy it!
Mary sargent says
Do leave the brisket in the same foil that it marinated in or do I put in clean foil before it goes into oven? Thanks.
Jason says
I made the recipe, following the directions. It was delicious! Moist and tender, dipping sauce was flavorful and enhanced the meat. Thank you for sharing this recipe, it’s a keeper!
LyubaB says
Yay! So glad you liked it, Jason! Thanks for stopping by to let me know. 🙂
Julie says
I have an 18lb brisket. It would take an awful lot of foil to wrap this many times so I am roasting it in a aluminum pan. I am going to foil the top, then plastic wrap then foil again. I have done this before and it does a good job keeping the heat and moisture in. So I guess I want to make sure I that I need to cook this for 13 1/2 hours correct or should I cook it longer? Because it is so big I put the rub on today (Monday) and will start it bright and early Thursday morning. Any suggestions would be great.