Beef Brisket Smoked in The Pizza Oven

Summertime is finally here and that means it’s brisket season! When you think of brisket, you think of it smoked in a smoker, and you would be right, but we wanted to put a little spin on it. We decided to use our pizza oven, and let us tell you, it was a hit.

The key to any good brisket recipe is the brisket itself. We got our 14-pound brisket from Halenda’s Meats, so we knew we were getting the best quality beef for our recipe. When cooking brisket, quality really does matter because the higher the quality, the more juicy and tender your end result will be.

If you are looking for quality and affordability, head on over to one of our Halenda’s Meats locations, and our in-house butchers will be happy to help you!

Preparation is the Key to Success!

First, we prepped our pizza oven by adding big logs of wood and allowed them to start burning at a high temperature. Then you let the logs burn out until there are no longer any flames, just the logs in ash form. Once your pizza oven has hit 250 degrees Fahrenheit, you know it’s ready.

Next, you want to make sure you are soaking your wood chips in water. There are many options of flavours out there, but we went with hickory because we thought that paired the best. The key here is to allow them to soak for at least 30 minutes.

Brisket Tips and Tricks

It’s always a good idea to allow your brisket to sit out at room temperature for 1-2 hours before getting started.

Something that we think is a crucial, yet optional step is injecting beef broth into your brisket. This is an easy way to add more flavour and ensure the inside of your brisket is juicy and moist. We used a marinade injector, and you can find this online or at your local hardware store.

Cooking The Brisket

Since we had a 14-pound brisket to work with, we knew this was going to take a while. The motto for cooking a brisket is low and slow and that’s exactly what we did.

We cooked our brisket for a total of 16 hours! Yeah, you heard that right. The rule of thumb is every pound of the brisket should be cooked for 1-1.5 hours. We left our brisket in the pizza oven overnight for 9 hours and the remainder of the cook was in our regular oven.

When you start cooking your brisket in the pizza oven, keep a couple of things in mind. We were using an outdoor pizza oven, but the internal temperature dropped below 200 degrees every 2 hours. If you cook it overnight, you may have to set some alarms so you can maintain that temperature for a perfect cook. But it is for sure worth it!

If you find your temperature is dropping, simply open the door and add more hardwood to raise the temperature back up. We allowed our brisket to cook for 9 hours in the pizza oven. After the 9 hours, you will see your brisket has a perfectly smoked crust. At this point, your brisket is still not finished, remember low and slow.

After the 9 hours, we added some BBQ sauce and cooked it in our oven at 200 degrees for 6-7 hours or until it hits an internal temperature of 203-205 degrees Fahrenheit. Once your brisket has reached this temperature, it’s time to let it rest. DO NOT skip this step, patience is key.

Using a Smoker or Oven

You can use this same recipe if you don’t have a pizza oven. The only thing to keep in mind is that your oven or smoker should be between 200-250 degrees and the internal temperature of your brisket should reach 203-205 before taking it out!

Once your brisket is ready, you can slice it to your preferred thickness. We like ours a little thinner, but it is whatever you prefer.

Now it’s time to eat!

We served out brisket on a kaiser bun, with coleslaw, corn on the cob and a salad. Some of our guests skipped the bun to watch their waistline and they loved it. If you love horseradish, don’t be afraid to add some on your sandwich or throw some right on top of your meat. It’s the perfect addition!