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!

Smoked Beef Brisket in Pizza Oven
Equipment
- Pizza Oven Smoker or oven
- 1 Bag Hickory Wood Chips
- 1 Marinade Injector Optional
Ingredients
- 14 lbs Beef Brisket - Halenda's Meats
Dry Rub
- 1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Cup Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Paprika
- 1/4 Cup Garlic Powder
Binder
- 1/2 Cup Mustard
Instructions
Pizza Oven Preparation
- First, you are going to start with soaking your wood chips. This is an important step and you want to ensure you are soaking them for at least 30 minutes.
- Now you want to get your pizza oven prepared. The key here is to add a bigger log of wood that will burn slowly and help maintain a stable temperature range. Allow your pizza oven to reach its highest temperature and then allow the wood to burn. You know your oven is ready once it has reached 250 degrees Fahrenheit and there are no longer any flames, just the log in its ash form.
Brisket Preparation
- Allow your brisket to sit out at room temperature for approximately 1 hour.
- The next step would be to trim your brisket. Some people prefer not to trim it and some people do. It is whatever you prefer. We asked our butcher at Halenda's Meats to trim it for us. We suggest you do the same!
- After your brisket is prepped and ready, we are going to inject the brisket with beef broth. We are using a Marinade Injector tool that can be found online or at your local hardware store. This is an optional step but will help add flavour and keep the inside of your brisket moist.
- Now we are going to lather our mustard all over the brisket as a binder for our dry rub.
- Mix your salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika into a bowl.
- Coat your whole brisket with the dry rub and make sure you get a nice thick and even coat.
- Now would be a good time to add in your soaked hickory wood chips to begin smoking.
The Cook
- Now your brisket is ready to go in your pizza oven, smoker or oven.
- Make sure you are putting your brisket in when the temperature is around 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- We placed our brisket right on the stones in our pizza oven. Close the door and partially close the chimney to reduce the flow of oxygen so that the smoking process can take place.
- Allow to cook for approximately 9 hours. Make sure you are checking on the brisket every 2 hours to ensure the temperature has not dropped. If you see the temperature is below 200 degrees Fahrenheit, open the door and add more hardwood to elevate the temperature back up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After around 9 hours of cooking, remove the brisket and check its internal temperature. At this point, your brisket should not be finished, but have a beautiful smokey crust.
- Place brisket on a pan and preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Apply a thin layer of your favourite BBQ sauce to both sides of the brisket. Wrap it in aluminum foil and place it in your oven for the remaining 5-6 hours or until your brisket has reached an internal temperature of 203-205 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once you have achieved this internal temperature, remove the brisket and allow it to rest for at least 2 hours.
- After the resting time is up, it's time to slice and serve!
- ENJOY!