Smoked Bison Brisket | Wild Table

You can never have enough brisket in my opinion. Serve as is for dinner, have the leftovers for breakfast in a burrito, then have the rest for lunch in a sandwich. It’s a go to for me on Fridays or Saturday since it always seems to last the weekend. Unless you have company, then good luck with leftovers making it to breakfast. You can use your own favorite rubs but for bison brisket I try to avoid any rub that has a lot of sugar. Bison tastes just a little bit better when its savory versus sweet in my opinion.

Servings: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 Bison Brisket
• 1 Stick of butter
• Yellow mustard
• Whatever preferred rub but I recommend one with heavy Salt + Pepper
• Butcher Paper or foil
• Beef tallow

Instructions

STEP 1:  Preferably the night prior but minimum 2 hours before cook start.

In a baking pan or cookie sheet that can fit in your fridge, trim what silver-skin you can off the bison brisket. Squeeze a couple lines of mustard on the brisket then spread it all over the brisket with your hand. Once covered, season with your preferred rub then repeat on the opposite side. Put in the fridge to let the seasoning soak into the meat.

STEP 2: The Cook (Low and Slow)

Preheat smoker to 215 degrees. This cook was done on my Ironwood 885 Traeger with Traeger signature pellets and the super smoke setting. If using a traditional smoker I’d recommend hickory, cherry, or mesquite. Leave the brisket on the cooker until internal temperature hits between 140 – 150 degrees. Roughly 4-5 hours depending on the size of the brisket. 

STEP 3: The Wrap

Once the Brisket hits 140-150 degrees internal, it’s time to wrap. You can wrap it in either butcher paper or foil. Foil will hold moisture and butcher paper does a good job keeping the bark on the brisket, so this is a personal preference. For my cook I used butcher paper. First, I sliced the butter into thin pieces and placed on the butcher paper where I plan to put the brisket. I place a dallop of beef tallow in the center for added fat since this cut is so lean. Next, place the brisket on top of the butter and tallow. Just before wrapping, I put 2-3 more dallops of the tallow on the top side. For folding, I fold the bottom and sides in towards the meat, then fold over keeping the paper tight against the brisket. Once there’s not enough paper to fold over, I instead fold what’s left into the sides to secure it brisket like an envelope. If you use foil, follow the same steps with the butter and tallow but make sure you have a good seal, so the juices don’t spill out.

STEP 4: Final Steps

Put the brisket back on the smoker and turn the heat up to 250 degrees and carry on with your day. You want the brisket to hit about 205 degrees which can take some time. At this temperature your thermometer should slide through the fattier side of the meat easy and it’s time to rest while its still wrapped. I put mine in a cooler for at least an hour before I even think about slicing. Ideally you want to wait about 2 hours in my opinion. You may have to wrap it an additional time if you have a hole from checking with your thermometer. After that, slice and enjoy.

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