Dry Rub Oven Baked Brisket Recipe

Name: Dry Rub Oven Baked Brisket
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 300 min
Ingredients: 5 lb beef brisket; ¼ cup brown sugar; 2 tbsp coarse sea salt (kosher salt can be substituted. *If you use table salt cut it down to 1 tbsp.); 1 tbsp cracked black pepper (more if you like black pepper as much as I do.); 1 tbsp garlic powder; 1 tbsp onion powder; 1 tbsp sweet paprika; 1 tbsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp dried mustard; 1 tsp dried thyme

5 from 39 votes

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When it comes to BBQ, brisket is king! And what barbecue aficionados won’t tell you is you can make an amazing fork-tender oven-baked brisket with a flavorful crunchy bark using your home oven, no smoker or grill necessary.

This post has been sponsored by my friends at Reynolds Wrap®

sliced dry rub roasted brisket with cilantro and tomatoes on a cutting board with a box of reynolds foil

I love barbecue and for years I was afraid of making the different cuts of meat I enjoyed eating at my favorite bbq joints.

But at the suggestion of a grill master friend, I learned the secrets of dry brining and slow-roasting meats in my oven.

chunks of barbecue brisket topped with cole slaw and onion rings on a brioche bun

I love a good brisket sandwich and one of the places I frequent for barbecue makes a delicious combination by adding coleslaw and onion rings to chopped brisket covered in bbq sauce served on a toasted brioche bun.

You’re going whole hog with this sandwich!

What ingredients do I need to make an oven baked brisket?

ingredients to make a dry rub brined brisket

Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make a dry rub oven-baked brisket. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.

Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

Did you know that Reynolds Foil is made in the USA? Located in Louisville, Kentucky for over 70 years, Reynolds® creates the foil American families have used for generations.

My grandmother and mother both used Reynolds Wrap® Foil and now my children use it in their kitchens. My grandchildren will make the 5th generation in my family that counts on Reynolds Wrap® Foil to be there for our cooking needs.

What are the different cuts of Brisket?

Brisket comes in three different cuts. A full packer brisket is a whole brisket, that includes both the point and flat sections. It will weigh anywhere from 8 to 12-plus pounds.

The point cut is the fatty part of the brisket, also known as the deckle or second cut. The flat is the leaner cut of the brisket and is also known as the first cut.

Whether you use the whole brisket, a flat or the point this recipe will still yield a moist, tender OMG flavorful brisket.

*For my oven-roasted beef brisket recipe either the flat or the point will work. Most grocery stores will carry the flat.

How do I prepare the brisket for slow roasting?

The first step is preparing the dry rub which will act as brine, adding flavor and helping to keep the brisket moist.

*My spices include onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar, chili powder, sea salt, cracked black pepper and a few others. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste.

How do I make an oven-baked brisket?

Start by trimming the brisket of any silver skin and if needed removing most of the fat cap from the top of the brisket. Hard fat does not render!

four images showing how to cook dry rub brisket

Pat the brisket dry with paper towels and coat the entire brisket with the dry rub, massaging the dry rub into the meat. Make sure to coat the sides of the brisket.
Wrap the dry-rubbed brisket tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight. *A minimum of 3 hours is needed for the dry rub to penetrate the brisket.
Take the brisket out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking, allowing the brisket to get close to room temperature before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 275° F
Insert an oven-safe meat thermometer into the thickest part of the brisket. The fat side should be up during the roasting process.
Slow Roast in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 175 degrees F.
Remove the brisket from the oven and carefully cut the foil open to expose the brisket and continue roasting until the internal temperature reaches 195-205 degrees F.

Chef Dennis Tip:

Do not be tempted to raise the temperature for faster cooking time, or your brisket will be very tough. Slow oven roasting using a low temperature allows the fats to break down gradually, tenderizing the beef, so it has a stretching juicy quality in the end.

How do I slice oven-baked brisket?

Place the beef brisket on a cutting board and let it rest for an hour before slicing, three hours is even better. Slices should be pencil width thick.

Allowing brisket to rest lets juice redistribute throughout the meat. If sliced right off the grill, the meat would lose moisture.

sliced dry rub roasted brisket with cilantro and tomatoes on on a white platter next to a box of reynolds foil

After the brisket has rested, the next step is finding the grain. The direction of the cut is key to having tender fall-apart slices of brisket.

You want to slice against the grain. The grain of any meat is the alignment of the muscle fibers. When you cut with the grain, the muscle fibers remain somewhat intact and result in meat that is tough and difficult to chew. When you cut against the grain, you break up the muscle fibers evenly so that the meat becomes much more tender and easy to chew.

Chef Dennis Tip:

Before cooking, find the grain and slice a corner of the flat. This will make it easier to find the direction of the grain when the brisket is done and ready to be sliced.

How can I use leftover oven-baked brisket?

3 brisket tacos on a white platter with dishes of guacamole and salsa next to it

You’ll often find chopped brisket used in tacos, sandwiches, and chili. Other delicious uses for leftover brisket are in brisket hash, soups, stews, quesadillas, topping on pizza, and brisket and beans to name a few.

close up of sliced brisket on a cutting board with cilantro and grape tomatoes

Wouldn’t your friends and family love to sit down to this tender, delicious dry-rubbed oven-roasted brisket? Why not surprise them and let them think you’re the new grill-master in the family!

The best part is thanks to Reynolds Foil, clean-up is a breeze, which means it’s more The best part is thanks to Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil, cleanup is a breeze, which means it’s more time to spend with your loved ones enjoying a meal and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Recipe FAQ’s

IS BRISKET DRY RUB THE SAME AS BRISKET DRY BRINE?

If you rub the brisket with the spice mixture and immediately place it in the oven, it’s just a rub. It will flavor the exterior of the meat and the spices will penetrate a little way into the beef.
But if you rub the seasonings into the brisket and let it sit overnight before roasting this would be considered a brisket dry brine. The salt and other seasonings will have time to truly work their way into the center of the beef giving you a more flavorful piece of meat.

What should the internal temperature of a fully cooked brisket be?

Brisket is a tougher cut of meat, and that means it needs to be slow-roasted to a higher temperature internally before the fats start to break down and tenderize the meat. The magic starts to happen at 195 degrees and can continue to cook up until 205 degrees.

How long does it take to cook a brisket?

A good rule of thumb is to cook the brisket 60 minutes per pound at 275 degrees F. Of course this all depends on your oven, make sure to give yourself extra time just in case it hasn’t reached the optimal internal temperature range of 195 -205 degrees F.

Can I cook the brisket at a higher temperature?

To get a fork-tender brisket, the maximum cooking temperature is 300 degrees F. Any hotter will produce a tough brisket. Brisket needs a slow roast and the sweet spot for roasting is 250-275 degrees F.

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sliced dry rub roasted brisket with cilantro and tomatoes on on a white platter

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5 from 39 votes