Barbecue University®

Hot and Fast Brisket: Great Flavor Without the Wait

Updated October 2026.

I know that “low and slow” (a long cook at a low temperature) is the gold standard for brisket.

So why should you even consider cooking brisket hot and fast?

If you tried to consume all that has been written and preached about the best way to smoke a brisket low and slow, you would be exhausted. And you could have smoked enough briskets to feed your whole town. No matter where or how you learned to smoke a low and slow brisket, or who taught you, the method requires one key ingredient: patience. Patience is a nice way of saying it takes hours before you are eating any brisket.

Why Cook Brisket Hot and Fast?

So what’s with the hot and fast method? Time, that’s what. Maybe you don’t have the time for low and slow, but you still want brisket. I have prepared brisket low and slow and hot and fast on a variety of smokers and grills, so I feel I can share some insight on the hot and fast controversy.

Is a low and slow smoked brisket better? Yes. But a hot and fast brisket is better than no brisket at all! For my first attempt at smoking a brisket, I used the hot and fast method since I did not have time for low and slow. I was a novice, and I smoked my first brisket on a kettle grill at 400°F for about 4 hours. I thought it was awesome. I thought it was delicious, but I did not know any better.

Years later, I was attending Barbecue University and asked Steven Raichlen about the hot and fast method. He told me he was authoring a whole book on brisket and suggested I try it so we could compare it to low and slow. If you’re interested in our results, check out “Brisket in a Hurry” on page 82 of Steven Raichlen’s The Brisket Chronicles.

Since my first brisket, I have cooked briskets on a kettle grill, a Pit Barrel Cooker, a Big Green Egg, a pellet smoker, and an offset barrel smoker (aka stick burner). I usually select the low and slow method, but sometimes I just want brisket, and I do not want to wait all day or get up in the middle of the night to start it. Other times, I want brisket for another use.

I have used brisket in nachos, hash, jalapeño poppers (Texas Twinkies), chili, ragu, and tacos. I can appreciate that most people do not cook brisket just for other recipes, and it is rare that there is leftover brisket. But smoky, beefy, succulent brisket will boost the flavor of other dishes.

Our Hot and Fast Brisket Test

At Barbecue University in 2024, Steven and the team were comparing two methods for wrapping brisket. We wrapped one brisket in butcher paper (the Aaron Franklin method) and the other in aluminum foil (the Tootsie Tomanetz method). You can read the results of our brisket wrapping comparison. Early in the morning, we realized that even with two briskets, we might not have enough for all the students. I suggested that we revisit our hot and fast experiment and cook two more briskets. Steven gave me the go-ahead.

Cooking Hot and Fast Brisket

I quickly trimmed two briskets and seasoned them with Steven’s Texas Brisket rub. I decided to use the Weber SmokeFire for a few reasons. I would not have to babysit the briskets while helping the students, the smoke would be consistent, and it would reach a temperature of 400°F.

Once the briskets reached an internal temperature of 165°F on the ChefsTemp instant-read thermometer, I wrapped one in butcher paper and one in aluminum foil. Total cooking time was about 4 hours.

The briskets did not jiggle like they would if they were smoked low and slow. When I probed them with the instant-read thermometer, they still felt a little tight despite the temperature reading of 203°F. The briskets then rested for about an hour and a half before it was time to slice them up for lunch.

What to Know Before Trying Hot and Fast Brisket

Allow time for the rest, too. Our briskets smoked for about 4 hours, then rested for another 90 minutes before slicing. That was our result for this test, not a timetable for every brisket.

Pay attention to texture as well as temperature. Our briskets reached 203°F but still felt a little tight when probed. That detail matters when deciding whether the shorter smoking time gives you the result you want.

The Results: How Did Hot and Fast Brisket Compare?

Now, if you have never eaten brisket, you might be impressed with a hot and fast brisket. It was smoky and luscious, and the bark was flavorful and crusty. Both the flat and the point developed a nice smoke ring. Thinly sliced flat would be ideal in a sandwich. The point was moist and smoky, as you would expect. Due to the shortened smoking time, not all the intramuscular fat rendered from the brisket, but it still had a luscious mouthfeel.

We all enjoyed sliced brisket for lunch, and to our surprise, there were leftovers. I quickly wrapped up slices of brisket to make hash the next morning for Steven and the team. Check out “Brisket for Breakfast? You Bet!” to see how I made hash with the leftover brisket.

I do not expect to convert Planet Barbecue to the hot and fast method, but there will come a day when you just need more brisket or you need brisket in a hurry, and I hope you will remember hot and fast brisket.