If you’ve smoked brisket before, you know it’s a time commitment. Between trimming, seasoning, and a 12+ hour cook, every shortcut counts.

We’re always looking for ways to save time, so you may wonder whether you could season a brisket the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight. This doesn’t just buy you a little extra sleep. It can also help you get a better bark and deeper flavor.

Why season a brisket the night before? 

If you’re not doing an overnight pellet grill brisket or a hot and fast brisket, you may be planning to wake up at the crack of dawn to fire up the smoker. In my experience, if you want brisket for dinner, you typically need to get the brisket on the smoker by around 3 AM.

I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to do at 2 AM is trim and season meat. So, I wondered what would happen if I trimmed and seasoned a brisket the night before and just let it hang out in the fridge overnight. 

This method is similar to a dry brine in that you let the seasoned meat rest in the fridge before cooking it. Dry brining is a popular method for steaks and other cuts of beef, so why not brisket? 

Most brisket rubs are comprised of around 40-50% salt, and salt is what we use when dry-brining meat, so it stands to reason that seasoning a brisket the night before is essentially just a roundabout way of dry brining. 

Will seasoning the night before affect the texture of your brisket? 

Applying a rub to the brisket the night before will result in a slight loss of moisture in the outer layer of the meat, but it won’t significantly affect the brisket as a whole. Seasoning the night before can help let the seasoning set into the meat, which will give you a better bark. 

Also, smoking brisket when it’s colder will help you get a better smoke ring. Now, smoke rings don’t mean much about the quality of the barbecue, but they sure are pretty to look at! 

If anything, seasoning the brisket earlier and allowing it to hang out in the fridge will help your bark. The salt in the rub will pull out moisture and dry the outside of the brisket. Moisture can be your worst enemy when it comes to good bark formation, so this method can actually give you a better bark. 

Do you need to wrap your brisket after seasoning? 

No, wrapping your brisket will actually force moisture to pool on the outside of the meat while it sits in the fridge, which can negatively affect your bark formation when it’s on the smoker. If you plan to season your brisket the night before, you should place it on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet or pan and let it sit in the open air of the fridge. 

Placing the seasoned brisket on a wire rack above a pan will allow air to flow around all sides of the brisket and prevent moisture from pooling at the bottom of the pan. You want that air flow to ensure that your brisket is evenly seasoned and dried on all sides. 

Do you need to reseason your brisket in the morning? 

No, you shouldn’t need to reseason your brisket in the morning before you throw it on the smoker. As the moisture is pulled out of the meat from the salt in your brisket rub, it may affect a few spots.

If you see any spots that look to be missing seasoning, you can always sprinkle a little more on before throwing it on the smoker. 

What to season brisket with?

When seasoning overnight, the most important ingredient is the salt. I find Kosher salt works the best as the granules are the perfect size to get a nice even coverage.

What else you put in your rub is up to you, but I recommend sticking with a simple Texas-inspired rub like our Ultimate Brisket Rub.