There’s nothing like slicing into a juicy, smoky brisket! And yes, you can get pitmaster-worthy results on the Ninja Woodfire Grill.
As a championship pitmaster who’s cooked brisket on every type of smoker out there, I’ve put this grill through the fire. And the verdict? It absolutely delivers, as long as you follow a few key steps.
With the Ninja Woodfire Grill, it’s literally as easy as seasoning the meat and pushing a button.
Let’s break it down.
Table of Contents
What is brisket
Brisket is a cut of beef made up of two muscles (the point and the flat) that comes from the chest of a cow. It’s a rather tough piece of meat, because the cow uses these muscle frequently.
Smoking brisket for several hours helps break down the tough muscle fibers, which turns this beef cut into one of the most desirable on the cow.
The flat meat is more lean; whereas the point meat is much more fatty and tender. It’s more common to find brisket flats than brisket points, but if you can find a point, give it a try, you’ll love the results.
I have been smoking brisket for years and have a comprehensive article on the no-fail way to smoke brisket on a pellet or charcoal grill. It breaks down everything from picking out a brisket to trimming it to the importance of the rest stage.
What You’ll Need
- Brisket: The Woodfire Grill Grate is about 15 inches long, so be sure that you choose a brisket that will fit. Usually, one that is under 10 pounds will work. You can buy the flat, point or a combination of both.
- Girls Can Grill Brisket Rub: I use this rub on the competition circuit, and my brisket cooked with it took 5th place in the world.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: For added moisture, spritz the brisket every 1-2 hours with this flavor enhancer.
- Ninja Woodfire Grill – any model
- Wood Pellets: Oak, hickory or cherry are my faves for brisket.
- Plastic Wrap, Foil or Butcher Paper for the rest
Substitutions: You can also season your brisket with a combination of salt, pepper and granulated garlic or any other barbecue seasoning that you love.
How to make smoked brisket on the Ninja Woodfire Grill
Step 1: Trim the brisket
Start by trimming down the thick layer of fat on the bottom or sides. I recommend trimming them until they are about 1/4-inch thick.
Need a guide? Read my full brisket trimming tutorial for details.
Step 2: Season like a champ
Season generously with Girls Can Grill Brisket Rub. This blend is designed for long cooks, bold bark and deep smoke flavor. Let it sit at room temp while the grill preheats.
Step 3: Set up the Ninja Woodfire Grill
- Insert the smoke box and fill with your favorite wood pellets.
- Select Smoker mode. Set the temp to 225F and the time to 8 hours.
- Let it preheat for 15 minutes.
The pellets will ignite as the grill heats. The Ninja’s convection design circulates heat and smoke evenly, making it ideal for brisket, even without a traditional firebox.
Step 4: Smoke Low and Slow
Place the brisket directly on the center of the grill. If you have one, insert a leave-in meat thermometer to monitor the internal temp. If you have the Ninja Woodfire Pro Outdoor Grill, you can use the built-in thermometer to monitor the cook temp for you.
Depending on how much smoke flavor you prefer, you can add more pellets to the smoke box once you see the smoke start fade. As the brisket smokes, a flavorful bark will begin to form.
While the convection fan in the Ninja Woodfire Grill helps keep the brisket moist, you can also spritz it with a little water or apple cider vinegar every 1-2 hours for an added boost of moisture and flavor.
NINJA PRO TIP: When smoking brisket on the Ninja Woodfire Grill, there is no need to wrap it in foil or butcher paper. In fact, doing so can effect the way the grill works. Instead, just allow the grill's convection system to do its magic.
Step 5: How to know when the brisket is done
Cook the brisket until it is probe tender, usually this will be at an internal temperature from 200-210F degrees.
When barbecuing at different altitudes, the final temp will vary.
👉 Want to plan precisely? Use my Brisket Temp Calculator to estimate total cook time based on your elevation.
Step 6: Resting brisket is important
Once the brisket is done smoking, wrap it in plastic wrap, foil or butcher paper and allow it to rest in a cooler without ice for at least an hour. This will allow the juices to settle and redistribute back into the meat.
How to serve smoked Ninja Woodfire brisket
After you’ve allowed the beef brisket to rest, you can slice it and serve it on a platter with smoked mac and cheese and some pickles. Or pile it on white bread or buns to make brisket sandwiches.
NINJA PRO TIP: It's important to slice the meat against the grain. The grain refers to the direction in which the fibers are running. If you run the knife in the same direction as the grain, the bite will be chewy. If you slice against the grain, so that you can see all the lines (pictured below), the bite will be more tender.
The outer crust of a brisket that looks blackened is called the bark. This is perfectly normal and very flavorful. It’s the candied combination of seasoning and smoke that adds that special touch to smoked brisket.
📙 Check out my BBQ glossary to learn more BBQ-related lingo
GCG Pro Pitmaster Tips
- Pellet choice matters. I recommend oak or hickory pellets for bold flavor.
- Season liberally. Brisket is a large piece of meat, so it needs a lot.
- Don’t skip the rest. It’s just as important as the cook.
Storage
If you end up with leftover brisket, you can store it in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Or you can store it in the freezer for up to six months.
You can reheat slices in the microwave on a reduced-heat setting.
Or, you can warm the slices on the Ninja Griddle Plate. It’s also fantastic on loaded baked potatoes or in savory hand pies.
If this information was helpful, I would appreciate it if you would use the link below when you purchase your Ninja Woodfire Grill. After you make a purchase, I will be provided a slight commission at no extra cost to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
When cooking on the Ninja Woodfire Grill, I don’t recommend wrapping the brisket. Doing so can interfere with the grill’s convection technology. Allow the magic Ninja is known for to do its thing.
The time it takes to smoke a brisket on a Ninja Grill depends on the size of brisket that you have and the temperature you’re cooking at. Plan on around 30 minutes per pound. A 10-pound brisket cooked at 225F degrees should take around 5 1/2 hours to cook and another 1-2 hours to rest.
When smoking a brisket, it’s best to face the fat cap toward the heat source. With the Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill, the heat is generated from the top of the grill, so placing the fat cap toward the top would be recommended. However, I like the look of pretty bark, so I’ve also smoked the brisket with the fat cap down and had wonderful results.
I don’t usually flip a brisket when cooking at low temperatures. If you cook a brisket using the hot and fast method, that’s when flipping is recommended. However, because the Ninja Woodfire Grill’s heat source is at the top, you could start the cook with the fat cap up and then flip it after a couple of hours to help form a better bark on top.
Brisket flat is usually done around an internal temperature of 200-205F degrees. Since brisket point has more fat, it can stand to be cooked a little longer – to an internal temperature of 210F degrees. This can all vary however, depending on your altitude. The higher the altitude, the lower the final temp. The best way to know if a brisket is done is to pierce it with a probe. If it goes in smoothly with little resistance, it’s ready.
The Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill uses electric as its heat source, not the pellets. While the pellets will provide real woodfire flavor, you won’t see a heavy smoke ring. It has to do with the science of how smoke rings are created. If you want to add more smoke flavor, you can refill the smoke box throughout the cook.
Not easily. The size of the grill is limited, so it’s easiest to smoke a brisket flat.
When I’m cooking on the competition circuit, I use a combination of post oak, hickory and cherry. Several pellet companies make these varieties. Feel free to mix them together.
Expect around 6–8 hours total, depending on size.
No. There really isn’t room for a water pan. You can add moisture by spritzing it throughout the cook.
More recipes on a Ninja Woodfire Grill
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Smoked Brisket on a Ninja Woodfire Grill
Ingredients
- 10 lb beef brisket
- 1/4 cup Girls Can Grill Brisket Rub
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Trim: Trim the bottom of the brisket so that the fat layer is no more than 1/4-inch thick. View my comprehensive tutorial (link above) for more details.
- Season: Sprinkle a liberal amount of brisket seasoning all over the top, bottom and sides of the brisket.
- Grill Setup: Fill the smoke box with a scoop of pellets. Set the Ninja Woodfire Grill to Smoker with a temperature of 225F degrees and a time of 8 hours.
- Smoke: Smoke the brisket for about 5 1/2 hours, spritzing every 1-2 hours with apple cider vinegar, until it is probe tender and registers at an internal temperature of 200-210F degrees.
- Rest: Once the brisket has finished cooking, wrap it in plastic wrap or foil and let it rest in a cooler without ice for at least 1 hour.
- Slice: Remove the brisket from the wrapping and slice it against the grain.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My 8lb brisket was really dry. I sprayed with acv ever 45 -60 mins. Smoked about 5-6 hrs til it reached 203. Then put in butcher paper and towel in a cooler. Not sure what I did wrong.
My guests said it had good flavour but agreed it was dry.
It sounds like you did everything right. It’s possible it was a really lean piece of meat. It’s hard to get choice grade brisket to be tender. When selecting a brisket, look for ones that have white flecks of marbling. They’ll be juicier.
I am really enjoying my Ninja Fire Grill. Wish I would have purchased the Larger one with the bells and whistles. It really is quite amazing. Plenty of smoke flavor. I can see why you indorse the product. How would you prepare Pork steaks? I have both. Boneless and Bone in. Cook to what internal Temp? They are Pork Shoulder/Butt correct?
DB
I’m glad you’re enjoying it. If they’re sliced thin (1/2-inch or less), cook them on the grill setting at medium. Season and cook like a beef steak. I recommend an internal temp of 145.
If you have a smaller brisket like 2 to 4 pounds is the cook time the same or is there am estimated per pound like pork shoulder just got my new ninja smoker
Usually it’s 30-60 minutes per pound for the larger briskets 10+ lbs. I don’t cook a lot of small briskets, but I would plan on maybe 45 minutes per pound. Main thing though is to cook it to temp, not time.
Wondering why you didn’t appear to get a smoke ring as you would from a traditional smoker?
With the Ninja, the pellets are not the heat source; therefore they don’t produce very high levels of nitric oxide. It’s the nitric oxide interaction with the meat’s myoglobin that causes a smoke ring to form.
I’m currently smoking a 7.5lb brisket now. Do I need to flip it over 1/2 way through the process or keep in the same spot the entire time?
No need to flip it.
I have a 5.8lb flat. How long would that take to smoke before pulling?
Should my ninja smoker , have smoke right away
When you add pellets and turn the function to smoke, it will take a few minutes for the pellets to ignite and start to smoke. If it doesn’t smoke after a few minutes, press the woodfire button. If it still doesn’t smoke, check the pellet box. Add new pellets and try again. If it’s still not working, you’ll need to contact Ninja.
I turned my ninja outdoor grill to the smoke setting and added pellets but the smoker never seemed to smoke and the pellets never caught fire. I pressed the smoke button several times and tried to restart it too but didn’t seem to ever smoke. Was I jumping the gun? Do they gradually burn? Unlike on the grill setting? Thank you!
It sounds like there might be an issue with your grill. I recommend reaching out to Ninja. The grill should show IGN, meaning it’s igniting, and they should start to smoke in about 5 minutes.
Smokin my first 5-26 pound Flat Brisket as to your recommended temp, 225, used a MEATER probe for temp control looking and smoking good- I added additional pellets throughout the smoke- looks great sitting at a 178 temp with estimate 2 hours to go— can’t wait. Thank you for Wonderful directions
I’m surprised no one has asked this yet, so I must be missing something. Why am I setting the grill for EIGHT hours if the cooking time is FIVE and a half hours?
I always set it for more time than I need because I don’t want it to turn off before I’m done cooking it. When your food is done, you can just turn the grill off.
Well that should have been mentioned at the beginning when setting the timer. Was worried about it finishing it and started cooking again. Not sure if the internal temp ever reached 200-210.
Should I replace pellets in smoke box once an hour and do I need to shut off the smoker to do so? Also would cherry and oak be a good combo for pellets for smoking a brisket?
If you want more smoke, you can add another scoop of pellets every hour or so. There’s no need to shut the smoker off. If for some reason the new batch of pellets doesn’t ignite, press the woodfire technology button. Oak and cherry are great choices for brisket. I use those two all the time.
Amazing recipe! My only question is I’m using a UK ninja wood fire. The lowest my temp goes down to is 120c. You used 225F which is 107c will my lowest setting work as well?
Yes. You’ll probably be able to shave 30-60 minutes off of your cook times with that higher temp, but it will still taste great.
Hi, thanks for the amazing Ninja Woodfire recipes. I am planning on cooking a brisket on it tomorrow, have read a lot about injecting liquid into the brisket before cooking, will this help or hinder your method? Many thanks AndyG
You’re very welcome. Injecting brisket is a great way to make it more moist and add more flavor. I recommend using beef broth.
I followed all the instructions word for word and unfortunately the brisket was very dry and tough…so disappointed.
I’m sorry to hear that. I’d love to help you troubleshoot what went wrong. What grade of brisket did you smoke? Select and choice-grade briskets have less fat and can be a little trickier. What was the final internal temperature of your brisket? Was it ever probe tender? It’s possible you cooked it too long or not long enough. Most importantly, did you wrap it and let it rest? That is the final key to locking in moisture.
guarantee it was user error
outstanding recipe ….. easy to follow…. tasty results with a 7.9 lb brisket ….. IT WAS TERRIFIC TASTING everyone loved it and we gotta cook another one tomorrow ….. thank Jerry & Barb R
Great recipe and turns out awesome every time!!!!
This is nice. How long should i wrap the brisket?
You don’t need to wrap the brisket on the Ninja. The convection technology helps pull it through the stall.