Smoked Brisket on the GE Profile Indoor Smoker

I smoked brisket on the GE Profile Indoor Smoker three times. Here’s what happened. Don’t make the same mistakes I did.

Can you smoke brisket indoors?

Yes. With the GE Profile Indoor Smoker, you can now smoke brisket inside your home. However, there are a few things you should know before you give it a go.

First, if you’re not familiar with this smoker, I recommend checking out all of my tutorials on how to use it.

PRO TIP: While the indoor smoker uses wood pellets to generate smoke, it will never taste exactly the same as a brisket smoked with charcoal or pellets. For that style of cooking, follow my No-Fail Way to Make Smoked Brisket.

But if you can’t smoke outdoors, the indoor smoker is good alternative if you follow these pointers.

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How large of a brisket will the indoor smoker hold?

Because the GE Profile Indoor Smoker is shallow in depth, it cannot fit a full-length packer brisket, but you can separate the brisket flat and point or cut the brisket in half and fit it on two levels.

For my first cook, I smoked a 4-pound flat on one level. For my second cook, I smoked an 18-pound brisket that was separated. For my third cook, I smoked a separated 24-pound brisket cut in half.

I did trim the brisket so that it would fit on two racks and saved the excess fat for beef tallow and meat for burger grind.

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My first brisket on the indoor smoker

For my first brisket test, I found a small 4-pound brisket flat at the grocery. It was choice grade, so it didn’t have a lot of marbling. Because of that, I injected the brisket, seasoned it and let it brine overnight in the fridge.

The next morning, I set the indoor smoker to the brisket preset. Once it had a nice bark, I wrapped it in butcher paper with beef tallow and beef consomme and placed it back on the smoker.

Here’s what went wrong

A really cool feature about this smoker is that it will hold your meat at a safe food temperature for up to 24 hours. I always rest my briskets for a few hours, so I was so excited about this feature.

I know BBQ restaurants that will rest their briskets for 8-12 hours, so I thought great! I’ll let it cook. Then, I’ll let it rest and keep warm overnight. Then, I can slice it in the morning to take great photos and video.

As you can see from the picture below, the results were not great. I posted a video on TikTok and the comments were super brutal. People told me I shouldn’t have even posted the video on TikTok, but I share my mistakes so you don’t make the same ones.

Bottom line is I overcooked the brisket.

I usually smoke brisket until it’s probe tender, which is usually around 203F degrees or so. The brisket reached that point and felt super tender. So, I switched the smoker to the keep warm setting at 140F.

However, because the smoker was at 225F just before that and because the brisket was already at temp. There was carryover cooking, which means while I let the brisket rest in the smoker, it took a while for the heat to reduce, so the brisket just kept cooking.

How to prevent this mistake

To prevent this, you have two options.

1. Finish your brisket at a lower internal temperature to account for carryover cooking, if you plan to use the keep warm setting.
2. Once the brisket reaches temp, remove it from the smoker. Let it rest on the counter for 30 minutes. Then, return it to the smoker to keep warm.

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My second brisket on the indoor smoker

For my second brisket, I decided to smoke a separated flat and point. This time, I chose a prime grade. I skipped the injection, but I did let it dry brine in the fridge.

So many people on social media complained that there was no smoke ring with my first cook, so I actually did another video to show that smoke rings can be faked and don’t really mean much.

Bottom line is the indoor smoker is not going to generate a natural smoke ring because the pellets don’t produce enough nitric oxide to interact with the myoglobins in the beef.

How the second cook went

Like the first brisket, I wrapped it in butcher paper after it had a nice bark and reached an internal temp of 160-170F. Then, I cooked it to an internal temperature of 195F.

The main problem I faced is that the flat finished earlier than the point, but I decided to let the brisket transition to the keep warm setting, hoping that the carryover cooking would be enough to take the point to the finish line.

The flavor was good and the flat was tender, but the point was still chewy. I actually threw it in a pan in the oven with some beef broth to help tenderize it.

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My third brisket on the indoor smoker

I was not paid to use this smoker or test these recipes, but I was determined to figure this out. But I have to admit, the experimentation was getting pricy, so I wasn’t prepared to mess up again.

For brisket number three, I had a 24-pound prime brisket from Sam’s Club. Like before, I trimmed it so it would fit on the racks and cut it in half. I didn’t inject it, but I dry brined it overnight in the fridge with salt, pepper and garlic.

As you can see, it was a beast, but it fit.

What I did that worked

Before the cook, I requested a meeting with the GE Profile team to get their advice. Rick from their team had done way more experimenting than me, and he found a method that worked for him, so that’s what I tried.

This time, I started things the same. I placed the seasoned brisket on the smoker with the flat on the bottom and point on top. I set the smoker to 225F degrees and the probe to 193F.

It took 15 hours for the brisket to reach temp. Once it did, I removed it from the smoker and wrapped the flat and point in foil with beef tallow.

I chose foil this time because it holds moisture better than butcher paper.

Then, I put the brisket back in the smoker on the keep warm setting at 140F degrees for 2 hours. The results were so much better.

The picture below is a center cut section that includes the flat and point with the fat layer in between dripping with rendered tallow.

The flavor was great. The bark was nice and crunchy and salty, but there wasn’t a ton of smoke flavor – even though I used the maximum smoke setting. I could taste the smoke, but of course it will never be like smoking it on my drum smoker.

Also, the meat was tender, but still had a little bit of a tug, so when I smoke another brisket on the indoor smoker, I’ll go to 194 or 195 and maybe let it rest longer than two hours. Rick actually rested his for around 10.

I’ve developed the below recipe based on all of these tests. If you smoke a brisket on the indoor smoker, please leave a comment to let others know what worked best for you.

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Ingredients

• Beef Brisket: You can smoke just a flat. For a full packer, you will need to cut the brisket in half and trim it to fit on the racks.
• Salt, Pepper, Garlic: For a classic brisket, use a combination of kosher salt, black pepper and granulated garlic. Or use your favorite brisket rub.

See the full recipe card below for servings and a full list of ingredients.

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How to smoke brisket on an indoor smoker

1. STEP ONE: Start by trimming your brisket so it fits on two racks. Then, sprinkle the brisket with seasoning, and let it rest uncovered in the fridge overnight.

2. STEP TWO: Choose the brisket setting on your GE Profile Indoor Smoker. Set the temperature to 225F and the probe to 194F. Place the briskets on the racks, fat side down. Slide the racks into the smoker with the point on top. Insert the probe into the flat.

PRO TIP: Make sure the meat thermometer doesn't touch the fat because that will give a false reading. 

3. STEP THREE: Smoke the brisket until it reaches the set internal temperature. Then, let the smoker kick into the keep warm setting at 140F degrees. The timing will vary depending on the size of your brisket.

4. STEP FOUR: Let it rest like this for at least 2 hours. Then, wrap the brisket in foil with beef tallow and return it to the smoker. Let it continue to rest on the keep warm setting for 2-8 more hours.

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How to serve smoked brisket

After the brisket has rested in the smoker for several hours, remove it and slice the meat against the grain.

Brush the slices with the drippings from the foil and serve with white bread, pickles, sliced onions and your favorite BBQ side dishes.

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Storage

Leftover brisket can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for a few days or frozen for a few months.

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