How long does it take to smoke a brisket?

At 250 degrees Fahrenheit a whole packer brisket takes roughly 1.25 hours per pound, so a 14 pound packer runs about 17.5 hours plus at least an hour of rest. Pull it when a probe slides into the flat like warm butter, usually 200 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a texture target: the USDA safe minimum for a whole cut of beef is 145 degrees Fahrenheit with a 3 minute rest.

What temperature should you smoke meat at?

250 degrees Fahrenheit is the best default for most cuts and most cookers. It removes roughly a fifth of the cook time compared with 225 degrees Fahrenheit at almost no cost in quality. Poultry is the exception and wants 275 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, because skin needs that heat to render properly and a large bird at low temperature spends longer than it needs to in the danger zone.

What are the USDA safe internal temperatures for smoked meat?

165 degrees Fahrenheit for all poultry including ground poultry, 160 degrees Fahrenheit for ground meats including fresh sausage and meatloaf, and 145 degrees Fahrenheit with a 3 minute rest for whole cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal. Fish is 145 degrees Fahrenheit and leftovers and casseroles are 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Verify with a calibrated instant-read thermometer, never with time or colour.

Know when it will be done

153 pages of cook times, doneness temperatures and researched gear guidance for pellet grills, offsets, drums, bullets and electric cabinets. Every number on the site comes from one shared data file, so the calculator and the chart can never give you two different answers.

Quick answer

Smoke most cuts at 250°F, and poultry at 275°F or higher for skin you can bite through. At 250°F a whole packer brisket runs about 1.25 hours per pound and a pork shoulder about 1.5 hours per pound, both pulled near 203°F for texture. The USDA safe minimums underneath all of that are 165°F for poultry, 160°F for ground meats and 145°F with a 3 minute rest for whole cuts, verified with a calibrated thermometer.

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Best budget

Z GRILLS

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A PID controller at the price most brands charge for a simple three-position dial. PID is the single spec that decides whether your grate temperature holds within a few degrees or swings 40, and swings are what ruin a long cook.

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Best fitted cover

SUPJOYES

SUPJOYES Grill Cover for Traeger Ironwood 885

Under $50

A model-specific cut rather than a generic drape. Fitted covers stay put in wind, and wind is what removes generic covers and lets rain into a pellet hopper.

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Skip it if: Owners of anything else. A model-specific cover on the wrong grill either will not close or will flap loose, and you have paid a premium for the fit you are not getting. Measure your cooker, then buy to the measurement.

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Best for most people

Weber

Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker, 18 inch

Under $500

The 18 inch bullet is the most-copied smoker design in backyard barbecue for a reason: a water pan buffers the temperature swing, and it will hold 225F for ten hours on one load of charcoal without electricity or a controller.

Best for: Two pork butts or one packer brisket, which covers most of what people actually cook.

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Best for most people

Masterbuilt

Masterbuilt 30 inch Digital Electric Vertical BBQ Smoker

Under $250

The side wood chip loader is the feature that makes this the default recommendation: you add chips without opening the door, so the chamber never dumps its heat mid-cook. 710 square inches across four racks.

Best for: Ribs, pork shoulder, whole chickens and cold-weather cooks where fire management is a chore.

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Best wireless probe

MEATER

MEATER Plus Smart Wireless Meat Thermometer

Under $100

A single fully wireless probe reading both internal and ambient temperature, with 165 feet of Bluetooth range. No wires through the door seal is the practical win: door gaskets fail where a cable runs through them.

Best for: Overnight cooks where you want an alarm on your phone rather than a trip outside.

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The reference standard

ThermoWorks

ThermoWorks Thermapen ONE Instant-Read Thermometer

Under $250

One second readings and the tightest published accuracy in the category. Professional kitchens standardise on Thermapens because a reading you doubt is worse than no reading at all when the question is whether poultry has reached 165F.

Best for: Anyone cooking for other people regularly, and anyone probing for doneness dozens of times a cook.

Skip it if: A first-time smoker owner. Spending this much here before you own a leave-in probe is the wrong order: you need continuous ambient and internal monitoring more than you need a one-second spot reading. Buy the budget instant read plus a leave-in probe first, then upgrade.

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Best value

Pit Boss

Pit Boss 100% All Natural Competition Blend Hardwood Pellets, 15 lb

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A hardwood blend at the lowest sensible price per pound. Blends are the right default because a single-species pellet locks you into one flavour for the whole bag, and you burn a bag faster than you think.

Best for: Everyday cooking and learning your grill before you start chasing flavours.

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How long does it take to smoke the things people actually cook?

Planning times at 250°F, at a mid-range weight for each cut. Read the last two columns as two different things: pull at is a texture target, and USDA min is the safety floor that applies no matter what.

Planning hours at 250°F. Cuts timed per rack or per piece do not scale with weight. Real cooks vary by 25 percent or more, so plan against the slow end.
Cut	Weight	Time at 250°F	Pull at	USDA min	Rest
Beef brisket, whole packer	14 lb	17.5 h	203°F	145°F	60 min
Pork shoulder, Boston butt	8 lb	12.0 h	203°F	145°F	45 min
Pork spare ribs, St. Louis cut	3.5 lb	5.0 h	200°F	145°F	15 min
Pork baby back ribs	2 lb	4.3 h	198°F	145°F	10 min
Whole chicken	5 lb	3.0 h	165°F	165°F	10 min
Whole turkey	15 lb	8.3 h	165°F	165°F	20 min
Chicken thighs, bone in	2.5 lb	1.8 h	180°F	165°F	5 min
Beef short ribs, plate	4.5 lb	5.9 h	203°F	145°F	30 min

Brisket and pork shoulder go to roughly 203°F because collagen only renders into gelatin above about 195°F. That is texture, not safety: both are microbiologically safe many hours earlier. It never runs the other way, which is why chicken thighs improve up to 180°F but are never safe below 165°F. Run your own weight and serving hour through the cook time calculator, or browse all 47 cut pages.

Calculators

6 free tools that run entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Reference charts

8 charts built from the same data the calculators run on. The internal temperature chart is the one worth bookmarking.

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Everything else on the site

The temperatures that are not negotiable

Everything else on this site is guidance. These are the published USDA FSIS safe minimum internal temperatures, they are a food-safety floor, and no texture target anywhere here overrides them.

USDA FSIS safe minimum internal temperatures, measured with a calibrated thermometer.
Food	Safe minimum	Rest
Poultry, all of it	165°F	None required
Ground meats: beef, pork, lamb, veal	160°F	None required
Whole cuts: beef, pork, lamb, veal	145°F	3 minutes
Fish and shellfish	145°F	None required
Ham, fresh or uncooked smoked	145°F	3 minutes
Ham, fully cooked, being reheated	165°F	None required
Egg dishes	160°F	None required
Leftovers and casseroles	165°F	None required

Before your first long cook

The danger zone and the 4 hour rule. Bacteria multiply fastest between 40°F and 140°F. Food must not spend more than 4 hours in total in that band across its whole life, counting thawing, prep, cooking, resting and serving added together, and only 2 hours if the surrounding air is above 90°F. Thaw in the refrigerator, never on a counter.

Texture is not safety. A pork shoulder is safe at 145°F and is not tender until about 203°F. Those extra hours render collagen. Never read that backwards.

Everything here is researched guidance rather than professional culinary instruction. Verify with a calibrated instant-read thermometer in the thickest part, away from bone and fat seams. Full detail in food safety for smoking and on the disclaimer page.