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What to cook for Labor Day BBQ 🇺🇸 🔥 10 must-try grill + smoker recipes (Inspired by Jenna Passaro | Sip Bite Go)

Jenna Passaro of Sip Bite Go rounds up her go-to Labor Day cookout menu, and the showstopper is a classic Traeger smoked brisket done low and slow on mesquite pellets.

Watch: What to cook for Labor Day BBQ 🇺🇸 🔥 10 must-try grill + smoker recipes by Jenna Passaro | Sip Bite Go

Schedule this cook to the minute

Set your serving time and the calculator plans the cook backward for you.

What you’ll need

1 whole beef brisket (packer cut, point and flat)
Yellow mustard or oil (binder)
Coarse salt and black pepper (or favorite beef rub)
Traeger mesquite pellets

How to make it

Trim the brisket, leaving about a quarter inch of fat cap, and pat it dry.
Coat the brisket lightly with mustard or oil as a binder, then season generously all over with salt and pepper or a beef rub.
Set the Traeger pellet grill to 225F and load it with mesquite pellets for that classic smoky flavor.
Place the brisket fat-side up (or per your smoker's airflow) and smoke low and slow, monitoring internal temp with a wireless thermometer like the Meater Plus.
Once the brisket hits about 165F internal and the bark has set, wrap it tightly in butcher paper to push through the stall.
Continue smoking until the brisket reaches 203F internal, where a probe should slide in with little resistance.
Rest the wrapped brisket for at least 30-60 minutes before slicing against the grain and serving.

Frequently asked questions

What temperature should I smoke a brisket to?

Smoke it until the internal temperature reaches about 203F, when a probe slides in with little resistance.

Should I wrap my brisket?

Yes, wrapping in butcher paper around 165F internal helps push through the stall and keeps the bark from getting too dark.

What wood is best for smoked brisket?

Jenna uses Traeger mesquite pellets for a bold, classic smoky flavor.

How long should brisket rest?

Rest the wrapped brisket for at least 30-60 minutes before slicing against the grain.

How much brisket do I need to buy and cook?

Cooking this for a crowd? Set your headcount and get the raw weight to buy.

🍽️ How much brisket do I need?

Enter your headcount - we work backward through trim and cook loss to the raw weight to buy.

Guests Appetite Cooked per person (lb) Leftovers Buy it as

Fine-tune trim & cook loss

Trim loss (% of raw) Cook loss (% of trimmed)

Buy about

-

After trimming: - · on the plate cooked: -
Lost to trim: - · lost to the cook: -

💲 Which form is the better deal?

Same cook, different buys - cheaper per pound usually means more knife work. Typical prices are used until you enter your store's.

Whole packer ($/lb) -

Trimmed flat ($/lb) -

A whole packer loses 10-20% up front trimming the hard fat cap, deckle, and silverskin, then renders off another 30-40% of that trimmed weight in fat and moisture during the smoke - roughly 50-55% total yield from raw to sliced. Plan on about 1/2 lb of cooked brisket per person, which is close to 1 lb of raw packer once trim and cook loss are figured in. Brisket goes fast and there's no margin if people go back for seconds, so this errs on a little extra - drop to Light if you're serving heavy sides or other meats.

🐄 Got trimmed fat? Don't toss it. Render that trim into beef tallow - gold for cooking, seasoning cast iron, candles, even skincare.

Now plan the cook time to the minute →

🐄 Save your trim - make tallow. The fat cap and hard deckle you trim off a packer add up to a quart or more of tallow. Render it into beef tallow, great for seasoning cast iron, candles, even skincare. See the guide →

Written by John Kirker, who built the first meat smoking calculator in 2011. Times come from cooks we have actually run and logged; temperature and feel decide the finish, never the clock alone.

Published August 28, 2026 · Spot something wrong? Tell us

Rated 5by 500+ users

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Planning, ingredients, preparation, and timing are the most critical elements to making and serving great food.
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