trim brisket
 

We do about 1/4 inch get rid of the hard fat.

I don't take all the fat off to eat brisket at home, but for comps, I remove it. When I judged the one comp I've judged, a couple of weeks ago, none of the entries my table saw had the fat trimmed, and the judges all commented on that. None were trimmed to fit the box. With some, that wasn't a problem, but some were just too big for the boxes, so they looked bad.

I'm going to try trimming down a bit more, to ensure more bark all around. We include cut up pieces of bark in the box, but not underneath; I like the look of it in the box, too, and I want the judges to see it so they'll try it instead of not knowing it's underneath.

Curt, are you saying that the brisket turn ins still had fat on them when they hit your table? I can't imagine turning in something like that. (But then again, I couldn't have imagined trimming off all the fat before cooking either before reading this thread).

That's exactly what I'm saying... They cooked the brisket with fat cap, cut it, and turned it in. Really not a lot of effort put into the appearance. Some of it had the fat in the middle (part point, part flat).

I'm still of the theory that only the internal fat and connective tissue really keeps the meat moist. I want to play around with this a bit to prove or disprove it to myself. But fat on the outside, I think, just about all just renders off. If this weren't true, having fat cap down would result in drier meat.

We do just a lil trimin and use it for to dripdown if we dont have Pork Butts over our Briskeys

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...q/PIC_0002.jpgheres a pic of my weekend brisket before the vultures got it lol
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/%5....jpg%5B/IMG%5D

I usually trim out the really heavy deposits of fat- like that thick lode of it that's usually between the point and flat on the side. I cook cap-down, and really believe in that method, especially since I cook on bullets. Making the change to cap down made a big difference for me in my brisket success. Because the cap will be facing down, and rendering off into the water pan, I normally don't even apply rub to that side.

I cook fat cap down, do remove hard fat. I trim the brisket to fit the box allowing for shrinkage, this gives better apperance with smokering across the top and down the side of each slice.

I agree with Jim Minion. All we do to trim the brisket is to cut off anything that looks like it doesn't belong. We do not trim the fat cap. We also cook fat cap down. During the turn-in box make up we trim the brisket to fit the box and remove the fat. We dip each piece in a secret concoction to give it a nice color and shine.

i cut the flat so that i'll fit in the box but don't trim much fat from cap. then i cook fat side down and trim the fat off before serving.

Besides the cooker, I think this also may depend on what temp, and how long you cook it. Me personally (much like Phil), I pretty much leave the fat cap intact, I might even it out a bit. And as far as trimming, I remove the hard fat, yellow fat, and trim the edges some to square it up for the box. But that's it. Also, depending on what sanctioning the contest is, I might remove the nose and cook it seperately.

Brian,

I've tasted your brisket. Whatever it is you're doing, keep doing it.