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Trimming Brisket for Comps
- Thread starter YankeeBBQ
- Start date
That's pretty much it for us also and our briskie has been doing well.
TIM
TIM
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wow...
i leave it mostly intact, remove all the yellow, or very hard stuff, and even out any deep pockets. try to even the fat cap, thats about it...
But that thar brisket looks naked.
i leave it mostly intact, remove all the yellow, or very hard stuff, and even out any deep pockets. try to even the fat cap, thats about it...
But that thar brisket looks naked.
I guess this begs the question of "Why do you trim (or not trim) the fat cap from Brisket".
We used to leave it on, now we remove it almost totally.
Seems that if you put rub on thick fat, it just melts away with the fat. That leaves bare (unspiced) meat, or meat with a layer of nasty fat to present the judges or trim off.
If the fat is trimmed, the rub flavor stays on the meat and is "useful".
We get full bark all around the brisket by removing the fat.
Some say the fat cap (if down) will "cushion" the bottom of the meat That very well may be true on cookers where the heat comes from the bottom. However, we cook on a rotisserie, so the heat is swirling all around--coming from everywhere. Works for us.
So, we find that we get a better product by trimming the fat cap off.
An unexpected side effect is that there is much less useless grease rendering off. Cooker is much easier to keep clean.
This is gonna be a matter of personal preference and will probably vary a lot depending on the cooker.
So, this is just FWIW from my perspective.
TIM
We used to leave it on, now we remove it almost totally.
Seems that if you put rub on thick fat, it just melts away with the fat. That leaves bare (unspiced) meat, or meat with a layer of nasty fat to present the judges or trim off.
If the fat is trimmed, the rub flavor stays on the meat and is "useful".
We get full bark all around the brisket by removing the fat.
Some say the fat cap (if down) will "cushion" the bottom of the meat That very well may be true on cookers where the heat comes from the bottom. However, we cook on a rotisserie, so the heat is swirling all around--coming from everywhere. Works for us.
So, we find that we get a better product by trimming the fat cap off.
An unexpected side effect is that there is much less useless grease rendering off. Cooker is much easier to keep clean.
This is gonna be a matter of personal preference and will probably vary a lot depending on the cooker.
So, this is just FWIW from my perspective.
TIM
W
Wine & Swine
Guest
Great tips, I guess it is all relative to your smoker?
bbqbull
Watching over us.
Last briskets I did were flats. They had a nice creamy white fat cap and not very thick. I just did a mustard base, rubbed them and placed them in the smoker. Came out awesome. When I do full packer briskets, I prep them same as Phil mentioned. If your worrying about the melting fat washing or melting away the rub on top. Sprinkle a bit more rub on the meat when you pull it of your pit. Ive had great luck doing that also. Just dont do it all the time. I like to tweak and expierment when doing things. My guests tell me the meat tastes just fine. Hard for me to judge my own cooking as Im my own worst nighmare. When it comes for me to judge my own Q-uin.
JohnMcD348
is Blowin Smoke!
bbqbull said:
I know what you mean. My wife keeps getting pissed at me becuase she's always telling me how great my ribs are and I always keep telling her what's wrong with them.
I'm still experimenting with the best way for me to cook a brisket. haven't quite mastered my trimming skills yet.
cmcadams
Quintessential Chatty Farker
I've taken the fat cap off after cooking, but now I'm going to have to try taking it off before. I like my rub... It should be good stuff!
B
butts
Guest
I tend to leave a little more fat cap than the picture illustrates. As Kapn said it depends on the cooker. I cook on a Stump's where all the heat comes from the bottom so I feel that a little more fat helps keep the bottom from drying out. Yes, fat side down for me!
I do also reseason about halfway through my cooking time.
I do also reseason about halfway through my cooking time.
HoDeDo
Babbling Farker
butts said:
I'd love to see some pics of your Stump's, and learn more about how they work....
HoDeDo
Babbling Farker
We trim alot of the fat off... leave about 1/8" or so... we also put the fat side down (thanks DrBBQ for that tip) and have done ok with brisket. I have tried a naked brisket and different injections, but have found a little fat makes a difference.
Kirk
is One Chatty Farker
Wow, that shows what I know. I always do mine like the Poob said. If someone showed me that pic without any description, I'd have said that the cook didn't know what he was doing. First place pretty much rules out that idea though (nice going Steve). Just goes to show, don't knock it 'till you've tried it, even if it flies in the face of conventional wisdom. I can see the advantages of the technique as far as full coverage on the bark but I'm afraid that I'd be able to use that brisket for a skid plate on my truck after it came out of my WSM. I do trim my butts this way to maximize bark since there's not much chance of them drying out.
Any pics of the finished product?
Any pics of the finished product?
W
we'll smoke u
Guest
butts said:
I do the same I leave about a 1/8 of a fat cap and cook fat down. I have a home made vertical smoker like a stumps. seams to work good for me.
Jeff_in_KC
somebody shut me the fark up.
I trim most all of the "hard" fat off. A 12 pound brisket probably weighs 10 pounds when I'm done trimming. I take off that nasty yellowish fat on the fat cap and all the thick stuff. I trim excessive fat off the top of the flat. I also never bother to season the bottom (fat cap).
bob n humble
Knows what a fatty is.
I trim mine down to about 1/8 all over, and cut the fat pockets out as well. When I'm done the flat and the point are just about seperated. I save the trimmings so when I flip it over at about half way done I can put the fat back on. There has been times when I have weighed the trimmings and found that I had reduced the wt. by about a lb.
Bob
Bob
ole'e
Knows what a fatty is.
trim brisket
We do about 1/4 inch get rid of the hard fat.
We do about 1/4 inch get rid of the hard fat.
cmcadams
Quintessential Chatty Farker
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.
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.
Kirk
is One Chatty Farker
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).
River City Smokehouse
is Blowin Smoke!
I trim it all up as in the photo. I use all the fat by laying it on the rack above the brisket and coat it down good with rub. It will render down really nice and slow thus dripping down onto your brisket keeping it nice and moist. Kind of a self basting method I like. I stole this method from Stuart Carpenter who is one of David Klose's friends. It works well.
cmcadams
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Kirk said:
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.
