tips for cooking thin brisket

If it gets real thin, you may be best off trimming the thin off to square it up. Make hamburger in the food processor with the scrap if you dont have a grinder

Take any large chunks of fat you trim off and lay them under the brisket to help add thickness. If the whole thing is thin, then don't worry about it. I would cook it the same as any other brisket, just check it for tenderness sooner than later since it'll cook faster.

if small and thin trim very little fat off, ...protect with a nice layer of turbinado or reg brown sugar after you apply your favorite rub, this WILL NOT add any sweetness, just a layer of protection..since this is your first packer go low this will alow you to learn more of what is going on, be sure to use an external meat therm as you do not want to keep checking it, checking is bad especially on a thin / small piece of meat...a smaller piece will have a shorter stall, all of a sudden you will climb...take your time and learn..and when it is done its done..I also would remove once the flat hits 185 /190 ...keep notes hourly of pit temp and meat temp, this is very important for your first briskets.....once meat hits 170 keep temp chart every 1/2 hour

I would not trim any fat as it will need all the help you can give it. Trim off anything less than one inch in thickness. Cook it at 275 3 hrs single wrap it in paper go backon until probe tender. punch a little slit in the paper to probe through to get an accurate reading

I like to go through the side.

floydo said:

do I recollect correctly that you probe for tender vertically....through the top ?

thanks

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Your assumptions are correct.

Bludawg said:

I would not trim any fat as it will need all the help you can give it. Trim off anything less than one inch in thickness. Cook it at 275 3 hrs single wrap it in paper go backon until probe tender. punch a little slit in the paper to probe through to get an accurate reading

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There ya go! The only thing I'd add is depending on where the heat comes from in your cooker, be sure and have the fat facing in that direction. God blessed brisket with it's own natural heat shield and it goes a long way to protect the meat from getting over cooked or dry, especially when it's a little on the thin side.
When I had my old horizontal offset, I cooked fat side up because the heat went up and over the top of the meat as it made it's way to the exhaust stack but now that I have a vertical offset, the heat comes up from underneath the meat and I cook fat side down. Plus when in direct contact with the heat, the fat renders down, working with your rub and the smoke to give you a nice crunchy, sticky and VERY flavorful bark instead of a bunch of gooey stuff that your friends and family will want to trim off of their slices!:wink:

floydo said:

"under" assumes fat side up ?

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No fat side down. The trimmed fat just helps to add mass and even out the thickness of an un-even flat.

Fat side down on top rack of a WSM works best for me.