Question about separating the point from flat on a brisket

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Dweverett

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I know most folks recommend against separating the point from the flat before cooking. Not sure I understand why, particularly as I see some approaches to trimming that aggressively remove the fat, including most of the layer that's between the two muscles.

Why does it matter if the muscles have been separated in general, and particularly when things are trimmed that way?

For the most part, things tend to work better when they are even thickness and that would seem better as separate pieces than the shape of a full packer.

What am I missing?
 
People who separate them are 1) doing it for competition or burnt end reasons 2) people who don't know what they are doing and have no confidence in their ability to cook a brisket.
 
I trim my briskets so that the point lays uniformly on the flat and the brisket is roughly the same thickness end to end. That involves removing a lot of the hard white fat between the point and the flat, but they're still attached. I'm probably considered a "heavy trimmer".

I havent really liked the results any time I have separated them, though as rockinar said many people do for competitions and they seem to turn out well for that purpose. Not only are the point and flat separated but they are heavily trimmed/shaped after that.
 
I do an aggressive trim to get more surface area on the point for burnt ends. I don’t separate but I remove most of the fat later between the 2 muscles
 
There's a couple advantages to separating before the cook :

1. You can trim away all the excess fat which was between the 2 muscles so it speeds up the cook time.

2. You can get bark (and a smoke ring) all the way around both muscles so there's a bit more flavor and people aesthetically seem to love a smoke ring.

3. The two different muscles have differing fat contents and grain patterns, so it allows for you to cook each muscle individually to perfect tenderness without over/under cooking the other muscle.

4. Burnt ends!

The only fat that really matters in a brisket is the intergranular fat (or marbling) and everything else is just excess. So getting rid of that huge layer of fat between the muscles isn't a problem and there's no worries of drying out the brisket by doing so.

When it comes to brisket people tend to be very gun-shy about trying new things. What they have done in the past has worked just fine, so I can see them being very leery about taking a risk with an expensive cut of meat.

Give it a shot and see how it comes out. I like to cook at 275° and the flats are almost always done at 201-203, while the point is usually finished at about 207-209.
 
I have had great results separating as SmoothBoar said above. More smoke, more bark, less fat, less cook time.

What prompted me to try it was cooking on a PK grill which is kind of small. Separating allowed me to use both the upper and lower rack effectively. I take a Costco prime to perfection in about 7 hours.

Rockinar may see some sort of meaning in cooking them whole, but the point (no pun intended) for me is to produce great Q. Whatever produces the result you like is the right way.
 
I left it whole when I trimmed it and rubbed it last night. This morning I decided to try it on the kettle with the slow and sear (if I could get it to fit). Was taking forever to come up to temp so went ahead and separated them while I was waiting. Side note, the kettle takes a long time to come up to temp when you forget to open the bottom vent :doh:

Probably a good outcome as it wasn't going to fit well anyway. Flat's on the kettle, point is on the Rectec. We'll see how it works.
 
We seperate for comps 100% of the time. At home, I'm 50/50. I don't see much of a difference in tenderness, etc either way. But, burnt ends are better separated.
 
While I was reading this, I started wondering if anyone has taken out the fatty stuff between the point and flat and used meat glue to "cement" the two portions back together. Seems like it might be the best of both worlds. I used it with good results on a smallish pork loin about a month or so ago, cutting it in have lengthwise, then "glueing" it together, then smoking it. It was a perfect sandwich size when done. Next time I do briskets (I do at least 2 or more at the same time) I'm going to do exactly that
 
I've only ever separated when I wrap. The point gets cubed and panned and the flat gets the foil treatment.
 
SmoothBoarBBQ said:
There's a couple advantages to separating before the cook :

1. You can trim away all the excess fat which was between the 2 muscles so it speeds up the cook time.

2. You can get bark (and a smoke ring) all the way around both muscles so there's a bit more flavor and people aesthetically seem to love a smoke ring.

3. The two different muscles have differing fat contents and grain patterns, so it allows for you to cook each muscle individually to perfect tenderness without over/under cooking the other muscle.

4. Burnt ends!

The only fat that really matters in a brisket is the intergranular fat (or marbling) and everything else is just excess. So getting rid of that huge layer of fat between the muscles isn't a problem and there's no worries of drying out the brisket by doing so.

When it comes to brisket people tend to be very gun-shy about trying new things. What they have done in the past has worked just fine, so I can see them being very leery about taking a risk with an expensive cut of meat.

Give it a shot and see how it comes out. I like to cook at 275° and the flats are almost always done at 201-203, while the point is usually finished at about 207-209.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna disagree with the last part about fat. yes intramuscular fat is important but a properly trimmed fat cap lubricates the slices adding moisture. fat cap is important especially when concerning the flat
 
I just took a brisket class locally from a guy who used to compete and he separated the point and the flat. He says he still separates when cooking backyard bbq. It tasted very good so it didn't seem to hurt anything.

I personally have always cooked them together but I may try separating them the next time.
 
smoke ninja said:
I'm gonna disagree with the last part about fat. yes intramuscular fat is important but a properly trimmed fat cap lubricates the slices adding moisture. fat cap is important especially when concerning the flat
Click to expand...

No worries though I don't agree. I've 100% removed the fat cap from the flat and still ended up with a very juicy final product. I also feel like the meat science has been very consistent in this aspect and that exterior fat has absolutely no bearing on the final product.

https://amazingribs.com/more-techni...-science/myth-melting-fat-cap-penetrates-meat

"Fat will not migrate into the muscle as it is cooked. First of all, the molecules are too large to squeeze in. Second, fat is mostly oil. The red stuff in meat is muscle and it is mostly water. Oil and water don't mix. Protein in muscle is also immiscible in fat because of its chemical configuration. Third, in most cases there is an anatomical barrier between muscle and fat cap, namely, a layer of connective tissue holding muscle groups together. It too is water based."

Give it a try one time...trim the entire fat cap off and smoke up a brisket flat. See how it works out. Personally, I still leave about 1/8" of an inch as I feel like it does help in terms of insulating the meat from the hot spot on a cooker. Though I've done it without any fat cap at all and it still comes out good.
 
My family doesn't seem to like even a relatively think layer of fat when eating it so I usually end up trimming pretty much all of the fat off regardless of whether or not that's a good idea.

In terms of this specific cook -- meh.... Not one of my better efforts. Too much multi-tasking and I had the temps all over the place. Also swapped the meats/cookers part way through adding another variable. Ended up somewhat over cooked though still tasty.
 
I trim pretty close as I don't care for a fatty brisket. Not that I am any expert at half a dozen briskets, but after the first one mine are turning out really well.
 
I cook the whole packer then separate the flat from the point when the flat is done and throw the point back on to finish.
 
Dweverett,
Man, I wish I knew the answer to your question. But I am enjoying the replies you have generated here from more experienced brisket cooks than I am.
 
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