Basic brisket advice. Flat? Point? What?!!!

H

Hachie Qer

Guest
OK, I'm not going to interrupt the quintessential funky brisket thread for this.

I have a 12 lb. packer to cook for family Sat.

I read somewhere that the flat continues under the point, so the thickest part of a packer is the point on top of the flat. Correct? If that's the case, then the burnt ends are the end of the flat, not the point, right? Do some on here have that confused or do I?

I've read some about burnt ends and I read about putting the brisky in a pan after smoking for a while to keep the end from over cooking. Do most of you just accept that you are going to get burnt ends on a packer? Or is that just an accident? Does anyone separate the point from the flat?

Is there a chart somewhere with estimated cook time per pound at different temps? I think it's 1 hour for each 1 1/2 lbs. at 230-240* I'm not sure my smoker will run that low.....yet. may take some more mods.
 
You are correct about the point and flat locations and thickness. When people take the point, chop it up and cook longer they are trying too make burnt ends, it's no accident at all. After it is cooked, I always separate the point from the flat, slice the flat to serve, and then chop the point and put back in the smoker to make burnt ends.

Don't go by time on brisket. Cook it until it's done. This can take quite a while. For your first time, check intenral temps. Cook it until it reaches 190 internal and then strat seeing how easily your temp probe slides in and out. Once it slides in and out like butter, it is done. Cooking at 225, a packer can take 12-15 hours or so, but can also vary quite a bit from this from time to time.
 
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Hachie, when you cook a packer, the whole chunk of meat is done about the same time for a lot of folk. I will have friends just dig into the point and love it when seperated from the flat. It has more fat content and tastes so good. Burnt end are just an extention of cubing the point and cooking it longer because it has more fat content. Like Chris said you can cube the point and cook for bundt ends but you do not have to do it that way. It isn't that you have to, it just another way to do the point. Hope that makes sense! Serving the point when the whole packer is done is simply different that turning it into burndt ends. Different thing.
 
Ahhhhhhhh!!! I see! I thought burnt ends was a way to reclaim the burnt part, but it's intentional. :roll: OK. I've cooked brisket on an ECB and a Weber indirect, and I never had burnt ends, so I was wondering why there was so much talk about screwed up burnt ends! :oops: Now I feel better about trying this on the NBBD. Always had decent brisket with the other methods, so it shouldn't be so bad. The only thing that concerns be is cook time. 12-16 hours? I always cooked them in 6-8 and they were good.:cool: I'll go by internal temp and let it rest.

I guess if you plan to serve a meal at a certain time, you have to aim for being done early in case it's not ready? Do you do that or have you got timing figured out 90% of the time?
 
Time also depends what temp you cook at. I spent the last couple years cooking them at 275 and they were done in 8 to 10 hours give or take a few hours. I'm going back to lower temps now though. You may find yourself changing your ways now and then too if you keep this up long enough.

ON EDIT - My bad, I noticed I said 250 in my first post when I meant 225. Sorry. I don't know why I put in 250. At 225 it should take 12 to 15 hours. That is why the times I listed did not match yours. I'm going to edit that post if I can to avoid further confusion.
 
bigabyte said:
Time also depends what temp you cook at. I spent the last couple years cooking them at 275 and they were done in 8 to 10 hours give or take a few hours. I'm going back to lower temps now though. You may find yourself changing your ways now and then too if you keep this up long enough.
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Just curious, why the change? What did you like/dislike about cooking at 275 and what do you like/dislike about cooking at 225?
 
Ever wonder why you may have trouble making "your smoker run that low?"

and you, you my friend, can interrupt the funk to get your piece in anytime.
 
Hachie, I would suggest you interupt the funk. You will get solid instructions! Keep an open mind but listen.
 
Hachie Qer said:
Ahhhhhhhh!!! I see! I thought burnt ends was a way to reclaim the burnt part, but it's intentional. :roll: OK. I've cooked brisket on an ECB and a Weber indirect, and I never had burnt ends, so I was wondering why there was so much talk about screwed up burnt ends! :oops: Now I feel better about trying this on the NBBD. Always had decent brisket with the other methods, so it shouldn't be so bad. The only thing that concerns be is cook time. 12-16 hours? I always cooked them in 6-8 and they were good.:cool: I'll go by internal temp and let it rest.

I guess if you plan to serve a meal at a certain time, you have to aim for being done early in case it's not ready? Do you do that or have you got timing figured out 90% of the time?
Click to expand...

I would take Bigabyte's and Funk's advice and use the probe resistance method and your thermometer just as a reference of when you're getting close. Good luck and post lots of pron! :p
 
barbefunkoramaque said:
Ever wonder why you may have trouble making "your smoker run that low?".
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We talked about that the other day. I'm just getting used to it. On the seasoning run, it ran 290* on the door mounted thermo, which I figure is about 275-280* at grill level. There was a 1/2" hole where the old gas ignitor was plumbed in that I forgot to plug and the handle was not installed leaving two bolt holes open in the lid. You mentioned the gap around the side door. It's not that wide, it ranges from 1/32-1/16", but I calculated the area and was surprised. Using 3/64" for the width and 24" for the length you get 1.125 sq. in.! That's quite a bit. Pay attention you other noobs! A narrow gap all the way around the door adds up to a lot of airflow! With the other holes plugged now I should be able to drop it a little. We'll see how it runs Sat. If it still runs high, I may weld a lip around the edge of the side door and put hi temp silicone on it.
barbefunkoramaque said:
and you, you my friend, can interrupt the funk to get your piece in anytime.
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Thanks, but I was too emabarrassed.:oops: :mrgreen:
 
I'm cooking a brisket overnight tonight with lots of pics with the mindset of a basic tutorial of sorts, mostly because there have been a number of questions recently about tutorials so I thought I would add my own out there.

Anyway, reason I mentioned that is I have these pics that show the flat, point, and the fat layer between them. Hope this helps.

Here is a packer with the fat side down...
08_Raw_Fatdown_01.jpg


This is the same photo, I just outlined the Point and Flat so you can see these two seperate muscles in this packer cut...
08_Raw_Fatdown_02.jpg
 
Hachie Qer said:
Just curious, why the change? What did you like/dislike about cooking at 275 and what do you like/dislike about cooking at 225?
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The fat renders more, it changes the overall texture and flavor IMHO.
 
bigabyte said:
The fat renders more, it changes the overall texture and flavor IMHO.
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Sorry, Chris, I asked 2 questions. I assume you mean that you prefer the texture and flavor at the lower temps?
 
Yeah, I definitely like it better at low temps. Actually, I knew when I switched to higher heat that I preferred the taste/texture at lower temps I just kept cooking higher to finish the briskets earlier. I'm trying to stop being so lazy though.:lol:
 
bigabyte said:
Yeah, I definitely like it better at low temps. Actually, I knew when I switched to higher heat that I preferred the taste/texture at lower temps I just kept cooking higher to finish the briskets earlier. I'm trying to stop being so lazy though.:lol:
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I understand. I'm not sure about starting at 3 am Sat morn if I can start at 6 and get it done. The folks are not big BBQ fanatics, so I know they couldn't tell the difference.

Hmmmmm......but I can be a perfectionist.......if I don't start early, I'll wonder how it would have turned out........:roll:
 
I'm doing a brisket myself today and am finding all of this very interesting. I'll let you know how it turns out in a thread later...
 
Hachie Qer said:
Does anyone separate the point from the flat?
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Here's a good step by step on packer seperation.
http://www.azbbqa.net/articles/brisket-trim.htm

If I'm going for the burnt ends galore I will seperate. gives you more surface area for rub. Also they do cook faster as that you are cooking 2 thinner cuts instead of one big chunk. Also when seperating a packer at 170 it feels like your'e doing the hot tamale dance. I always seem to screw up the rub and bark. Just my .02
 
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