Trimming Brisket for Comps

[YankeeBBQ]

How much fat do you trim from your briskets ? This is a picture of the first place brisket at New Holland

[The_Kapn]

That's pretty much it for us also and our briskie has been doing well.

TIM

[BBQchef33]

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.

[The_Kapn]

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

[Wine & Swine]

Great tips, I guess it is all relative to your smoker?

[bbqbull]

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]

Originally Posted by bbqbull

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.

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]

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!

[butts]

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.

[HoDeDo]

Originally Posted by butts

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'd love to see some pics of your Stump's, and learn more about how they work....

[HoDeDo]

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]

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?

[we'll smoke u]

Originally Posted by butts

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 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]

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]

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