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Brisket: Sliced or Chopped?

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aHughJassDude

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Recently I read in Daniel Vaughn's book (The Prophets of Smoked Meat) that chopping or making chunks out of brisket was close to a crime. I had never had brisket before so I visited a restaurant were they chopped the brisket and, honestly, I was disappointed in it. It was dry and tasted just like roast beef, barely a lick of smoke to it. I sauced it up after the first bite.

Any opinions on whether to chop or slice brisket and do you think it made a difference to the meal I had?
 
I prefer sliced, but, I have both had and made good chopped brisket. If the meat is cooked right, you have choices. Poorly cooked meat is often chopped to hide flaws.
 
It sounds like the meat you had just wasn't cooked right or with enough smoke or smoke at all! Landarc is right that chopping usually is an attempt to hide flaws and it also causes moisture loss on its own. There are so many factors involved- it could have been reheated too much, cooked too long, not cooked long enough for the fat to render properly and add moisture, etc.

I'm in Georgia (near Atlanta) and even at the places that are "known" for decent brisket here, I have been far from impressed. My last experience was like yours- no real smoke flavor on it. Time before that it was so dry the slices crumbled into bits and all you could taste was smoke and no real beefy flavor. I've only seen one decent example here, so I think I'm going to keep trying out at home instead of dropping money on it.
 
we still have active "lynching" laws in texas if you catch a cattle thief in the act. can imagine that chopping up brisket might would get ya the same treatment. lol j/k but yes it is a high crime imo to chop up a perfectly cooked moist and tender brisket. chopped brisket is fine for left overs though
 
I'm a lazy farker, so I will sometimes chop a brisket. Usually I'll slice a bunch of it, and then chop the rest. And really for leftovers makin's, chopped works better
 
Sliced!!! If it's chopped it wasn't cooked properly or they is serving wimins & chillerns. I slice what I need when I need it. once it is chilled a 1.5 min trip in the radioactive box and it slices just fine for the next meal followed by anther 30 sec trip in the reactor you wold never know it wasn't fresh.
 
Please take note there is a difference between sliced. (the flat) and what folks refer to as "burnt ends" (from the point).

One might look at those chunks that are actually sliced usually into cubes and think that it is chopped.

That said, I am in agreement that sliced is the way to go. If a brisket gets overcooked to the point the slices will not hold up without starting to fall apart then the next step to salvage the meat would be to chop or pull it.

I've screwed up a brisket or two (or half a dozen) myself where I either overcooked, rested too long and it kept cooking etc. where I had to fall back to making a lot of it chopped rather than sliced proper.

If you add enough juice back into it you can still get a tasty product, but the texture will be mostly lost.
 
If a brisket is cooked that day, sliced is the only way to go. The restaurant you went too might of used yesterday's brisket to make chopped brisket to try to cut back on their food cost.
 
At the few BBQ restaurants around here I've found that chopped brisket generally means the point and sliced brisket generally means the flat.
 
Brisket is for slicing, if you like chopped, the front shoulder(chuck) is cheaper and has more fat content which makes much better chopped.
 
I like sliced but have had seasond chopped point in a sandwich that is unbelievable. No sauce needed. As in everything. Its a preferance with really no right or wrong.
 
Only time I chop mine is if the left-overs are going into a huge pot of chili. ...Which I guess may be soon considering hatch chili season will be here in a bit.
 
The fat is primarily where the moisture comes from right? There was little to no fat in the meat I got, which explains the dryness. What flaws can you conceal by chopping the meat up?

rtboswell said:
It sounds like the meat you had just wasn't cooked right or with enough smoke or smoke at all! Landarc is right that chopping usually is an attempt to hide flaws and it also causes moisture loss on its own. There are so many factors involved- it could have been reheated too much, cooked too long, not cooked long enough for the fat to render properly and add moisture, etc.
Click to expand...
 
aHughJassDude said:
The fat is primarily where the moisture comes from right? There was little to no fat in the meat I got, which explains the dryness. What flaws can you conceal by chopping the meat up?

rtboswell said:
It sounds like the meat you had just wasn't cooked right or with enough smoke or smoke at all! Landarc is right that chopping usually is an attempt to hide flaws and it also causes moisture loss on its own. There are so many factors involved- it could have been reheated too much, cooked too long, not cooked long enough for the fat to render properly and add moisture, etc.
Click to expand...

The most common flaw to cover up by chopping it is overcooking. Brisket will crumble when over cooked. You can also cover up dry brisket when you chop it by putting the dripping and other liquids into the chopped meat.
Click to expand...
 
If you don't see the chef chop or slice your serving how can you tell if its from the flat or burnt ends?

jasonjax said:
Please take note there is a difference between sliced. (the flat) and what folks refer to as "burnt ends" (from the point).

One might look at those chunks that are actually sliced usually into cubes and think that it is chopped.

That said, I am in agreement that sliced is the way to go. If a brisket gets overcooked to the point the slices will not hold up without starting to fall apart then the next step to salvage the meat would be to chop or pull it.

I've screwed up a brisket or two (or half a dozen) myself where I either overcooked, rested too long and it kept cooking etc. where I had to fall back to making a lot of it chopped rather than sliced proper.

If you add enough juice back into it you can still get a tasty product, but the texture will be mostly lost.
Click to expand...
 
aHughJassDude said:
If you don't see the chef chop or slice your serving how can you tell if its from the flat or burnt ends?
Click to expand...

The texture and fat content of the point is very different than the flat. I'm sure the lines could easily be blurred, but overall the difference is usually pretty discernable.

If someone chopped up the fat cap side of some flat pieces and left some fat attached, sauced, cooked down some more to even the bark out I'm sure in some cases it would be hard to tell the difference, but under normal circumstances the two muscles are easily recognizable for what they are.
 
Very few restaurants cook brisket well enough to make any difference if it is sliced, chopped, or cut into chunks.
 
Guess I'm farked up anytime I have done chopped it is from the sorry Jack Sprat Flat.
 
Chopped if you're need it in a hurry. Sliced for presentations.
 
Last edited:
I think there are a few things to note here.

1. There are regions of Texas, largely in the North East where chopped brisket sandwiches are quite traditional. Most likely, it was both brisket and clod that was smoked then chopped.

2. The two major flaws of any brisket cook, overcooking and undercooking, can be adjusted by chopping. An undercooked brisket will be tough, and dry; overcooked will be falling apart and if really badly cooked, dry. By chopping the point and flat together, you can get a good product anyways.

3. The flat is finer grained and lacks marbling, the point is highly marbled and coarser in texture. Once you understand that, it is pretty easy to understand what you are eating.

4. Much like pork (and I am no Texan) a chopped brisket sandwich can be a thing of beauty. On a soft white bun, the point and flat, if properly cooked and then given a coarse chop, can be a thing of beauty.
 
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