Advice- when to separate point and flat

[JAKs Q & brew]

I am planning on making brisket for the superbowl. I always do packer briskets whole.

I want to do burnt ends with the point and make sandwiches with the flat.

I am planning a long hold (10+ hours) after cooking, should I separate point and flat before wrapping up for the long hold, or wait and separate the point an hour before serving and finish.

Not sure if it will make much difference but want to get recommendations for the group.

 

[thirdeye]

Are you planning on more traditional burnt ends where you re-season and return the cubes to the smoker with some sauce and allow them to cook down?

Or, are you going to cut cubes and sauce without cooking down? Or maybe sauce them and glaze in the oven until sticky?

If you are hot holding for 10 hours, I think I would opt to leave the brisket whole, then prep your burnt ends an hour or so before serving.

 

[JAKs Q & brew]

If you are hot holding for 10 hours, I think I would opt to leave the brisket whole, then prep your burnt ends an hour or so before serving.

I think that's my plan. Cook as usual, rest on counter till cooled to 150, then into warming drawer to hold till service.

I will just plan to unwrap about an hour beforehand, separate the point, rewrap the flat and put back in the warmer. I will then cube and sauce the point and put it back on the pit.

 

[CivilTrojan]

I usually wait and separate an hour or two before eating to chop, sauce, and cook the burnt ends. But I’m hardly a professional so don’t rely on me.

I hope this isn’t high jacking the thread, but I have a question that is very much related to this topic. When trimming the brisket while planning on separating the point for burnt ends eventually, do you remove most of the fat between the point and flat for more surface area to apply seasoning or do you just trim it regularly? I got the idea for this (and have been doing it this way) from a couple of meat church videos on how to trim a brisket and was curious how you guys do it. I hope this doesn’t violate the thread ethics rules…

 

[thirdeye]

I usually wait and separate an hour or two before eating to chop, sauce, and cook the burnt ends. But I’m hardly a professional so don’t rely on me.

I hope this isn’t high jacking the thread, but I have a question that is very much related to this topic. When trimming the brisket while planning on separating the point for burnt ends eventually, do you remove most of the fat between the point and flat for more surface area to apply seasoning or do you just trim it regularly? I got the idea for this (and have been doing it this way) from a couple of meat church videos on how to trim a brisket and was curious how you guys do it. I hope this doesn’t violate the thread ethics rules…

I remove enough of that hard fat between the point and flat because it won't render and to make the brisket lay flatter. During cooking the seam becomes pretty obvious and sometimes I'll use the back of a slicing knife to separate the point, then re-wrap the flat. Check out these INSTRUCTIONS, toward the bottom on the page is side-by-side photo of before and after trimming. Mine look about like the after trimming photo.

 

[pmad]

When trimming the brisket while planning on separating the point for burnt ends eventually, do you remove most of the fat between the point and flat for more surface area to apply seasoning or do you just trim it regularly? I got the idea for this (and have been doing it this way) from a couple of meat church videos on how to trim a brisket and was curious how you guys do it. I hope this doesn’t violate the thread ethics rules…

I cut out the really big stuff but I leave them attached. I think the point dries out if cooked separately. Just my opinion.

Don't for get to throw the trimmings into a cast iron skillet to render the fat into tallow.