Did I butcher this brisket?

[SeaSalted]

Having never trimmed a full packer I'm now wondering if I got a little carried away. I've spent hours upon hours reading this forum and looking at YouTube videos on how to properly trim a packer. Perhaps I should have done a refresher video before taking the knife to this piece of meat. I tried to leave about 1/4 inch of fat on the cap and pretty much cut out all of the hard non-rendering fat. In doing so maybe I carved a bit to much out of the area between the point and flat on the side opposite the fat cap. Here's the pics... comments are welcome. Will put it on the PBC early tomorrow morning.

 

[pjtexas1]

It's all good. Maybe a little aggressive on the fat cap but it should cook up just fine.

 

[mattmountz94]

What brisket? Looks like road kill. Lol just kidding. Looks perfectly fine cook that bad boy up

 

[sjb67]

Still plenty of internal fat to render. Should be fine and have lots of good bark.

 

[Free Mr. Tony]

I'm in the camp that the intramuscular fat is what matters. I don't buy the fat cap insulating the meat etc etc. Looks like you may have cut off some of the flat that overlaps the point,but you will be just fine. Just pull when it's done. That's the most important part.

 

[SeaSalted]

I'm in the camp that the intramuscular fat is what matters. I don't buy the fat cap insulating the meat etc etc. Looks like you may have cut off some of the flat that overlaps the point,but you will be just fine. Just pull when it's done. That's the most important part.

Yes I did and that was a nice chunk of meat. I just need to do about 20 of these to get the hang of it. :doh:

 

[aks801]

Just cook that sucker and post up pics!

 

[BBQ Freak]

id cook it up , post pics when done :wink:

 

[jeffturnerjr]

I think you're going to be just fine! I also agree hat the intramuscular fat is what makes it moist. The cap fat is just bonus fattiness!

 

[smoke ninja]

I like to get the fat cap thin, between 1/8th and a quarter inch. I bald patch or 2 wont hurt none.

 

[Swine Spectator]

It looks undercooked.

 

[McSpazatron]

I like to trim out as much of the fat that I can between the flat and the point. So much in fact that it almost cuts the two sections apart. That fat kernal doesn't do much except slow down the cook. As a bonus, you can get more bark and seasoning area in there as well.

 

[frognot]

No worries. Cook and enjoy!

 

[WareZdaBeef]

I don't know where this idea that you need to leave fat on the exterior of brisket or a butt. For years i could never get a really nice bark on either because of this. Whoever started this idea needs to be shot if not already dead. I would rank this idea up there with the guy who invented the flat head screw/driver.
:doh:

 

[smoke ninja]

I don't know where this idea that you need to leave fat on the exterior of brisket or a butt. For years i could never get a really nice bark on either because of this. Whoever started this idea needs to be shot if not already dead. I would rank this idea up there with the guy who invented the flat head screw/driver.
:doh:

if you get that thin layer of season, smoke and rendered fat just right its divine.

Just sayin....ill take the credit

 

[WareZdaBeef]

if you get that thin layer of season, smoke and rendered fat just right its divine.

Just sayin....ill take the credit

The only area i can say benefits from "little" specks of fat is the edges and maybe the bottom if its under direct heat/flame where it has a chance to char and crisp up.

But to say you should leave a 1/4 inch fat cap on brisket and pork butt is bad information.

 

[smoke ninja]

The only area i can say benefits from "little" specks of fat is the edges and maybe the bottom if its under direct heat/flame where it has a chance to char and crisp up.

But to say you should leave a 1/4 inch fat cap on brisket and pork butt is bad information.

Here's an example since you didn't get it the first time.




The fat becomes part of the bark. Its really good

 

[16Adams]

I saw a show the other day on a 15#brisket. Lady cut 2-3 inches off the point, 1-2 inches off the flat and an inch down each side. Basically exposed level blunt ends and squared it up. Seasoned the beast and started smoking. The trims went along for the ride and were later ground up for soup/stews I think. That was it. I have opened the cryo- seasoned and smoked, I've also taken it down to the meat. Brisket is kind of funny, but seasoned right (ambiguous) cooked right(Ambiguous) wrapped (maybe) rested (time varies) type of wood (varies) etc etc

Bottom line- you trimmed perfectly- for You. Light a fire. Smoke On.

 

[SeaSalted]

Thanks for the lively debate from which I learn it is all a matter of personal taste/preference.

Lit the coals at 0500 this morning anticipating a long cook at 275, although since I trimmed about 7 pounds of fat off this thing I think I could have slept in an took my time this morning.

Bark looked good at 3 1/2 hours so I wrapped in foil (no butcher paper in the house yet as I don't know where I could hide it.)

I'm thinking that this will be probe tender much sooner than I anticipated so it will be spending a good part of the day in a cooler swaddled in a towel. Should I therefore drop the temperature down to say 225 to let it cook slower?

 

[SeaSalted]

I like to trim out as much of the fat that I can between the flat and the point. So much in fact that it almost cuts the two sections apart. That fat kernal doesn't do much except slow down the cook. As a bonus, you can get more bark and seasoning area in there as well.

That's basically what I did in this case. We'll know the verdict this afternoon.