Several questions about brisket.

[master_dman]

The votes are in, and I'll be doing my first brisket.

I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment tho. I was looking at them at the store today.

There are two kinds. One had the fat removed, for 3.33 a lb. The second had the fat on them for 1.67 a lb. Which is the better deal? I don't plan on doing anything with the fat as I've seen mentioned in here by some.. the fat will be thrown away.

What is this point and flat I hear about? The trimmed ones have the point removed already?

The ones at the store looked to be several inches thick.. but the q-views I've seen of the finished product look to be only about one to two inches thick..
When it is done, do I cut it in half? Is there a layer of fat in the middle? That's kinda what some of the q-views I have seen in here look like.

I could probably read several posts and find the answers.. but I'm lazy and it's getting to be crunch time and I should be buying this thing very soon..

 

[capt dan]

yes you could! If I were in your shoes(we all were at one time or another) I would do exactly that. A lil research, and a few questions thrown in too.You should think about it a bit before you just jump right in there with both feet. It's gonna take ya 10-15 hrs to do a brisket, you might as well go into it well prepared. Do a quick search, and see if ya can get some of the basic stuff, then your list of ?'s might be more manageable

 

[walking dude]

i get packers.........you get the flat and the point........but they run round 10lbs min........least round here...........thats at least a 15 smoke..........

if i remember correctly.......dutch has a sticky on it.........plus so does Jeff.....look to the top left of the page..........dman.......look around abit

 

[crewcab4x4]

You need the fat while smoking for moisture don't do the one without the fat! Remove the fat after smoking. A packer brisket is the best way to go.
smoke @ 225-250deg. Once you hit 170 foil and take up to 190.
It takes some time but it's worth the wait.
Jason

 

[master_dman]

Allright...

I read every brisket post I could find. I answered all my questions and I think I'm ready...


<<sarcasm on>>
....that sure beat the camaraderie and fun of getting the answers real time.
<<sarcasm off>>

 

[desertlites]

exactly! If your gonna take the step to do a brisket-read all you can find,make your asumption and go from there-that way it's your smoke & when finished you can say thank you to the help-but pat's on the back will go to you.your gonna do fine. my first packer I cut in thirds-not only cuz just 2 in the household but I wasn't about to practice on a $25 piece of meat.

 

[capt dan]

dman, I hope you didn't take my reply personal, or as a dig. It was not meant as such.

If you wouldn't have said something about being to lazy to read the brisket threads, I probably would have just done like usual, and typed up a whole thread about brisket. But what you said, made me think, and its true. It seems as though the last few weeks there ha been a ton of new folks joining on the smf site and asking the same questions, often just a day or two apart. If they don't see the thread describing the question they have or their interests, then they just ask about it. Often the question is on the very next page of active threads, and asked almost identically(sp*)

I hope you didn't feel picked on, it wasn't my intention at all. We always pride ourselves on being able to help others and even walk them through their tough spots. That will never change, but some of us(not so much myself) are answering the same 6-7 questions 2-3 times a week, and if you are like me( a "hunt -N-peck typist) it takes alot of time to respond to each one in detail. So alot of times people post the link to the question that they already answered, or someone else did. That works good too.

I really like the function of the v bulletin format that lists other related threads at the bottom of the page. It has helped me out many times.

I am glad you took some time and navigated the site a little and enjoyed the many explanations from others about brisket. There's alot of info here on it. Besides ribs and butts, it has to be one of the most popular meats for long smokes.

So, thanks dman, for doing a lil homework first,and now you may not have any questions, but if you do, please ask away. I bet you are pretty anxious to do your first brisket. Just relax, it will be fine.Now that you have all that info, ya just gotta sort it out, and apply it to how you want to do it. Easy right?

 

[teeotee]

Good luck on the brisket smoke D-man. I've done several in the past which had good flavor but not the fall apart texture i've experienced in bbq joints. I've had rubbery ones, dry ones and one that god knows what happened to it!! That was all before i found this site.

Since stumbling upon this place i have done the best pork that i have ever done and as soon as finances, work, honey-do-list, chore list and kids schedules allow i want to try doing a packer cut on an all nighter. Like you i've read all the brisket posts and feel confident that i can get it done right.

Good luck and enjoy !!!

 

[master_dman]

No no Capt Dan.. nothing personal at all. We're all smokers here.! And I did say I'm lazy and could find the answers if only I looked fully expecting to hear about it.!!

I love sarcasm.. and I can be a little dry at times. Kinda my poor attempt at humor.

 

[capt dan]

Good deal D, guess ya better get yerself a packer then! I am lucky on that respect. I have a butcher, who owns a meat store, and also is a beef farmer, and butchers his own cattle. I get to get grain fed beef parts at a real decent price (1.99 lb for brisket packers), and his steers are young, Most of his packers are 10-12 lbs, and real nice white cap,with alot of bend to them.

Good luck on your brisket smoke. As hard as it is, try not to peek too often. Do what you feel best suites ya after reading all them threads. Then you can build on that!

 

[cubguy17]

dman check out SAM'S they usually have a good selection on packers, and flats. For good prices too. I have done both and I will always go with the packers, the flats seem to come out too tough for my liking. Good Luck hopefully it dosen't snow too much.

 

[erain]

dman, did u read tha lefty righty thread, jury still out, waitin on richtee to give us the results of comparison...

 

[joed617]

I'd go with the whole untrimmed brisket, You can cut the flat off after it's cooked and then chop the nose of the brisket up and resmoke them for burnt ends.

Joe

 

[master_dman]

I found some really good looking packers at walmart.. I'm gonna check bakers as well. But it's raining and as Cubguy said.. probably snow and supposed to rain/snow thru the weekend.

If it turns to snow.. I'll probably do it.. but I'm not gonna stand in the rain and babysit my brisket. I'm no where good enough to not hover around the smoker almost the whole time yet.

Plus.. I've got some mods going on at the moment.. and my smoker is in a couple of pieces at the moment.

But I have decided (when I do it) to get the packer.. trim it a little and smoke it whole.
I'll smoke it fat side up, mop it and flip it about 5 hours in and see how it looks as to whether I'll flip it and mop it some more.

I do have one question tho.. should I just throw the slab o meat on the rack.. or put a cookie sheet under it?

 

[capt dan]

Do a search on it!

J/K. You are gonna find alot of opinions on that too. I do mine right on the grate, but i put it in the pan after I foil it. Keeps me from pokin a hole in the foil! I want the juice from the last part of the smoke.Mostly rendered fat in the first part, I don't need that juice!

Good luck with your smoke.