# HELP! Over trimmed brisket, how to cook lean?



## dfwsmoker

So, I got an MES 40" on black Friday, and I had really good results with my first two smokes. Spare ribs trimmed St Louis style and pig candy with the extras all from reading up on y'all's posts, and they turned out awesome! Had a big group of happy folks on Christmas day! SMF, you guys are awesome! 

3-2-1 method. Using Jimmy's foiling juice but with some apple cider vinegar. Salt Lick rub. Never frozen ribs. 225°. Apple wood chips. A winner!

So, my dream with this machine is to be able to make a brisket. I bought my first one this week, and my plan is to do the point tomorrow as a test and the flat for my Church group Friday. Well, after reading on here, I looked for some video on separating and trimming the brisket. I landed here, how to BBQ right  and he was trimming off 90% of the fat and said the brisket had enough marbling. 

Well, after I did this to the whole brisket, I realized that he left 1/4" of fat on the other side. I'm pretty worried that I just ruined a $30 piece of meat. I'm hoping you guys can help me salvage it. Typically I like a fork tender, really moist brisket. I feel like a fool that I cut off so much fat.

My previous plan was 250°, 6h smoke, then wrap with some foiling liquid and go until internal is 205, then start feeling for texture/doneness, then rest for an hour. Assuming about 11h total. 

Btw, my point is about 2lbs, and the flat is probably 6lbs. How much will the time change on these two pieces?

My thoughts for adjusting to try and save the brisket. 
-shorter naked smoke, longer in the foil
-lower temperature?
-fat in pan above brisket with holes cut in bottom


Would love to hear if anyone normally Cooks with their brisket this lean? 

Any help is great!


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## Central PA Cowboy

First of all, nice pics.

Second, I have cooked a very lean brisket naked for the whole smoke and although edible it wasn't very tender. I ended up chopping a lot of it up and using it in baked beans.

I think you might be ok if you cook it naked until 155-165° and then foil it with some beef broth or some other type of liquid mixture. The only thing is that you won't have as good of a bark doing this method.

As far as temp, I don't see why smoking it at 250° would be a problem. 

Let us know how you make out.


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## tropics

If you didn't throw the fat away put it on top of the meat with some rub.
Richie


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## mike243

I put the fat cap over a brisket I cut it off so I could get the rub to the meat and still get fat happy, it worked well, also I run water in my pan on my MES . a wrap at the stall will help keep it moist, good luck and dont forget to post pictures


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## SmokinAl

Here is a tutorial on how to smoke a lean small brisket.





						BRISKET FLAT, MY WAY
					

It's no secret that a lot of folks have a problem smoking a small well trimmed brisket flat. I to had my struggles for a while, but a couple of years ago I found this method and have been using it ever since. So I would like to share my method with all of you. If you already are successful...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com
				



Al


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## texomakid

Yep I think Al's flat method would be a perfect fix.


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## sawhorseray

SmokinAl said:


> Here is a tutorial on how to smoke a lean small brisket.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BRISKET FLAT, MY WAY
> 
> 
> It's no secret that a lot of folks have a problem smoking a small well trimmed brisket flat. I to had my struggles for a while, but a couple of years ago I found this method and have been using it ever since. So I would like to share my method with all of you. If you already are successful...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.smokingmeatforums.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Al



Great step by step Al, looks like that should salvage things. Like, RAY


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## dfwsmoker

tropics said:


> If you didn't throw the fat away put it on top of the meat with some rub.
> Richie





mike243 said:


> I put the fat cap over a brisket I cut it off so I could get the rub to the meat and still get fat happy, it worked well, also I run water in my pan on my MES . a wrap at the stall will help keep it moist, good luck and dont forget to post pictures




Thanks for the help guys! I just put the point side in the smoker. Only a couple pounds and it's my tester for the party tomorrow. I felt rediculous giving my brisket a toupé hahaha! But I'm trying the fat cap method first.

 If it doesn't work, I'll go for Al's method which looks like it turned out great! I don't have an injector, and I am concerned that it'll just boil or steam in my electric with that method, so I wanted to try the cap first. 

Check out the pics. Point side has great marbling and fat content still, so I'm pretty optimistic! With a small piece like this, I'm guessing it'll only be like 4-5 hours until I need to wrap it right? 

Was thinking to Spritz with 1/2 Apple cider 1/2 black coffee. What do y'all think?


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## dfwsmoker

Our little tester is going good so far! Fat cap is adding moisture nicely. Losing some bark there is a bummer, but it's the cost of doing business for the juiciness I guess. Internal temp was 165° after 4 hours, so I just wrapped it up with some drippings and my coffee and apple cider Spritz and put it back in. 

The little bonus pieces I had smoking in the drippings pan sure taste good! Nice juicy snack for the wife and I. 

I will say this Salt Lick restaurant brand rub is pretty peppery. I need to find a way to tone down the pepper. My brown sugar didn't affect it much. I love it! But it'll be too spicy for most folks. I'm taking suggestions!


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## dfwsmoker

Final product is a success! High scores for taste, bark, and juiciness. Tender, but definitely not plastic fork fall apart level greatness. Overall, I'm super pleased, and the wife approves! I've attached my full notes. 

Love to hear anyone's recommendations how to make it melt in your mouth and be a bit more tender?


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## megownm

I have the fortune to be able to get my briskets from a beef butcher and one of the old timers told me years ago to trim most of the fat off to start with.  Then the side that you leave some on goes UP.  run the pit @ 225f mop every 1 - 1.5 hrs with a mixture of 3/4s apple juice and 1/4 vegetable oil in a spray bottle.  At the 5 hr mark wrap good in brown butcher papper, put back on the pit for 5 hrs, pull rest in a beach cooler for 1 hr then cut against the grain..

Best advise I ever received on how to smoke a brisket...works everytime.  All by briskets go from 14 - 19#s...never dry..I triple wrap the brisket with the brown butcher paper, maybe a bit over kill but hey if it works don't change it.....


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