First Brisket....advice welcome

[MTMarine]

Just picked up this from local grocery meat dept. They told me to cut in half, right where the thickness changes. This is not separating the flat from point.....is this recommended? It's about a 16 pounder, and don't want to cook that much first go.

 

[RPopeilFan]

The brisket doesn't care where you cut it. in your picture the left side (point) is most forgiving for first cook. You can separate it whichever way you like. Heck you only have to trim them down further if you want to reduce fat on the finished product and to expose more meat surface to rub.

 

[Jim6820]

I would probably separate the point and flat at the natural seam, but I think @RPopeilFan is correct in that it probably doesn’t much matter where you cut it. Separating it at the natural seam will give you a bit more predictable cook, IMO. Points and flats cook a bit differently due to the different thicknesses and fat content.

Good luck.

 

[RPopeilFan]

Jim's point (see what I did there) is correct. My opinion is based on experience and a compulsive nature to go against norms. But after years of cooking 6-8 briskets at once I only cut what I have to and nothing more. In November I cut 4 full packer briskets into 6ths to cook separately for freezing. And don't get me started on tallow.

 

[TheRicker]

Jim's point (see what I did there) is correct. My opinion is based on experience and a compulsive nature to go against norms. But after years of cooking 6-8 briskets at once I only cut what I have to and nothing more. In November I cut 4 full packer briskets into 6ths to cook separately for freezing. And don't get me started on tallow.

View attachment 23383

Soooo…when you do this, how are you cooking these smaller portions? One at a time? Or multiple portions at a time?

 

[TheRicker]

Just picked up this from local grocery meat dept. They told me to cut in half, right where the thickness changes. This is not separating the flat from point.....is this recommended? It's about a 16 pounder, and don't want to cook that much first go.

View attachment 23380

The “natural” separation of flat versus point is horizontal along a seam of fat. When typical bbq’ers cut into a cooked brisket, they cut vertically at that place on the meat where it starts to go from thin(er) to very thick. One reason for this is the grain of the flat goes in one direction and the grain of the point goes in another…and you typically get consistent slices and easier chew when cutting across the grain.

On one of my brisket cooks, I separated the entire flat from the point along its natural seam. Many bbq’ers do this to cube the point and make “burnt ends” with it. I simply chose to slice my point portion. It was my approach to consistently cut across the grain for more sliced product…large gathering. That doesn’t produce an attractive hunk of meat as I cook my full packers fat side down on my pellet grill. But it tasted great.

I say all of this simply to offer you options. Everyone else correctly noted the difference in how a whole flat cooks different than a whole (natural) point.

Your picture made the whole brisket look not terribly big. You might consider cooking the whole packer and simply vacuum pack and freeze sizeable hunks of meat.

 

[RPopeilFan]

I cook all my points first overnight @ 210°. They go on around 8pm. Then at 6am I move them to a cambro with the vent cracked. Flats go on then at 250° with a smoke tube of pecan chips mixed with comp blend. Upper grate on fire bricks because the shelf is too high otherwise. (Wish I'd known the 1100 was coming with an oval shape) Usually done for dinner with a rest. If we're cooking a shedload of butts and ribs I usually have my spicewine and a few old proQ excels going too.

 

[AlphaPapa]

I always cook the whole packer and vacuum seal and freeze the leftovers. There is a lot of setup/teardown effort regardless of the size of the brisket. So, I prefer to cook as much as I can at a time. In production and operations management this is known as an economic order quantity. And, I actually find that the leftovers are at least as good as the original meal if I drop the vacuum sealed bags in a pot of boiling water and turn off the heat source.

 

[Jim6820]

I always cook the whole packer and vacuum seal and freeze the leftovers. There is a lot of setup/teardown effort regardless of the size of the brisket. So, I prefer to cook as much as I can at a time. In production and operations management this is known as an economic order quantity. And, I actually find that the leftovers are at least as good as the original meal if I drop the vacuum sealed bags in a pot of boiling water and turn off the heat source.

We dance to the same drummer, @AlphaPapa.

 

[Motodad1776]

I am lazy and only smoke chuck roasts now.

 

[AlphaPapa]

We dance to the same drummer, @AlphaPapa.

I learned the reheat method from you @Jim6820!

 

[RPopeilFan]

I am lazy and only smoke chuck roasts now.

Shoulder clod is my fallback

 

[KSM]

I always cook the whole packer and vacuum seal and freeze the leftovers. There is a lot of setup/teardown effort regardless of the size of the brisket. So, I prefer to cook as much as I can at a time. In production and operations management this is known as an economic order quantity. And, I actually find that the leftovers are at least as good as the original meal if I drop the vacuum sealed bags in a pot of boiling water and turn off the heat source.

Re. Reheating…. I assume that you, Jim682 and other who use the boiling water method to re-heat leftovers frozen brisket first thaw out your frozen briskets in the vacuum sealed bags before placing in the pot of hot/just boiling water. If my assumption is incorrect, then please correct me. Also, how long does it take to re-heat the brisket - is there a formula or rough rule of thumb per pound? Thanks for any advice on this.

 

[AlphaPapa]

We usually thaw out about three quarters of a pound at a time. I let the vacuum sealed package(s) thaw out in the refrigerator overnight. Then, I get a pot (4-6 quart) of water boiling. I drop the vacuum sealed packages into the water and turn off the heat source. After 15 minutes I cut open the packages and serve. Friends that I have given brisket to say they don’t necessarily thaw them out first and it works just fine. In my case, if they aren’t thawed, I just leave the heat source on for 5 minutes after I drop in the packages and then let them sit for 15 more minutes.

If you are doing large packages of brisket you may need to experiment some. I’d think you would need to use a larger pot of water; not just to accommodate the size of the package, but also to store more heat energy. Basically, the way I think it works is the cold packets of brisket immediately start cooling off the 212 degree water. The temperature of the brisket and the water end up meeting somewhere in the middle. Since the brisket was cooked to over 200 degrees, there is no chance of cooking the brisket further. If you try to use this method to reheat a steak that was cooked to 130 degrees you would need to be more careful not to cook the steak further.

One other thing… when I vacuum seal the brisket I include a dollop of wagyu beef tallow in each package. That helps them nice and moist when I reheat them.

I hope this helps.

 

[Jim6820]

We usually thaw out about three quarters of a pound at a time. I let the vacuum sealed package(s) thaw out in the refrigerator overnight. Then, I get a pot (4-6 quart) of water boiling. I drop the vacuum sealed packages into the water and turn off the heat source. After 15 minutes I cut open the packages and serve. Friends that I have given brisket to say they don’t necessarily thaw them out first and it works just fine. In my case, if they aren’t thawed, I just leave the heat source on for 5 minutes after I drop in the packages and then let them sit for 15 more minutes.

If you are doing large packages of brisket you may need to experiment some. I’d think you would need to use a larger pot of water; not just to accommodate the size of the package, but also to store more heat energy. Basically, the way I think it works is the cold packets of brisket immediately start cooling off the 212 degree water. The temperature of the brisket and the water end up meeting somewhere in the middle. Since the brisket was cooked to over 200 degrees, there is no chance of cooking the brisket further. If you try to use this method to reheat a steak that was cooked to 130 degrees you would need to be more careful not to cook the steak further.

One other thing… when I vacuum seal the brisket I include a dollop of wagyu beef tallow in each package. That helps them nice and moist when I reheat them.

I hope this helps.

What he said! @AlphaPapa may have “learned the reheat method” from me, but he has certainly documented it better than I could. Well done! He’s spot on!

I have done it both ways (frozen or thawed) with equal results. As noted by @AlphaPapa, if you start frozen, you need to keep the heat on the water a bit before turning it off.

Since we are just a family of two most of the time, I portion my vacuum-sealed and frozen packages accordingly. Keeping the packages relatively small provides excellent flexibility. If we have guests, we just use an extra package or two.

 

[MTMarine]

So I smoked the “flat” half which I did not separate but rather cut the brisket in half. This was my second attempt at brisket and it came out great! Flavor, bark, juicy and tender

Thanks to the folks in here for guidance. I’m very happy with the bullseye grill.

If I had one complaint, and it’s being nit picky-there was a slight hint of bitterness…it def needed more salt, but very faint. Any ideas?

 

[Jim6820]

If I had one complaint, and it’s being nit picky-there was a slight hint of bitterness…it def needed more salt, but very faint. Any ideas?

Did you use Mesquite pellets? I have gotten a hint of bitterness when using them.

What rub/seasonings and binder did you use?

 

[MTMarine]

It was a blended mix of pellets a buddy gave me from Costco. Over the years I've always preferred apple-for everything. I may go back to that! I didn't do a binder, just salt, pepper and garlic.


When I go to do the other half, which will mostly be the point, should I expect anything different? Other than a longer cook time?

 

[TheRicker]

It was a blended mix of pellets a buddy gave me from Costco. Over the years I've always preferred apple-for everything. I may go back to that! I didn't do a binder, just salt, pepper and garlic.


When I go to do the other half, which will mostly be the point, should I expect anything different? Other than a longer cook time?

I’ve successfully used Costco pellets before but they are noticeably longer than many others. That could block the bottom of the hopper feeding the auger.

 

[Motodad1776]

I’ve successfully used Costco pellets before but they are noticeably longer than many others. That could block the bottom of the hopper feeding the auger.

I run those Kirkland pellets pretty much exclusively now going on over a year, have been 100% drama free and work awesome. They break apart very easy, haven't heard the auger crunch/break one up anytime I have been around nor have I had any known feeding or ignition issues.