seperating the point and flat before cooking


 
B

Bill Gillespie

TVWBB Fan
First I want to say that I am a huge fan of High Heat cook for brisket. The only thing I noticed was that the point could have used a little more time to cook. If I had a 12# brisket and wanted to seperate the point and flat before putting it on the WSM , would the cook time be shorter? if so how long? or should the point go on before the flat?
 
I'm not Kevin and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but most posts I see advise to cook intact and separate when flat is done (alternatively separate when foiling), put the point back on as is or cut up for KC style burnt ends.
 
I'm a bit of a hack at separating the two so I was psyched to see your thread, unfortunately it looks like you have the same question as I do and no answer.

The last couple HH packers I did I removed the point when I foiled the flat. At a comp I cooked the whole thing for 4 hours, another 2 hours apart (flat foiled) and continued to do the point while the flat rested for about another hour in a cooler. I put the flat unfoiled back on to tighten the bark, by that time both were in good shape.

Its definitely easier to get them apart after some cooking. The last HH brisket I did, I tried to get them apart cold and its much harder to keep them intact (especially when I've hadn't had much practice).

the big problem seems that part of the flat has the fat cap and the other has the point, when you pull off the point first, part of the flat is naked.

anyways I cooked them apart and the flat seemed to fare well. you can see the results here:

http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1780069052/m/4140024085
 
Since the flat is usually thinner at the end where it's connected to the point, it's advantageous to let the point protect it from overcooking before the thicker end of the flat is done.
 
I actually prefer to remove the point prior to cooking. I have cooked them both ways and it's just my preference to separating prior to cooking. I wouldn't say there's any advantage either way. When the flat is done and resting, I leave the point on and crank up the heat until it's rendered, tender and then cube into burnt ends.
 
I tried separating the two prior to cooking because it fits better, flat on one rack, point on the other.

my thinking was a flat without any part beyond the water pan might cook more evenly.
 
I'm 50/50 on this. If I want the point to grind for burgers I'll seperate before cooking. Once you do this enough, It's easy to seperate them whitout hacking them up. If I'm wanting the point for burnt ends to take in for the guys at work, these days I'm seperating at 125º - 130º internal on the flat, as I have found that that temp is plenty hot enough to seperate the 2 easy enough and this gives me time to put rub on the big bald spot, so I can get some bark on the flat where the point overlapped. HTH
 
Cool, thanks all for the info, this has helped alot. I think the next time I do a brisket, I will seperate before foiling at around the 2 1/2 hr mark. again thanks to all and Happy Q-ing
 
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