2 briskets 2 different ways


 
J

Jon in DFW

TVWBB Fan
I have long wondered if its better to keep a brisket whole or separate the point and flat. I also wanted to make burnt ends for my first time, so I decided to make both at the same time and see for myself.

Also, 1 of these briskets is a xmas gift to my SIL. So a perfect time to try this out.

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If I had a whole brisket, I would separate the flat from the point, making BE's out of the flat, and the point not for BE's. I almost always buy the point only. If there was a price incentive on buying a flat only, I'd do it, but I would pull it before it got to BE status. BE's are great, but there's so much more to brisket than BE's (imho) Enjoy your cook, your SIL is lucky
 
ChuckO said:
If I had a whole brisket, I would separate the flat from the point, making BE's out of the flat, and the point not for BE's. I almost always buy the point only. If there was a price incentive on buying a flat only, I'd do it, but I would pull it before it got to BE status. BE's are great, but there's so much more to brisket than BE's (imho) Enjoy your cook, your SIL is lucky
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Interesting, I never considered using the flat for BE, Maybe I'll try that. I have never made, nor eaten BE so I wanted to try them.
 
I've not had a ton of experience cooking a full brisket (flat & point) but when I have, the flat was done before the point, and "over-done" (burnt end) by the time the point was done. I'm one of those guys who don't trim, I leave any and all fat on. I can always cut the fat off after it's cooked and sliced, but to be honest, most the time I eat the fat with the meat :)
 
Well there's two issues
What is the uneven thicknesses of the pieces...,. The end of the flat can be very thin.

The other is the unequal amounts of fat that require different times for rendering.

Typically the flat is ready before the point. And even then, the thin end of the flat will be somewhat overcooked reaching 210-215. But it's still edible. After you got a few slices off it's into the good stuff.

The point on the other hand, needs to render that fat out . And here's where I find that a choice brisket is superior to a prime. The prime is simply still way too fatty. If you're going to take the point and make burnt ends then that won't bother you but if you want to make sandwiches out of it and eat it it's just too fatty. A well-rendered point is the best part of the cow. So to me, the choice brisket actually works out better.

However, if you separate the two of them then the one half of the flat that is under the point tapers to a knife edge... You can lose a lot of to be overdone.
 
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I trim off that very thin portion of the flat and save it for brisket burger. In fact, my trims of the flat are getting more aggressive every cook. I'll trim that corner of the brisket on the left in the above pic.

Long time ago, we would always separate the brisket and put the flat on the top grate and point on the lower grate of the WSM. In those days, we had it all backward, would use the point for chili and slice the flat. These days, we like the point and have considered just grinding the flat.
 
The point will usually be probe tender before the flat. You might need more time to render fat in the point. I usually trim off the thin portion as well and use it in sausage. There's different ways to skin a cat. I cook them together because I serve and slice briskets central Texas style. Making burnt ends is another way to go. There are ways to get that extra fat in the point to render better. One is to cook at a hotter temp, say around 275 vs. 225. Another is a long active hold. That's not easy to do for most backyard guys. I learned from Lynn about using an electric turkey roaster as a holding oven.
 
So the night went well. As usual my 22" held temp within 10° of 225 all night.
Put them on at 9pm
By 7am the point was at 186 so I made into BE and back on the smoker
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And the flat was at my pull temp so I wrapped in towels and into the faux camera for the morning.

The 2nd whole brisket is at 182 and going well also
 
Lynn Dollar said:
I trim off that very thin portion of the flat and save it for brisket burger. In fact, my trims of the flat are getting more aggressive every cook. I'll trim that corner of the brisket on the left in the above pic.

Long time ago, we would always separate the brisket and put the flat on the top grate and point on the lower grate of the WSM. In those days, we had it all backward, would use the point for chili and slice the flat. These days, we like the point and have considered just grinding the flat.
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The flat makes a good pastrami. And because you steam a pastrami to reheat it, it’s always moist and tender. It’s about the only way I’ll eat a flat now. Rye, mustard, pastrami and a Dr. Browns Cel-Rey.
 
@ChuckO i would have used the flat for BE, but I actually fell asleep and when I woke up tye flat was at the exact temp to pull and towel wrap lol. But I will try that for sure next time

@Dustin Dorsey @Lynn Dollar @MartinB I also appreciate all the other great points everyone gave me, I will reevaluate and make some changes for next time for sure
 
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To me the flats the best part of the brisket but... If all I can find are big 20 lb briskets.... Cut off a few pounds of thinn end of flat and cure it to make pastrami.
 
Diced up the remaining 1.5 briskets and vacuum sealed it for the SIL and MIL. Came out very good.
I think going forth i will pre-seperate the point and flat. I felt like it cooked much quicker (obvious reasons). But I really liked how the entire flat was seasoned. I personally like to eat the point and flat separately depending on what I'm doing with it and I think having a full length seasoned flat was better.
Thanks again for the pointers all. Happy Holidays20211223_165719.jpg
 
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