Brisket--Fat cap UP or DOWN?

[Travis H.]

I have a 18.5 WSM and have only done one brisket so far and had the fat cap down. What do yall do? Obviously this can be very opinionated but what are your thoughts?

 

[Tony R]

I do fat cap down for the first 4 hours and fat side up the rest of the cook.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

This is another highly charged question that ranks up there with foil or no foil, lump or briquettes, and 18 or 22. Let the fun begin: I go fat side up the whole cook. Never turn it, no foil, and never open the cooker.

 

[Al Silverman]

There are only two factors to consider in this debate. First, the fat cap "up" proponents say the melting fat will baste the meat. I does not. It does so, as much as the water in the pan (if you use it) keeps the meat moist. Second, the fat "down" proponents (me, for example) do so to protect the heat from, below, from excessively drying the unprotected side of the brisket. Just my $.02. YMMV

 

[Bob Sample]

Fat side down, no wait fat side up, down, up, definitely down..... No no up yeah that's it. I'm so confused. I've done them both ways and haven't really noticed much difference.

 

[Brad Olson]

Regardless of which way the fat cap's positioned the other side will always benefit from a few strips of fatty, thin-sliced bacon.

 

[timothy]

Travis, I've only done Packers High Heat. And if you read any of the threads its always FC down for 2 -2 1/2 hrs cause it does help shielding the meat from HH.
Than once you foil its FC up till probe tender.
Here's a link to High Heat brisket.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/brisket4.html
HTH

Tim

 

[Bill Farmer]

I always do it with fat side down. I think of it as a heat shield for the meat.

 

[Russ Sylvester]

I'm with Dwayne above except for FC down. The ONLY reason is that I don't want the Jus to wash off my rub.

I've seen it done very successfully both ways.

Russ

 

[Dave Russell]

I'm in the fat towards the heat camp, and while this is obviously "down" in a wsm, it's "up" in an offset cooker, since the heat rises out of the firebox and flows across and above the brisket.

 

[Bob Bass]

Fat cap down at our house. Keeps that nice bark clear of the cooking grate.

 

[Gary S]

Travis, I've only done Packers High Heat. And if you read any of the threads its always FC down for 2 -2 1/2 hrs cause it does help shielding the meat from HH.
Than once you foil its FC up till probe tender.
Here's a link to High Heat brisket.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/brisket4.html
HTH

Tim

I would cook fat side down for HH but if you are doing LNS I don't think it really matters. I like the convenience of HH but I do believe there is better smoke flavor with LNS

 

[George Curtis]

not sure it really makes a differance unless you have direct heat underneath. i cut almost all the fat off now as i like the bark on the meat and not on a bunch of fat.
noticed no differance in the meat itself so far.

 

[Ryan P.K.]

I don’t think it makes much of a difference, but for us weekend warriors, I say fat side up. I believe it helps to baste the brisket. I believe some of us enjoy BBQing, and leave the science of BBQing, up to the professionals.

 

[Jerry E.]

I've done both, in various circumstances and different cuts of meat over the years and I just haven't seen a difference or heard a compelling argument to convince me there was a difference.

Some guys are gonna swear by their method. That, to me, is where the FUN in BBQ is. Comparing methods.


BTW, I have a stick that will attract and therefore catch, more snipes than any of you.

 

[David B.]

i've done several of them both ways and prefer to cook them fat side up. i have noticed that when cooking fat side up that the meat remains more tender and juicy on top as a result. i still get a nice slight bark, but then again, i don't like a very crusty bark so leaving it fat side up leaves it just the way we like it.
now some people will say that leaving it fat side up does not "baste" the meat as it cooks, but i disagree. just as others say that leaving it fat side down will "protect" the meat from the heat, but if that were true, then when i cook fat side up then that would mean that the bottom of my brisket should be dried out.....which is also not the case.

from what i have gathered from bbq'ing over the years is that the trend tends to be that a LNS brisket is fat side up while a HH brisket is laid fat side down, and that makes sense to me.
so in the end, just choose what works best for you and enjoy the meat.

 

[Shawn W]

I like to do brisket in a fat sandwich. Using two grates I will put the bottom brisket cap down, and the upper meat (love untrimmed pork butt for this) fat up. This bastes the lower through the cook. Having the lower and upper as close together as possible also protects the meat.

In my keg the grate heights work out just right for the sandwich. In a WSM I'd do something like the 'soup can' mod to raise the lower meat.

If only one piece of meat I'd do fat cap down.

 

[Chris in Louisiana]

I prefer to cook the brisket on its side. Avoids arguments.

 

[Rick Body]

I prefer to cook the brisket on its side. Avoids arguments.

Thats funny right there BUT do you cook it right side up or right side down

 

[Scott B (nj)]

On my WSM, I go fat down if I'm on the top rack, fat up on the bottom rack w water in the pan. I'm also low n slow all the way