Brisket Folding for Uniformity


 
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Jimbo M.

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When I put my rub onto my brisket, I noticed it had a "tail end" that was quite a bit thinner than the "head end". When I wrapped it I folded about 2 inches of the tail to be the same thickness as the rest of the brisket (trying for uniformity). After a 24 hour stand in the reefer, the meat took the shape and appears to be quite uniform across all of the brisket.

Has anyone else done this? I'm also curious ... I put rub inside the fold but there isn't going to be any direct heat on it. Any ideas whether this going to be powdery/chalky or odd flavored?
 
Generally your going to have one end that is thinner (point of the brisket) and a larger end (flat of the brisket). If you really get lucky and can shop around I hear it is possible, though I have yet to see one, to get a brisket where the point and flat are both similar in width and thickness. I've never done one in the fashion you are speaking so I have no real input to that aspect. However checkout Shawn W's recent post regarding the huge brisket he smoked and here is a pic he provided. Was so big he had to sort of fold it in the middle.
 
Holy Moly! Now that's a problem to have!!!

My brisket had the point end much like a flank steak end. It folded and looked OK so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

It's been 5 hours ... time to check things in the cooker.
 
No problem man. It's all about the moo cow.

Did you see the pics steve posted on that post showing how much they shrunk up after they were smoked.......now thats amazing how much volume they lose during the cook.
 
Jimbo,
I think you have a brisket flat as opposed to a whole brisket. The "point" is a piece of a second muscle that is attached to the "flat" muscle, and is so called because it usually has a bit of a pointy shape to it. The flat is called the flat because it's, well... flat, for the most part. Where the flat and point are connected together-- by a vein of fat and connective tissue-- the flat tends to taper to a lesser thickness than that of the opposite end. This is why I believe what you are cooking is a flat-only. Folding that thin end will do no harm, other than not forming bark where the meat touches.

I happened to be shopping for a flat in cryovac today at Sam's and found one I thought had a very desirable uniform thickness, but then realized it just had a thin end folded back on itself before it was vac-sealed-- I chose another instead.
 
Jimbo, if you have the extra time, seperate the point when you are finsihed cooking the brisket and throw the point back on for another 2 hrs...open all the vents get crank up the temp and let the point get barky.

After 2 hrs, cut the point into 1" cubes and throwm um back on the WSM (in a grill pan or wok)for another hour or so...they are done when the feel jerky or barky all around.

Drench the cubes in a nice bbq sauce and serve um in a bowl along side the brisket slices. They will go first I bet...they always do in my Q's!!

BTW, those are called "Burnt Ends". At least that's how I make them!!
 
MattJ -- yes, those pics are pretty amazing.

DougD -- you, sir, are correct! It is a brisket flat I got at Costco. I didn't know what to look for, but now I know. Thanks for the info ... I'm hoping it still turns out good.

Greg -- may try the burnt ends next time. This flat is only about 6 lbs raw and should cook down quite a bit.

Folks, thanks for the info! I'm really learning quite a bit this time, both from the smokin' session and the web talk. I'm actually seeing with my own eyes what I've read many times before.
 
Jimbo, I was under the impression you had a full packer. You can't do burnt ends with just the flat, you need the point also!!

When you get a full packer, the burnt ends are worth the extra effort!!
 
Greg, thanks for the facts. Now I know what to look forward to when I do get The Full Pull of Brisket!!!

Goodness, I love the smell of smoke and meat!
 
With the back and forth discussion. Who here thinks it would be good to have have a chat room here on tvwbb in addition to the BB.

Chris Allingham,

Any thoughts on whether you'd consider it. I do know it would be difficult to regulate properly (ie..keep things on topic and keep the sort of bad stuff that gets whipped around chat rooms out) but it might also generate good discussion. One suggestion obviously would be to limit access to those already part of the BB. That way you'd have a way to authorize participants in the chat room and then ban them if they are bad. Would also give us a place to just mingle online and banter about the hobby and art of Q'ing while waiting for that 180-205deg range for our meat so we can eat.
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I guess it would leave the BB for posting questions and exchangings ideas and let us keep the BBQ drooling and associated banter to the chat room or to use the chat room to pose ???s that require a quick answer...ie your smoking a brisket and your WSM blows it's top like Mt St Helen's and your lost for ideas on where to proceed (just kidding Rob O). Just a thought. Thanks.

PS...Rob I didn't see whether you were interested in selling the Grey topped WSM in your pic LOL. That rocks man.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MattJ:
... he had to sort of fold it in the middle. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Actually, I had two that size and I ended up cutting them in half, cooking the points one weekend and the flats the next weekend.
 
Matt,

The nice part about the BB is that it allows time shifting. I don't always have the time to be so attentive to the BB, so I would hope the BB would continue to thrive. My fear would be that good conversation and information would take place in the chat and be lost to those not participating.

Having said all that, it would be kinda nice to be able to discuss things a bit more real-time, particularly my very sad looking pork butts.
 
Shawn,

Didn't realize they had thawed some prehistoric giant cow in Canada to get those briskets. Wow, those were impressive!

My li'l brisket flat is looking good but it isn't in the same league as that behmoth you had.

(I had visions of Fred Flintstone and his car falling over after the briskets were put on the side)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jimbo M.:
...I had visions of Fred Flintstone and his car falling over after the briskets were put on the side... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Jim did say it was from a large animal .. I didn't realize it was a brontosaurus ...
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