brisket question
- Thread starter Dave_H
- Start date
Bob Correll
R.I.P. 3/31/2022
IMO it doesn't matter Dave.
I go fat down to protect the 'meat' side.
I go fat down to protect the 'meat' side.
Charles H.
TVWBB Super Fan
FWIW I have been cooking em fat side down since I got the WSM.
It really doesn't matter much though.
If it did matter there would be no fat side debate....everyone would just do it the same way because ...... Well because it mattered.
It really doesn't matter much though.
If it did matter there would be no fat side debate....everyone would just do it the same way because ...... Well because it mattered.
Dwain Pannell
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Wars have been fought over the answer to that question. LOL
I follow this guide: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisket4.html
I follow this guide: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisket4.html
Last edited:
Paul Pearson
TVWBB Super Fan
The first brisket I ever did was fat side up and the bottom 1/8" of the meat was dried out like jerky.
I've done fat down ever since
I've done fat down ever since
Bob Ivey
TVWBB Emerald Member
I agree with Dwain's method. When I first started smoking meat, that was the article I read and have been doing it that way ever since. Works well.
S.Six
TVWBB All-Star
Same! I do them fat side down and works great.
Dustin Dorsey
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I'm trying to convert myself to fat side down. But it just seems wrong somehow. I started out on an offset where fat-side up makes sense. Fat side down makes more sense on a WSM. Ultimately, I don't think it really matters that much. This is such a controversy that I can't even agree with myself!
Enrico Brandizzi
TVWBB Honor Circle
In WSM fat side down for me!
Danny B (Albany GA)
TVWBB Fan
Based on this http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_fat_caps.html fat side down is what I've always done.
Donna Fong
TVWBB Super Fan
I started thinking recently that the fat should always face the fire to protect the brisket. So for a WSM, fat down but for a stick burner/propane tank where the heat flushes the top of the meat, fat up. That's just my theory.
J Hasselberger
TVWBB All-Star
I have done many briskets. Did my first USDA Prime (Costco) overnight last night. Gorgeous piece of meat. About 11lbs. trimmed. Fat down for 14 hours between 225 and 240. No wrap. Lifted the lid once to spritz with apple juice. Probed tender at 193 internal (middle of flat with iGrill2). The best I ever made. Maybe the best I ever had. The same sweet, dark smokiness that you get at Black's in Lockhart. Don't think I'll ever cook anything but Prime ever again.
Dustin Dorsey
TVWBB Hall of Fame
We got a new butcher shop in town and the guy has some Creekstone farms natural Angus prime briskets at about 3.99 a pound. I'm dying to cook one. I might have to wait till mothers day.
Rom Prakash
TVWBB Member
It is almost surreal reading your post. I had the almost same cook! Except due to time constraints I had to foil the last three hours. Got mine from Costco, was 15lbs untrimmed, probably a little over 11 trimmed. It was fat side up for 8 hours. Then foiled to make it on time before I left the house (11 total). Sat wrapped for a couple of hours in a cooler then sliced for lunch. Amazing.
BEST Brisket I've ever had. I'm with you - I'm going Prime if I can swing it from now on.
J Hasselberger
TVWBB All-Star
Rom,
I'm believing more and more that, although our cooking talent is impeccable
it's the quality of the meat that determines the quality of the BBQ. I cook on an 18.5 WSM and have to trim the "new shape" briskets so that they'll fit shoehorned in between the grate handles. I sliced about 4" of the flat off the thin end (to grind up with chuck for burgers -- yumm) and left a thick-ish (1/4"+) fat cap on. I lit the minion fire about an hour before putting the brisket on, letting the smoke (hickory) settle down to a thin wisp.I did not add any fuel throughout the cook (one of my favorite things about the WSM) and filled the water pan at the start. A little less than half the water was left at the end. I had a first stall at 158 and a second one after I spritzed at about 178.
Bottom line is that the WSM is a marvelous piece of engineering simplicity. It works best when you let it do its thing. I have been through the various wraps and injections and other tricks, but it always seems to work best when I just toss a good piece of meat on and keep the temp steady and low.
Jeff
I'm believing more and more that, although our cooking talent is impeccable
it's the quality of the meat that determines the quality of the BBQ. I cook on an 18.5 WSM and have to trim the "new shape" briskets so that they'll fit shoehorned in between the grate handles. I sliced about 4" of the flat off the thin end (to grind up with chuck for burgers -- yumm) and left a thick-ish (1/4"+) fat cap on. I lit the minion fire about an hour before putting the brisket on, letting the smoke (hickory) settle down to a thin wisp.I did not add any fuel throughout the cook (one of my favorite things about the WSM) and filled the water pan at the start. A little less than half the water was left at the end. I had a first stall at 158 and a second one after I spritzed at about 178. Bottom line is that the WSM is a marvelous piece of engineering simplicity. It works best when you let it do its thing. I have been through the various wraps and injections and other tricks, but it always seems to work best when I just toss a good piece of meat on and keep the temp steady and low.
Jeff
Donna Fong
TVWBB Super Fan
Jeff,
Interesting. Do you think when you smoke the brisket without wrapping, your final temp on the brisket is lower than what would have been probe tender, had you wrapped the brisket? I know different briskets finish at different temperatures, just wondering what your thoughts are about finishing temps without wrapping.
Donna
Interesting. Do you think when you smoke the brisket without wrapping, your final temp on the brisket is lower than what would have been probe tender, had you wrapped the brisket? I know different briskets finish at different temperatures, just wondering what your thoughts are about finishing temps without wrapping.
Donna
J Hasselberger
TVWBB All-Star
Donna,
That's what works for me. I like bark and wrapping softens the bark too much for my liking. I also find it difficult to tell if its done when it's all wrapped up.I prefer to look at it, probe it and jiggle it a little to determine its doneness. This particular one was done just a few degrees lower than I had expected. Since it was a USDA Prime cut, I just expected it to be done at a lower temp. I also let it sit out unwrapped on the counter in an aluminum foil pan for a good hour, until it temp'd at around 150 before I sealed the pan with foil and rested it in a warm (heated to about 170, then turned off) oven for another hour until the beer arrived.
When serving it, I sliced it in half first (about where the point overlaps the flat), and then took the slices towards each end. I think the slices are juicier in the middle and why not serve those first? Sliced and chopped up the rest of the flat for brisket tacos the next day. Damn good eatin'.
Jeff
That's what works for me. I like bark and wrapping softens the bark too much for my liking. I also find it difficult to tell if its done when it's all wrapped up.I prefer to look at it, probe it and jiggle it a little to determine its doneness. This particular one was done just a few degrees lower than I had expected. Since it was a USDA Prime cut, I just expected it to be done at a lower temp. I also let it sit out unwrapped on the counter in an aluminum foil pan for a good hour, until it temp'd at around 150 before I sealed the pan with foil and rested it in a warm (heated to about 170, then turned off) oven for another hour until the beer arrived.
When serving it, I sliced it in half first (about where the point overlaps the flat), and then took the slices towards each end. I think the slices are juicier in the middle and why not serve those first? Sliced and chopped up the rest of the flat for brisket tacos the next day. Damn good eatin'.
Jeff