Fatback on brisket flat

[Jon Liberman]

Since a lot of the meat I get comes from Sam's and so far I have only found brisket flats, I have a question about fat.

The only brisket flat I've smoked turned out great. It was juicy and tasty. Because I was worried about having enough fat on it, I took Chris' advice and put bacon on top of the brisket. To be honest, I think the bacon really only lasted about 1.5 hours, but I'm sure it gave some needed moisture.

Here's my question. Should I try substituting fatback for the bacon? I figure it would be cheaper and probably last a lot longer than bacon. Does anybody have any experience or thoughts on this?

 

[Kevin Taylor]

Jon...

Those are the same flats I have been smoking for years.

There is no need to put any extra fat on those flats. They come untrimmed and are ideal for smoking. They are packed in the original IBP vacpac so the butchers don't even touch them. The fat cap is very thick and if anything, it needs a little trimming.

I guess I don't quite understand why you put bacon on one of those?

 

[Jon Liberman]

When I got mine at Sam's, there were a lot to choose from, but it didn't look like any of them had a lot of fat. I picked the one that looked the best (according to Chris' brisket page) and it had a some fat on it, but the fat was pretty thin. Maybe I am just paranoid since so many have made a big deal about cooking a brisket. I appeciate the feedback and for my next brisket I won't worry about any extra fat.