trimmed brisket - need help!


 
G

Greg W

New member
Where do I even begin?

I am planning on my smoking first brisket this coming weekend. I just purchased a 4 lb. brisket from Costco which appears to be a trimmed (first problem) flat. Everything I am now reading says to start with untrimmed brisket.

Some thoughts:
1. Could I wrap the brisket in bacon to act as an artificial fat cap?
2. If I wrapped it in bacon, I would rub the brisket first, then wrap in bacon.
3. If I wrapped in bacon, then the brisket itself won't develop the delicious crust.
4. READ BEFORE I BUY next time. I've purchased my butts cryovaced from Costco and they always turned out great, but the trimmed brisket could be a problem.
5. How would cooking time beed to be adjusted for trimmed brisket?

So, any and all help or suggestions are welcome. Any other consideration or options I'm missing? While I wouldn't toss out this piece of meat, I am also wondering if I can salvage it or if I should just go buy an untrimmed brisket.

Thanks in advance.
 
Greg,
You can certainly smoke a flat. Since it is trimmed, I'd recommend going the high temp method. Basically, you'll Minion Method (is that a verb now?) to start your fire, smoke a little over 300, foil once the meat gets to 170 and then check for tenderness. It should be done in about 6 hours or less. I don't think adding bacon will really help; but the foil will.
 
I have very very little experience smoking, but I did a 4lb brisket two days ago that was trimmed and I cooked it 9 hours foiling the last 2 at ~215. It did not taste the slightest bit dried out. I didn't spray it or anything (just a spice rub at the begining).
 
I bought the same cut from Costco last week. I plan on using a recipe from Smoke & Spice that specifically calls for a flat cut. The recipe uses a marinade in which the brisket is soaked in overnight. That is a bit different than the normal dry rub recipes that I have read about.

Robert
 
Greg,

I smoked a small, very trimmed brisket flat this past weekend. I did as you mentioned and rubbed first (w/ Texas BBQ Rub) and then topped with bacon. Cooked for 7 hours at 260 degrees (grate temp). Didn't foil during the cook, but did foil and place in a cooler to rest for two hours. Came out very good (not dry).

Bob W.
 
Wrapping it in bacaon will do nothing but waste good bacon. Cooking time is till it's tender. If it is over trimmed, then high heat it as mentioned above and foil at 160. You want to get it into the foil before the plateau stage, not after. Bark will suffer a little but you can unwrap and firm up a little at the end. Cook till fork, probe tender, or just slightly just shy of. Carry over heat will cook it a little more once it's removed from the WSM. If it were I doing it here's how it would play out. High heat 325 till internal reached 160, wrap in foil and cook till almost tender, like a fork going into room temp butter. Rest for 1 hr, then slice as needed, applying a finishing sauce on the top side of each slice, and enjoy.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan S:
Wrapping it in bacaon will do nothing but waste good bacon. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ohhh I sooooo agree with this!!!! I see people using a pound or more of bacon on briskets or other cuts to 'keep them moist'. As Bryan stated, it does waste the bacon. At most it will give your brisket a bacon tasting brisket, but will do absolutely nothing for internal moisture!!

Buy the bacon anyways and make pig candy with it!!!
icon_biggrin.gif
 
What bacon can do is the same thing a fat-based baste can do (if applied freequently enough) and that's dramatically slow evaporation. Neither the rendered fat from the bacon nor the baste itself 'soaks into' the meat, of course; they both act as barriers to evaporation which speeds cooking a bit. Cooking just till tender is still required: neither approach will 'keep the meat moist' if the meat is destined to be overcooked, but can reduce surface dryness.

Using bacon has always seemed kind of wasteful to me too (especally if you cure and smoke your own!). It's the cooks choice obviously, but there is an alternative that's cheap and effective: foil, as stated above.
 
Wow! Thank you all for the great advice. Looks like I'll be going the "high heat" method.

Any other recommendations? Please keep the comments coming.
 
Listen to Pinny B. She just became a wizard on trimmed brisket. Just put it on and follow your instincts and the things you have learned on this site.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Al Silverman:
I sometimes lay a few strips of applewood smoked bacon under a close trimmed flat to protect it from the heat coming up.

Al </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Al, It's in my head and can't get the thought out, that the bark would suffer from the bacon? I just picture this gray sticky gooey rub on the bacon side of the brisket. Al Help! I gots to know?
 
Well I'll tell ya my friend!! LOL The bacon gets real crispy and wicked smokey and tastes really good. It does not impart any flavor, at least I can't tatse it if it does, to the brisket. And the bark is perfect. No grey sticky stuff at all.

Al
 
The results are in.

Overall, it had tremendous flavor. But I had some issues with dryness. I foiled at 160 and checked until fork tender (soft butter). I think unfoiled in an attempt to get a crusty bark, and the meat dried out before I knew what hit me.

THANKS again to everyone for your helpful posts. If I had watched it more closely once unfoiled, or maybe never unfoiled at all, it would have been perfect.
 
One last post. Today for lunch I shredded the remaining beef and mixed it with some sauce. Heated it up and it was fantastic. The sauce brought back moisture to the meat so it was lip smackin' delicious.
 
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