I consider myself a brisket expert, being from Texas, I should be. I think it's the official state meat, if not, it should be! I have cooked them just about anyway known to man, except in the slow cooker, YUK! I've cooked them fat side up, fat side down, wrapped and unwrapped, foiled, butcher paper, injected, non injected, complex rubs and just salt and pepper, slow and low, hot and fast, no trim, heavy trim, north/south, east/west, you get the picture. But I have never completely separated the point and the flat and cooked them this way, so I had to do it. I love the point meat, but hate the fat and the extra cook time it requires to fully render out the fat. I love burnt ends, but unless you do a heavy trim, I always seem to have too few pieces with bark and I love some peppery bark. So I took a 12# packer brisket, select grade that has been overloooked in my freezer since early last year out, thawed out in the fridge all week, ready to cook this weekend. Did some heavy trimming, no excess fat on the meaty surfaces at all. I kept a solid fat layer on the bottom to protect the meat while cooking on my RF pit.
Here it is trimmed and separated:
Injected both pieces with Butchers BBQ Prime brisket injection. I use it when I cook comps, so I just keep it as part of my normal routine, even if I'm at home. I let that sit for an hour or so after injecting, then slathered with mustard (not needed, just part of my routine), then rubbed down with my own mixture for briskets:
Brisket rub is pretty standard stuff, this mix is enough for two briskets 12#'s or so:
4 TBSP Kosher salt
4 TBSP Coarse Black pepper
2 TBSP Dark brown sugar
1 TBSP minced onion
2 TSP paprika
2 TSP granulated garlic
2 TSP chili powder
2 TSP cumin
2 TSP cayenne pepper
Mixed together a day before usage, then ground finer in either a spice grinder or I use my wifes' Ninja, does a great job, breaks up the onion and smooths out the texture of the rub.
Put it on the pit at 250 degrees, fat side down, smoked with hickory and oak until it reached 160 + IT, then wrapped i foil with some Dr. Pepper and a bit more rub, until both pieces were toothpick tender. I did not get to sample the meat Sunday night, but last night as soon a sI got home from work, I pulled them out of the fridge, sliced up the flat, and put it in the oven to warm for dinner. Here is the point sliced up cold, right out of the fridge:
Plenty of bark all around the meat, the fat had rendered out perfectly with the point, which is what I was a shooting for. Tender, juicy (once reheated), you could have easily cubed it and made some burnt ends as well, but I sliced it all, vaccum sealed everything not eaten.
As far as cook times, that did not change for the flat, but it did eliminate the need to put the point back on to fully render out the fat, the cook still took around 9 hours, which is normal for my pit. When the flat was done, which is toothpick tender, not IT for me, I pulled both and both were done.
I have always preferred a heavy trim job on my briskets, but I think this experiment hit it out of the park and may become my new way to cook briskets. Less fat to deal with after the cook, more bark, more flavor to the meat directly. My only change would be less rub, since more meat was exposed, it was a bit stronger than usual, but I prefer a stronger seasoned meat, however my wife does not, so in the future, dealing with smaller pieces of meat, I'll give them a lighter coat. I also think with the smaller pieces, a good marinade might work well.
Here it is trimmed and separated:
Injected both pieces with Butchers BBQ Prime brisket injection. I use it when I cook comps, so I just keep it as part of my normal routine, even if I'm at home. I let that sit for an hour or so after injecting, then slathered with mustard (not needed, just part of my routine), then rubbed down with my own mixture for briskets:
Brisket rub is pretty standard stuff, this mix is enough for two briskets 12#'s or so:
4 TBSP Kosher salt
4 TBSP Coarse Black pepper
2 TBSP Dark brown sugar
1 TBSP minced onion
2 TSP paprika
2 TSP granulated garlic
2 TSP chili powder
2 TSP cumin
2 TSP cayenne pepper
Mixed together a day before usage, then ground finer in either a spice grinder or I use my wifes' Ninja, does a great job, breaks up the onion and smooths out the texture of the rub.
Put it on the pit at 250 degrees, fat side down, smoked with hickory and oak until it reached 160 + IT, then wrapped i foil with some Dr. Pepper and a bit more rub, until both pieces were toothpick tender. I did not get to sample the meat Sunday night, but last night as soon a sI got home from work, I pulled them out of the fridge, sliced up the flat, and put it in the oven to warm for dinner. Here is the point sliced up cold, right out of the fridge:
Plenty of bark all around the meat, the fat had rendered out perfectly with the point, which is what I was a shooting for. Tender, juicy (once reheated), you could have easily cubed it and made some burnt ends as well, but I sliced it all, vaccum sealed everything not eaten.
As far as cook times, that did not change for the flat, but it did eliminate the need to put the point back on to fully render out the fat, the cook still took around 9 hours, which is normal for my pit. When the flat was done, which is toothpick tender, not IT for me, I pulled both and both were done.
I have always preferred a heavy trim job on my briskets, but I think this experiment hit it out of the park and may become my new way to cook briskets. Less fat to deal with after the cook, more bark, more flavor to the meat directly. My only change would be less rub, since more meat was exposed, it was a bit stronger than usual, but I prefer a stronger seasoned meat, however my wife does not, so in the future, dealing with smaller pieces of meat, I'll give them a lighter coat. I also think with the smaller pieces, a good marinade might work well.
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