A so-so brisket attempt

[JCAP]

Greetings all,
Yesterday I picked up a small 2.3lb brisket flat from the grocery store. Nice and 'bendy' but very thin fat. Today I injected it with a little beef broth and seasoned it with Hardcore Carnivore Black. It went on the SNS kettle with the slow n sear and some cherry wood. I pulled it at 205 and it probed ok but I was running up against something I couldn't get out of so it had to do.

A few things I learned:
1. I don't like cooking brisket flats only. Feels like when the flat is cut from the point, it's small, thin, and lots of fat is taken off.
2. I probably should have wrapped sooner. I let the flat cruise in the stall for over an hour or so in hopes of getting some good bark. I probably just should have foiled with liquid to retain moisture and not worried about the bark.
3. If the brisket is too tough, the pressure cooker is a very good friend to have.
4. I should have listened to my gut and done the Smokin Al method for brisket flats.

When I sliced it, the very thin end was really good. Not pull apart good but soft and flavorful. The thicker end was tough and dry so it went into the pressure cooker with beef broth and rub. 15 minutes later and it was much better. Probably could have taken it for another 15 min or so in the pressure cooker but it is what it is. But I learned that in the future I could probably use some combination of smoking followed by sous vide/crock pot to get a nice tender product all the way around.



So this was a good learning experience for me. And I got to play with fire, so it was still a win!

 

[MJB05615]

Looks good and juicy. I've not done just a flat before, except for pastrami, but that's a different thing altogether. I did just a point last month and it was awesome, and I'll be doing just points again from now on.
I'll see what I will do with the flats, since I've never seen just points at the stores. Sounds like you came up with great conclusions to use next time.

 

[mike243]

I SV a flat recently, 6 hrs smoke 6 hrs SV at 204 then into the fridge over night. best 1 yet,mine started off as a full packer, separated at 6 hrs and left the point on the smoker. Both were great but the flat was the best I have made, I plan to buy a flat and cook it soon to see if it makes much of a difference without the point

 

[HalfSmoked]

Nice Looking
Points learned good for next try.

Warrren

 

[chopsaw]

It sure looks good . Maybe you needed to slice across the grain ?

 

[gmc2003]

Looks like a fine flat from my screen. Job well done and lessons learned.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[MJB05615]

It sure looks good . Maybe you needed to slice across the grain ?

Good thought Chop. I didn't notice it wasn't sliced that way. Good eye.

 

[JCAP]

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the likes and help!

It sure looks good . Maybe you needed to slice across the grain ?

Oh yea- my tired brain didn't even realize I sliced the wrong way! Oops. Oh well.

I SV a flat recently, 6 hrs smoke 6 hrs SV at 204 then into the fridge over night. best 1 yet,mine started off as a full packer, separated at 6 hrs and left the point on the smoker. Both were great but the flat was the best I have made, I plan to buy a flat and cook it soon to see if it makes much of a difference without the point

I'll have to try this next time too. Thanks!

 

[Brokenhandle]

Looks good from here! Now ya have some good pointers on things to do in the future...nothing ventured nothing gained. I recently sliced the point off a full packer, cured it then smoked for beef bacon...turned out really good!

Ryan

 

[thirdeye]

Sometimes the grain is hard to make out after cooking. So when they are raw, I mark the grain direction of my flats by removing a small 'V' shaped wedge of meat which points in the direction of the grain. The V is in the foreground on the photo. After it's cooked the V will open up a little bit wider. Anyways, now I know to slice across the V for the perfect slice

 

[smokerjim]

Looks good from here

 

[normanaj]

So when they are raw, I mark the grain direction of my flats by removing a small 'V' shaped wedge of meat which points in the direction of the grain. The V is in the foreground on the photo. After it's cooked the V will open up a little bit wider. Anyways, now I know to slice across the V for the perfect slice

I also make a mark.Helps big time especially after a "few" beers.

 

[JCAP]

So I decided to try to throw some of the leftover brisket in the sous vide. It was a very good decision that led to pull apart delicious pieces.

Used them on a salad tonight and it was very good.