Brisket processing and the end result updated 1/2/14

[z-man]

I bought a 13.5 lb full packer from my local butcher to throw on the smoker tonight.  I started trimming last night and got about 5 lbs of fat off of it.  Did my butcher hose me or for a full packer of that size is that normal?  By the way, it was in the vacuum plastic and stamped"choice" if that helps answer.

 

[geerock]

Depending on how much you trim that may he a bit much but not too far off. I bought a 15 lb packer the other day and took about 3 1/2 lbs of fat off. I leave about 1/8 inch of fat cap. A vacuum packed "choice" cut is pretty standard for packers.

 

[z-man]

i left between a 1/4 to 1/8" on the top but there were big areas that were solid fat that I tried to V cut out of the brisket,  It is well marbled so hopefully it will render down.  getting ready to throw it on in about 10 minutes   will send some Q view as it goes

 

[superdave]

Brisket is sold in different grades like choice or select.  5 lbs of fat, it had better have been sold as the lowest grade cut.

 

[geerock]

Brisket is sold in different grades like choice or select.  5 lbs of fat, it had better have been sold as the lowest grade cut.

He said that it was choice so, yeah, 5 lbs is too much.

 

[demosthenes9]

He said that it was choice so, yeah, 5 lbs is too much.

I don't know about that.  He talked about cutting into a V, so he's doing more than just trimming the top off.   If you dive in and actually separate the point from the flat, you can run into a nice fat seam that will have some weight to it.

 

[bwarbiany]

 
Brisket is sold in different grades like choice or select.  5 lbs of fat, it had better have been sold as the lowest grade cut.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe that the brisket isn't actually individually graded. If you get a Choice brisket, it means it's from a cow that was graded Choice in the rib section. That *should* correlate somewhat to the brisket muscle, but there can be variance.

This could have been a particularly bad Choice brisket, but still Choice.

 

[z-man]

I did trim more than just the top, I left 1/8-1/4" of the flat but took took quite a bit out between the flat and the point as I was not going to do burnt ends and was just going to shred the point so I wanted to make sure it got done at the same time..  Here are the results :

IMG_20131230_200622_067.jpg

• z-man
• Jan 2, 2014

IMG_20131231_183612_369.jpg

• z-man
• Jan 2, 2014

IMG_20131231_222215_563.jpg

• z-man
• Jan 2, 2014

IMG_20140101_125415_957.jpg

• z-man
• Jan 2, 2014

 

[daveomak]

Brisket looks good to me..... Nice job...... Thumbs Up


Dave