Brisket totally BUTCHERED!

[BXMurphy]

My lovely 15 pound brisket ($88 bucks) yielded 6.5 pounds ($13.62/lb.) of usable meat after hacking off the fat.

Either I was taken for a ride when I bought the meat or I can't trim meat to save my life. Ugh!

Murph

 

[indaswamp]

yeah, ya gotta check them over. There are threads on SMF on how to pick the best brisket in the meat locker. I actually have a brisket trimmed up on the counter now...seasoned up, ready to hit the smokehouse @10pm.

It was a 14.6# brisket trimmed down to around 13.5# I left about 3/8" of fat on it and cut out 3/4 of the fat between the flat and the point.

 

[TNJAKE]

Post a pic before trim and after trim if you got one. That's alot of trim imo

 

[indaswamp]

Here ya go...brisket school...

 

[BXMurphy]

Here ya go...brisket school...

Thanks for having my back, Indaswamp!

I'll do better next time after this.

 

[BXMurphy]

Post a pic before trim and after trim if you got one. That's alot of trim imo

A lot of fat left on or off?

I tried getting all of it off... especially that one knob that was hard and thick, not gelatinous.

 

[TNJAKE]

A lot of fat left on or off?

I tried getting all of it off... especially that one knob that was hard and thick, not gelatinous.

Ive never had a brisket where I've had to trim more than 2lb. I like mine in the 17lb range. 15 after trim

 

[jcam222]

My lovely 15 pound brisket ($88 bucks) yielded 6.5 pounds ($13.62/lb.) of usable meat after hacking off the fat.

Either I was taken for a ride when I bought the meat or I can't trim meat to save my life. Ugh!

Murph

Hard to imagine it had 8.5 lbs of fat out of 15 lbs.

 

[BXMurphy]

Ive never had a brisket where I've had to trim more than 2lb. I like mine in the 17lb range. 15 after trim

Yeah, it was a drag, too, because I read up on how there is a flat and a point and how to separate them. The point was all fat. Almost like I was missing the point part. Just a sliver of meat above the mid-seam of fat. Not even worth separating. Blah.

Hah! $13 buck and change per pound for brisket when I got done with it...

What's that they say?... anything worth doing is worth doing badly... until I get it right. Learn. Practice!

 

[indaswamp]

A lot of fat left on or off?

I tried getting all of it off... especially that one knob that was hard and thick, not gelatinous.

I don't recommend trimming all the fat off. You want to leave some on to protect the meat from the heat and to baste the meat. I trim like Aaron and leave 1/4-3/8" of fat on the outside where I can. Now the layer between the point and the flat you can trim almost all out....but be careful because the point has a lot of fat heavily marbled within it.

 

[indaswamp]

Yeah, it was a drag, too, because I read up on how there is a flat and a point and how to separate them. The point was all fat. Almost like I was missing the point part. Just a sliver of meat above the mid-seam of fat. Not even worth separating. Blah.

Hah! $13 buck and change per pound for brisket when I got done with it...

What's that they say?... anything worth doing is worth doing badly... until I get it right. Learn. Practice!

Buy some chuck and make some awesome ground meat....be great for burgers. Be a shame to throw away all that fat IMO...

 

[BXMurphy]

Hard to imagine it had 8.5 lbs of fat out of 15 lbs.

Yeah... that's why I thought I "butchered" it. Certainly my knife skills will need work. Judging from Indaswamp's pictures, I might have been too aggressive in the fat removal department (I hate fat... always have).

I bought a nice, new knife, though. Gee, a sharp knife really is a joy to use! I'm learning how to sharpen with my old department store collections. Lots to learn...

 

[BXMurphy]

I don't recommend trimming all the fat off. You want to leave some on to protect the meat from the heat and to baste the meat. I trim like Aaron and leave 1/4-3/8" of fat on the outside where I can. Now the layer between the point and the fat you can trim almost all out....but be careful because the point has a lot of fat heavily marbled within it.

Yes! The marbling was heavy with this one. I didn't know what to make of it. I wanted to through it all away.

I suppose I should just trim off the majority of fat cap and see what cooks away and how it comes out. Six pounds of scrap is bracing!

 

[indaswamp]

If you do not like fat, I would suggest buying just the flat, trim down to 1/4" on top, cook it, then you can pick and slice the fat off after you cook it. The point naturally has a lot of fat in it, but it also has a LOT of collagen for that oooey goooey goodness once it breaks down.

 

[BXMurphy]

Buy some chuck and make some awesome ground meat....be great for burgers. Be a shame to throw away all that fat IMO...

That's what I was thinking... there must be SOME use for this fat... lard? Nah... that pork, right?

Buy a meat grinder, you say? Did I mention I just bought a Weber SF EX6 and the Mighty, Mighty Bosch 800 dishwasher?

You guys are going to clean me out; aren't you?

 

[SmokinEdge]

I don’t trim much at all anymore unless they are horribly fat and I just gotta have one. Otherwise, clean it up a little and let it ride. Fat is flavor.

 

[schlotz]

Yup, ya gotta learn when to put down the knife. For reference, most of the 12 to 15# briskets we've done usually have 2.5-4# removed via trimming. BTW: I always weigh what I've trimmed off. Subtract it from the pkg weight and you'll know the amount of meat to be smoked.

 

[chilerelleno]

There are plenty of people who trim very little fat, some even none.
Most of those have one or two schools of thought, "fat is flavor" and/or "fat protects and keeps it moist/tender."
I stopped trimming heavily since I now follow both.

Also, you can count on losing quite a bit of weight during cooking.

 

[rob g]

I just trimmed a 15lb brisket the other day. I separated the point and flat so I could make pastrami out of the flat. I weighed about 3.5 lb of fat (@ $4/lb) going in the garbage

 

[schlotz]

3.5# of trimming is pretty typical for that size brisket when I do them too.