Cutting brisket for later use?

[Techgenius]

Right now with all this covid stuff it’s hard to find brisket in my area. I was able to ask a friend who owns a restaurant to order me a brisket through his distributor. It’s 14.88 lbs and I’m cooking for only 4 people this weekend.

Question is, can I cut it into big pieces to save and smoke at a later day? Searching online I only see questions about separating the two muscles and saving one. I would want to separate and probably cut the flat into two pieces. Is this possible without ruining the meat?

 

[TNJAKE]

I'd separate flat and point before I'd cut up into multiple sections. The smaller you cut it up the bigger the risk of those small pieces drying out. If you have a vac sealer I'd smoke the whole brisket and freeze the leftovers. Brisket is great vac sealed and reheated

 

[schlotz]

Flats are definitely a bit more difficult to do and get right. Way easier to trim it correctly, which will most likely remove approx 3-4lbs, then smoke it whole. If you don't have a vacumn food saver, get one! Vac up the remaining in portion sizes that fit your household. BTW: using one of them really kicks up a chili recipe to the next notch.

 

[thirdeye]

I cut them in half lengthwise and cook both, then wrap separately. This way you get some point and some flat on each one. One half we eat, the other gets frozen in triple foil. They reheat wonderfully. The only difference is your slices are only half as long, which is no big deal.

 

[realdocBBQ]

Agree, cook the whole thing, then slice and vac seal and freeze in portion sizes. You can do like sous vide when it's time to eat the parts you set back, it comes out great!

 

[tallbm]

Right now with all this covid stuff it’s hard to find brisket in my area. I was able to ask a friend who owns a restaurant to order me a brisket through his distributor. It’s 14.88 lbs and I’m cooking for only 4 people this weekend.

Question is, can I cut it into big pieces to save and smoke at a later day? Searching online I only see questions about separating the two muscles and saving one. I would want to separate and probably cut the flat into two pieces. Is this possible without ruining the meat?

Hi there and welcome! It's against the law in Texas to separate a whole packer brisket into point and flat lol.

I'm with everyone else about just smoke it and vac seal/freeze the already cooked product, it makes life easier later down the road and u are already taking the smoking hit up front so may as well go all the way BUT if you don want to do that you can definitely cut it up.

Here let me do a litle break down that may help you decide what to do caus honestly a 14 pound brisket for 4 people really doesn't leave much for left overs around here.

So here's the info:

• Once you trim the hard and extra fat from a 14 pound brisket you can easily drop 2-3 pounds off it just in fat leaving u with an 11-12 pound brisket
• A brisket when it comes out of the smoker will lose about 30% or more of its weight due to cooking so a now 12 pound brisket becomes an 8 pound brisket
• 4 people eat their fill and maybe take a little home and you are left with 3-4 pounds of brisket for left overs
• If you don't mind eating brisket for lunch each day for a few days and heck maybe a dinner in there or having someone else in the house eat some too you can kill 3-4 pounds of brisket in about 3-4 days as left overs
• Finally when trimming I always encourage everyone to trim their brisket to remove the thin part of the flat muscle and repurpose that good meat. That thin part just burns up and becomes mostly inedible anyway if u leave it on, here is the cut I always suggest and if doing so you lose another 2+ pounds on a 14 pound brisket so 14-2 pounds fat -2 pound thin flat leaves a 10 pound brisket that will shrink to a 7 pound brisket that 4 people will turn into a 2 pounds of left overs lol
  
  

If you like having 2 pounds of brisket flat meat to do other things with then trimming the thin flat meat is a good way to get that meat for other uses (beef stew, beef tips and gravy, etc.).

I hope this info gives you some good ideas to make your decision since u can totally cut it up but if u do this trim it may be all you need to do :)