Finally bought a brisket...now what?

[SherryT]

So I finally bit the bullet and bought a whole brisket...they had a couple of smaller ones at about 12lbs each so I grabbed one.

First, I need GOOD, CLEAR instructions on how to separate the point from the flat...can someone direct me to a GOOD video???

Second, which part of this piece of meat should be used for corned beef or pastrami...the point or flat...and why one over the other?

Thanks, Oh Ye Who Are Infinitely Patient-types!

 

[TNJAKE]

This is a pretty good video for separating point and flat. For pastrami I prefer the flat because it's leaner and personally that's what I want on my pastrami sandwich. Others use the point so that's up to you and your preference. When I'm smoking the brisket and not making pastrami I actually prefer the point.

And yes I know the video says burnt ends but the first part is what you were asking for

 

[thirdeye]

Either muscle works for corning and making pastrami, it's a personal choice. The point is much fattier and that makes it attractive for some.

This is one of the best "Basic" brisket trim and separating the point videos I've seen.


If you want to go one step further, David also has a competition trim video. Pay attention how he trims down the thickness of the point. I do a similar method but butterfly the "hump" instead of cutting it off.


Here is what my trimmed points look like.
Before trimming and butterflying

After trimming and butterflying, see how the thickness is more even and I get a couple more inches in length.

 

[SherryT]

Thank you both...will take a look after I see to the chickens and Matilda the turkey (yes, she's a pet....she's followed me around like a dog since she was a jenny and will actually come when I call her...just couldn't bring myself to do the deed).

 

[thirdeye]

Thank you both...will take a look after I see to the chickens and Matilda the turkey (yes, she's a pet....she's followed me around like a dog since she was a jenny and will actually come when I call her...just couldn't bring myself to do the deed).

I hear you. When I was a little boy we never named or hand fed any of the steers that were raised specifically for butchering. There is a great scene from the movie Giant (1956) Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Dennis Hopper.... where they serve a pet turkey "Pedro" for Thanksgiving.

 

[Brokenhandle]

I've also made beef bacon out of the flat... it turned out amazing! Not as fatty like pork so fry it in lard.

Ryan

 

[darcylockhart]

before cooking your brisket check out Malcom Reed from Howtobbqright on YouTube. He has a lot of great brisket videos and I learned a TON from his channel.

 

[SherryT]

OK...I know I didn't do the best job, but they're separated:

I could clearly see where the separation point was, but the closer I got to the thinner end, it became less obvious...oh well, it's meat and it'll cook up regardless.

Now, all that fat I removed (and there was a LOT of it)...is that "good" fat to use in sausage??? One of the vids above (Hey Grill Hey) said something about the hard fat wouldn't render/melt, so that has me wondering if I can. I bagged up the "mostly fat" chunks separate from the leaner bits/pieces and threw them in the freezer just in case.

Now to decide which piece to use for pastrami...kinda leaning towards the flat (more "sliceable" I think), but it's pretty lean which makes me wonder if I should use the point!

Decisions, decisions...

 

[tallbm]

It looks like you did a good job.

The "deckle fat" is the hard bad fat to throw out. I think its the chunk of fat at the top of your first pic. Could be the chuck off at at the bottom or your pic but I dont think so. In any case youwill notice it is a bit firmer than the other fat.

All of the fat from up top that isnt super stringy is good to go.
You can use the fat for sure. In Texas we make a lot of sausage that includes beef or some beef fat so you could do Texas style sausages, Summer Sausages, and you can do ground venison pastrami sandwich meat with that beef fat!

I keep saving my beef fat and I have like 9 pounds of it... I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of it since I didnt deer hunt this past season and have no venison to use with it :(
At 80/20 meat/fat ratio it is only 2 pounds of fat to 8 pounds of meat to make 10 pounds of sausage. 9 pounds is good for 50 pounds of sausage OMG hahaha.

Some people like all beef franks so you could buy non fatty cuts of beef on sale and use the fat to grind with the meat to make all beef franks. I personally like pork franks because all beef franks have a very jerky or beefy taste to me, not my preference.

Finally, I would do pastrami out of all of it. I've only done traditional pastrami 1 time and only used the flat. After it was all said and done I wished I had also done the point as well because I wanted more and the point would have worked really well for it as well. Feel free to learn from my mistake haha.

Anyhow I hope this info helps :)