First Brisket Trim. Howd I do?

[Okiejoebronco25]

Cooking my first smoker brisket today. 6# flat. Didn’t have a great knife( daughter ordered Wusthof boning for my b day) any corrective criticism welcome. Was aiming for clean one side and 1/4” fat cap on other. Appreciate feedback.

View attachment 719424

 

[sandyut]

Looks good enough for the girls I go out with!

Seriously, you will get better over time, but I wouldnt stress about how close the trim is. Just do you best and cook it up.

 

[Torch&Tone]

Even for the best, most experienced folks, the trimjob is never quite *perfect* - there will always be little tidbits somewhere on it that are awkward to get at, or could be shaped a little better, or might not cook at the same rate, etc., etc. The hope is just to get far enough into diminishing returns that cutting/leaving them won't make any discernible difference in the end result, anyway (threshold may vary, based on the cow, the audience, the weather, and your own energy levels).

But yes, practice and a good knife will make trimming go faster and give you confidence in knowing what/how much to remove and what to leave. Pay attention to the brisket after it gets cooked; the bark and the meat will clue you in to places that should have been trimmed more/less.

 

[bigfurmn]

Looks good to me. Most important though, did it taste good? Looks are for beauty pagents. I'm more concerned about flavor and taste.

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

Looks good to me. Most important though, did it taste good? Looks are for beauty pagents. I'm more concerned about flavor and taste.

The meat itself was scrumptious. The rub that was still wet on exterior I didn’t love but easily rubbed excess off.

 

[bigfurmn]

The meat itself was scrumptious. The rub that was still wet on exterior I didn’t love but easily rubbed excess off.

At the end of the day the only thing that matters in cooking anything ever is... did you enjoy it? If you can say yes, it's a success.

 

[JLinza]

Looks fine to me. It's all about your preference. I find myself caring less & less about trimming anything these days. I'll trim the stuff that just looks like it needs to come off. Other than that... I just send it.

 

[indaswamp]

Post pics of the finished smoked brisket. If this is your first brisket, we kinda have a thing here for first briskets get a ride on the carousel at the top of the page. Brisket can be so intimidating for new people, we want to give all the encouragement we can here at SMF!

 

[Okiejoebronco25]

Post pics of the finished smoked brisket. If this is your first brisket, we kinda have a thing here for first briskets get a ride on the carousel at the top of the page. Brisket can be so intimidating for new people, we want to give all the encouragement we can here at SMF!

 

[indaswamp]

Nice looking Brisket. Congratulations on your first one, and a ride on the carousel....

 

[ThePreacherMan]

Looks good brother! You’re a natural. Sometimes I sacrifice a little meat to take off the fat but doesn’t seem to matter one way or another. Us Okies love our brisket, huh?

 

[sandyut]

Looks like a win! Nice work.

 

[normanaj]

That brisket looks excellent!

 

[Jim_C]

I am looking for how to properly trim a brisket. Just commented on another thread, asking about pictures of the process, and then I found this thread on a search.

End product looks nice and tender. Thanks for the pictures. They help us folks who haven't done our first brisket yet.

 

[indaswamp]

I am looking for how to properly trim a brisket. Just commented on another thread, asking about pictures of the process, and then I found this thread on a search.

End product looks nice and tender. Thanks for the pictures. They help us folks who haven't done our first brisket yet.

I like to leave about 1/4" of fat a la Aaron Franklin method.....

 

[Jim_C]

I like to leave about 1/4" of fat a la Aaron Franklin method.....

Thanks for the video. It also lead to a number of other videos. It'll take me some time to look at them all, but I'm getting the idea.

 

[sandyut]

Thanks for the video. It also lead to a number of other videos. It'll take me some time to look at them all, but I'm getting the idea.

Its not all that difficult. I was stressed on the first few, but you get over it. Just do your best, rub it, smoke it at 275 till done and enjoy! It will turn out good.

If you havent picked a rub, I use Meat Church Holy How. its damn good.

 

[indaswamp]

Also- I don't throw away any of the trim unless it is just nasty and unpalatable. It all goes into the pile to be ground with venison. Deckle Fat is very high in oleic fatty acid and steric fatty acid-both are great for health and flavor.

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for the video. It also lead to a number of other videos. It'll take me some time to look at them all, but I'm getting the idea.

yeah @indaswamp has given a great video.
On thing to take note of, Aaron Franklin's briskets are such high quality he has all kinds of extra fat like the one in the video.

It is very likely your brisket will not have nearly this much fat to trim from the brisket you get.

I always share this picture I made for how to trim the thin flat meat away because it is going to burn up on you. Repurpose that meat for stews, braises, burger grind, etc. rather than having it burn up in the smoker :D

As for fat trimming, I don't bother with any fat under 1/2 inch. It is kind of hard to try and get things to 1/4 thickness and often the fat isn't very thick like Franklin's super prime briskets are. So take a look at this pick of one of my big choice grade briskets (15lbs+) and you can see I already trimmed off the thin flat meat and what is left behind looks consistent. The fat is good to go and you can see the before and after cook. I only trimmed any fat thicker than 1/2 inch and I remove the deckle fat which you cant see in my pic:

You've got good info here and I hope this bit adds to it :D

 

[indaswamp]

Another option you can do is truss the brisket flat to pull the thin corners in. This makes it thicker and not stick out where it will dry out and burn. It also gives the overall brisket a more uniform thickness with the point for a more even cook.....