Flat Cut Brisket

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rrsteve

Fire Starter
Original poster
Mar 29, 2008
43
11
Clearwater, Fl
I found a small piece of meat called "Flat cut angus brisket" that was marked down so I brought it home. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. It is only a pound in weight and about 1/2" thick. There is not a lot of marbeling so I'm thinking I should let it marinade a little and then grill it quickly so it doesn't get well done and tough. My original thought was to smoke it (along with some other meat) but I'm afraid it will be pretty chewy. What do you think? Grill or smoke.
 
I am not very experienced with brisket as I have only done one. I would think grilling it would make it really tough. When I think of brisket I think of low and slow. I may be totally wrong I just have not heard of anyone grilling brisket but if its a little piece like you are talking about maybe it would be good. Hopefully someone will be along very soon to give you a better idea.
 
Does it still have a fat cap on it? If so...you can smoke it. If there is no fat, what I would do is lay a few sliced of bacon across it when I smoke it. The bacon fat will keep the meat moist and you should be good to go.
 
For a cut that small I would still smoke it for a few hours and then chop it up and into your favorite BBQ sauce, if it needs more time to break down just toss it into a foil pan with the sauce and back into the smoker or even in a crockpot for another hour or so until it's tender.
 
Brisket flat is lean and tough...man, 1/2" thick...anything you can do to assist with moisture retention is a must, and low & slow cooking as well. Wet smoke it if you can. This needs to slowly climb through the stall temp so it can melt away the connective tissues.

If you're smoking this, I'd run chamber/grate temps fairly low...I'd say start at about 180*...it should reach 140* within a couple hours...can't pull temp readings with it being that thin, so just stick it for tenderness checks.

And, as Fire it up mentioned, a cool-down and reheat (low & slow) may help to break it down even more. Resting while foiled will bring it down slowly back into the melting temps again, so I'd do that as well.

I had my last brisket flat actually get so tender it pulled instead of slicing, which was a pretty cool bonus...I held it foiled @ 200* for 6 hours after smoking to 168*.

Good luck

Eric
 
That sounds like good advise.I plan on getting a flat at Costco tomorrow to smoke in my UDS Saturday.From what I saw there they were about 1.5 - 1.75 inches thick.For something that size will I still have to foil it at some point or can I take it to 200 unfoiled? My UDS is a VERY moist environment, ussually have moisture running down the outside of my barrel from my Weber lid!
 
No UDS experience here, but it sounds like you'd be doing as well as a wet smoke to me. I have run in the high 190's and then foiled to rest...not a super-tender flat, but very good eating.

The foiling to finish cooking will trap the natural moisture inside, and then when you let it rest, much of the juices will redistribute throughout the meat. I always foil and wrap in towels to rest.

Eric
 
I smoked one on my UDS and as you stated they are a very moist environment. Its totally up to you if you are going to foil or not. I did mine and it was great. That was my first one so I have nothing to compare it to. Some foil some don't. Try it both ways I guess and see what you like best.
 
Thanks rbranster,Blue,fireitup,forluvofsmoke,jaso,grizzan siz, and White cloud. Appreciate all the help, I think I' going to smoke and foil on low heat and slow.
Bob
 
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