I am relatively new to smoking, been doing it 6 months. I've smoked a few full packer briskets and a few points (I send the flats to my mom to make Jewish brisket). It takes double the amount of time to smoke a full packer as 2 points separately. What is the benefit of doing the full packer. You get more surface area if you just use the point, so more smoke. Plus it is done is half the time. Ive looked around online and can't find anything that says why full packer is the best. Any ideas here?
Hi there and welcome!
The major benefit is that it is easier to smoke a full packer than to smoke a flat my itself or a flat separated from the point.
The flat is the problem child of the two muscles. The point is almost impossible to mess up and to me is the best part of the brisket so u are keeping the best part and smoking it and living in brisket point heaven haha!
Some people or some areas of the country mostly have access to flats rather than full packers.
So they will often get advice that says smoking the whole packer is easier than smoking a flat alone, which is basically true.
See the whole packer has more fat and the point working to help the flat catch up and come out tender with less risk of being screwed up.
Where a flat alone can be a pain and in my experience can dry up on u without the help of the extra fat or the point to assist in keeping the flat in check. If I had to smoke a whole flat alone I personally would wrap it in foil at some point where I dont wrap my whole packers at all.
I smoke parts of a flat that i trim away from my whole packers but I fold up that chunk of the flat and put it in the pan under my brisket along with a couple of handfuls of trimmed brisket fat so that section comes out as shredded brisket or burnt ends since it bathes in the fat the whole smoke.
I think your approach of keeping the points and having the flats repurposed by your mother is golden cause the point muscle is the best part (to me) hahaha.
I hope this helps put things in perspective and I understand where your question came from. Enjoy those brisket points!! :D
