Help- do I have a whole brisket or is this just a flat?

[zimm17]

The 10 pound package from the butcher said "whole brisket". I watched about an hour of YouTube on separating the point and flat and I'm starting to think this is just a flat. Or I'm doing something wrong. After an exploratory cut to see if I was separating anything, I was just getting a 1/2" sliver cut off. I ended up cutting the whole thing in half since one side is going to be corned beef, and the other half will be a BBQ smoked brisket. There's only 2 of us, so I don't need 10 pounds a time!

 

[SmokinEdge]

That’s just a flat.
That piece of flap meat you are holding in the picture is a thin piece of the point that was left when they were separated.

 

[zimm17]

That’s just a flat.
That piece of flap meat you are holding in the picture is a thin piece of the point that was left when they were separated.

Oh good, I thought I was going crazy. I cut off that thin spot and kept it and all the fat trimmings to make
burgers at a later date.

Now I'm researching the best way to smoke this thing tomorrow on my pit barrel cooker. So far the plan is to rub it tonight (seasoned salt/salt/pepper mix), smoke at 225-250 until it hits 170, wrap in foil and keep it going until it hits 200. That seems to be the typical cook I'm reading about.

This is only my 2nd flat ever and the first one was dry and pretty bad when I did it on a Weber smokey mountain smoker a few years ago.

I'm also tempted to try the brisket flat recipe in the "Smoke and Spice" book that calls for an overnight marinade , that might help it stay juicier?

 

[pineywoods]

Welcome to SMF glad you joined us. When the brisket gets to about 195 start probing it with a probe or toothpick when the probe slides in easily it's done that could be 190--210 each one is different I rarely have one go to 210 but it has happened. You can marinade it or inject it which is what I do or you can put it in a disposable aluminum pan with some liquid and foil over the top.
I forgot to add smoke the whole thin slice it and vacuum seal and freeze the leftover in meal sized packages it reheats well

 

[indaswamp]

^^^^^that...what piney said. More important than final temp. is the INT time above 180*F. This is the temperature that collagen starts breaking down into gelatin-and the tougher the animal, the more collagen....so it takes longer. If the INT rises a little, it just speeds it up slightly, but main factor is time above 180*F.

 

[SmokinEdge]

wrap the flat at around 160* not 170*. The stall will occur in the 160’s, we wrap to push over that stall faster, and trap those flowing juices in the wrap with the meat. By the time you hit 170* all those juices are dripped down off the meat and lost.

The dry brisket was most likely due to under cooking, not over cooking. Don’t cook to a final IT. Cook until it is probe tender. This is the point when the connective tissue and collagen melt and release the juices.

Oh good, I thought I was going crazy. I cut off that thin spot and kept it and all the fat trimmings to make
burgers at a later date.

Now I'm researching the best way to smoke this thing tomorrow on my pit barrel cooker. So far the plan is to rub it tonight (seasoned salt/salt/pepper mix), smoke at 225-250 until it hits 170, wrap in foil and keep it going until it hits 200. That seems to be the typical cook I'm reading about.

This is only my 2nd flat ever and the first one was dry and pretty bad when I did it on a Weber smokey mountain smoker a few years ago.

I'm also tempted to try the brisket flat recipe in the "Smoke and Spice" book that calls for an overnight marinade , that might help it stay juicier?

 

[sandyut]

Welcome to SMF. Definitely a flat.

 

[zimm17]

Thanks for the advice. Cook complete. Took 5 hours total. I wrapped it at 160 IT. Pulled it off at 203. It's resting in the cooler until dinner. When I wrapped it, I noticed I didn't have bark, but the rub was a little wet/slimmy and could be smeared with my finger. I did the "Smoke and Spice" Dallas Dandy recipe which is an overnight marinade. Maybe it was too wet when I put the rub on it. Temps were mostly at 275 on the pit barrel cooker. Whenever I foiled up the air holes to drop the temp, it slowly went down to 180 and died. I had to open it back up and get some air flow and then choke it down again. Attached is the graph: