Small brisket

[Omnivore]

I've never made a brisket before but I found a pretty small one just over 9 pounds. I had no intention of buying a brisket at Costco last night but I guess it spoke to me! I think I'm just going to trim off enough of the flat so i can fit it in the MES 30 with the point and flat still in one piece. It's an oddly small point - aside from a little bit of the flat end, the whole brisket is pretty equal thickness. There is some fat left on the other side but not really enough to require trimming. I'm hoping for about a 10 hour cook if I take off roughly 3 pounds of the flat - but will ultimately go by probe tenderness. I think I'll save the remainder of the flat to thin slice for pho. Here goes nothing!

 

[siege]

Nice looking hunk of meat.Sounds like you have a plan. If you smoke it in a pan, some of the meat juices you collect can give you a head start in your pho broth, depending on your rub. Chill the pan liquor, remove the hardened fat layer, and there is some awesome broth. Having 3 pounds of trim could provide a nice batch of burnt ends, or some very tasty ground brisket burgers.

 

[Hawging It]

Go for it and use imagination. Most of all, HAVE FUN!!!

 

[kelbro]

I've never seen a brisket that was able to be sliced as thin as they slice the beef in pho houses! Chunks will still taste good. Good tip above about the brisket juice for the pho broth.

 

[Omnivore]

Well unfortunately all my above plans changed. It's dumping rain all day out here and I have a bunch of unplanned errands to run today so all signs pointed to not firing up the smoker. I'm just too much of a worrier to leave a smoker going when I'm asleep or not home. I threw it in the oven, low and slow, with SPOG. I do have it on a rack to collect all the drippings so maybe I'll make a gravy or do what Seige mentioned and add it to my next batch of pho. Speaking of pho, I was going to keep part of the flat to slice thin for my next batch but I was out of ideas for dinner last night and ended up using it for beef and broccoli. Sliced ultra thin and stir fried until just done it was surprisingly tender and deliciously meaty. So at least that was a win.

kelbro - i think a slicer is ideal for brisket going into pho. It gets sliced raw and is only cooked when it's thrown into the bowl and gets some piping hot broth laddled over. Damn I want that right now!