Would you smoke this Brisket??

[graphicsman]

I know many on here talk about trimming their own brisket but i was not able to find any threads in regards to using PRE-trimmed brisket.  I never have done brisket and would like to use this as more of a test run for my rubs on brisket BUT i dont want to go this route if the output would be totally different if i trimmed my own.  I was wondering if someone could educate me on the pros and cons with using this?  

Photo from your favorite sams club  

 

[alelover]

Those look like they are trimmed very close or is the fat on the bottom? Looks like it is marbled pretty well though. Briskets take a long time to smoke. About 1 1/2 to 2 hours a pound. You would want about a 1/4" thick layer of fat to help it stay moist during the long smoke. Foiling it with some broth or juice will help keep it moist as well but it won't get as much smoke when it's wrapped in foil.

 

[graphicsman]

I couldnt see the bottom and debated on the foil, like you said, im not really getting a smoke.  I thought of spraying it about every hour but then i would loose a lot of smoke and it could take forever to get all the meat done.  

 

[roller]

I bought one of those pretrimmed flates a few weeks ago. It was not trimmed that close but it came out just great...If it does not have a cap on the other side you could add some fat to it...

 

[bluebombersfan]

I was just at my local Sobeys and they have the same chunks of Brisket.  I was thinking about smoking them with bacon on top or using some frozen beef fat trim that I have.

 

[africanmeat]

it will do a great pastrami

 

[bluebombersfan]

it will do a great pastrami

Great idea!!!  I never thought of that and of course I didn't pick any up!!!

africanmeat do you have a recipe you use for pastrami?

 

[alelover]

There are a ton of pastrami threads on here. Just do a search.

 

[graphicsman]

not looking to do pastrami right now, lol

 

[oldschoolbbq]

  Graficsman, that would be a quicket cooking cut than a Packer,being there is little to no fat,but still track it for overdoness and wrap in Bacon if you want(just no Bark). I don't inject,but you may want to here,I just don't want holes for juice to leak from,and being it already has no fat,will dry quicker. 

   They are cheaper as a Packer cause the Butcher didn't get his time on it to increase price.

  I just like

doing whole Packers.

Have fun and............

 

[venture]

I'll bet there is some fat on the bottom.  Rub it, smoke it, and if you don't like it, don't buy another one like that.

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[smabob]

Or  you could ask the butcher (meat dept) for some fat and tie it to the top or bottom with meat string. I have done this before with good success.

Bob

 

[graphicsman]

how can you tell where the direction of the grain is going??  I know this may sound like a dumb question to some but i want to make sure to do this right.

 

[alblancher]

The grain of a flat is pretty easy to tell,  you will see striations or creases in the surface of the meat.

You can also tell by slicing a little piece and see how if pulls apart.  If the slice pulls apart in strings you are 90 degrees off on your slice.  If the slice itself breaks kind of up and down you are probably right on. 

 

[graphicsman]

sorry, ive never done brisket and im more of a visual person.

 

[africanmeat]

Great idea!!!  I never thought of that and of course I didn't pick any up!!!

africanmeat do you have a recipe you use for pastrami?

hope it will help if not PM me http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/107842/fathers-day-pastrami-w-qivew  
 

 

[bmudd14474]

If you are cooking like a normal brisket just layer some bacon on top or if you can get some fat using butcher string to tie it will work good too.

 

[tiki guy]

I say SMOKE IT !   looks good to me , I'll bet there is some fat on the bottom , and if not ...looks marbled enough

and if not ....I'll send ya my address Ya can send it to me !  Let me know how it comes out , I wanna try one myself I see um all the time at the store .

 

[SmokinAl]

Don't forget the Q-view!

 

[vision]

I did a flat like that and while it turned out a little dry, it tasted better then the packer used on my second brisket.