Watched a buddy trim his brisket after 3 years of me hacking mine up...

I been doing backyard brisket for about 4 years now, and I thought I had it figured out. Just slap it on the smoker, let it ride, slice it up. Last weekend my neighbor Dave who competes in the local circuit came over to help with a cook. He watched me trim the packer and just shook his head. Took me through his method: cutting out the hard fat, squaring up the edges, leaving a quarter inch of fat cap. That one change, that careful trim, took the cook time from 12 hours down to 10 and the bark was way better. I had been fighting against bad geometry the whole time and didnt even know it. Has anyone else had a moment where some small technical detail totally flipped your results?

3 comments

3 Comments

robin62829d agoTop Commenter

Cutting out the hard fat and squaring up the edges" is the exact thing my buddy Mike learned the hard way. He watched a competition video online and tried it on his next brisket, ended up with the best bark and most even cook he ever had. Now he won't even fire up the smoker without a sharp knife and a trim plan, lol.

ray_martinez8229d ago

Hundred percent agree with you on this one. My brother Jeff went through the exact same thing last summer, wasted a whole packer brisket because he didn't trim any of the hard fat off. It came out tough and greasy, and you couldn't even cut through the point without tearing it. After that mess, he bought a good boning knife and watched about five different trimming videos before trying again. The second brisket came out way better, and now the trim is the first thing he does every time. It just makes sense when you think about how the heat and smoke actually get to the meat.

avery21928d ago

Cutting out the hard fat and squaring up the edges" is solid advice, but honestly you don't always need a boning knife for it. A good sharp chef's knife or even a slicing knife works fine as long as it's got a stiff blade... the boning knife might be a little too flexible for trimming big hunks of fat. The second brisket turning out way better is proof the trim matters, not the exact knife you use to get it done.