Brisket Cook - Questions & Constructive Input Requested

[efincoop]

I have cooked whole briskets before, but I have never done a cook like this. My plan is to separate the point from the flat. Once done, I plan to SVQ the point into burnt ends and cure the flat into corned beef to become pastrami.

First, I have some questions about the beef itself. It is Choice Angus, I purchased it at Sam'sI Club. To begin with, this pices had nive bend when i picked it. I was surprised at how much fat this piece had. It had the normal hard white fat, but also thsi slimy weirdntextured fat I don't recall seeing before. As I started working on it the ends looked very different then anything I had seen before. They were oddly colored and almost looked dried out. Then there were a few brown spots, which I have never run into. I cut those spots off and the underlying meat looked fine, so I pressed on yo separating the point from the flat.

I simply followed the fat that separates the 2 muscles. Please look at the pictures and give me your constructive input. Did I do this correctly? I ask because I pictured the point to be 1 big clod of beef, but the way they seperated, the point looks more tapered than I expected. Perhaps that is because in most videos I have watched, they separate the point from the flat by cutting straight across (I'm guessing) keeping some of the flat under the point.

My concern for this cook is the tapered nature of the point is going to severely limit the amount of burnt ends I wind up with. Should I have cut it as in the videos I have seen? What do I do with the tapered endni wound up with?

I'm really looking forward to your feedback so I can learn for future cooks. Thank you!
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[STEbbq]

That looks pretty good and similar to a lot of briskets I have separated. The tapered end of the point is also typical. I don’t do anything with it but I know some folks trim it off to grind for burgers as they feel it gets over cooked otherwise.

[efincoop]

Whew! That's great to hear. Thank you.

[Murdy]

Are you going to cube the point before you sous vide it? If so, taking a strip off the flat and adding it would be easy.

[efincoop]

My plan was to sous vide the point whole. I'd never thought of cubing it lrikr to sous vide. Is there an advantage to cubing first?

[Murdy]

i can't really think of any advantage outside of allowing you to move some from the flat side to the point. I also can't think of a disadvantage. Might cook a bit faster? I assume you are going to cube it before you smoke it anyway.

[bbqLuv]

I think you are good to go. If you need someone to taste it after the cooking . . . I volunteer.

[RustyHaines]

efincoop the last brisket I cooked I trimmed the fat (which I render) and then with the brisket lying with the flat on the left and the point on the right, I cut straight across the middle. I did not separate along the fat line. I cooked my resulting "flat" and "point" separately by SV at 155 for 24 hours, then on the smoker at 300 for 2 hours with Montreal seasoning only. My "flat" was good, my "point" was phenomenal. The entire process/cook was easy/peasy and I will repeat as soon as I can find brisket without taking out a second mortgage

[efincoop]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm thinking I will go that way next time.

[Joey877]

This brings up an interesting point. I also have historically only ever separated the point from the brisket by cutting straight down (vs. following the fat line). Technically you should probably follow the fat line like efincoop did, but I think the part of the flat under the point always turns out nearly as good or as good as the point itself because of that fat line. Does anyone see a real advantage to trimming it down to the true point?

[ecowper]

for my taste, the section of the brisket where point overlaps flat, cut just like that, is the best dang part of the whole thing.

[Steve R.]

Agree, ecowper. The first time I cooked an intact brisket, I was surprised at how good that part was. I no longer separate them anymore.

[saneric38]

I started cutting straight down the middle. Seems to work out good for me.

[Santamarina]

I’d never considered separating the point from the flat. I cut my briskets in half where the point ends because I have a vertical offset smoker, and a whole packer doesn’t fit.

But now that I’m thinking about it, the flat is often what people go for because it’s less fatty. I love the point. Perhaps I’ll separate the point to have a bigger flat…which will still get cut in half to fit my smoker 🤦🏽

The point could be smoked with the flat, used for something like burnt ends, or ground for burgers since it’s got a great fat content for a nice juicy burger.

[efincoop]

This afternoon I finished the Sous Vide cook portion of the point after 31 hours at 155 degrees, put it into the ice water bath for 30 minutes and then into the freezer. I will pull it out on Wednesday for a Saturday cook. Meanwhile the flat is on day 2 in the corned beef cure/brine.

[efincoop]

3°and I'm getting the fire going on the Shirley to smoke the pastrami for tomorrow. I'll smoke it until I get a good bark, then pull it off and chill it overnight, then sous vide it tomorrow @ 195° for 4 hours ala the Dave Parish method.

[fzxdoc]

You might note that Dave does 4 hours for those small cuts of boneless short ribs. It may take longer than that for the center of that large chunk of brisket to reach 195°.

Here's what Chef Steps says about that:

To reheat your meat without overcooking, simply place your leftover goodies in water heated to just under the original cooking temperature. Smaller portions will take roughly the same amount of time to reheat as they will to cook. Larger portions won’t take the full cook time to reheat—you’ve already broken down the muscle and achieved your desired texture. When reheating large roasts, the goal is to heat the protein just long enough to warm up the center.

Want some more-precise guidance on how to reheat that piece of meat you’ve got stashed away in the fridge? We’ve got some guidelines below. Keep in mind that the size and shape of the meat will dictate how long it takes to heat up.

A slab of meat—like a steak:

• 0.5 in (10 mm) thick: 20 min reheat time
• 1 in (25 mm) thick: 1¼ hr reheat time
• 2 in (50 mm) thick: 3½ hr reheat time
• 2.5 in (60 mm) thick: 5½ hr reheat time

A cylinder—like a roulade:

• 0.5 in (10 mm) thick: 11 min reheat time
• 1 in (25 mm) thick: 40 min reheat time
• 2 in (50 mm) thick: 2 hr reheat time
• 2.5 in (60 mm) thick: 2½ hr reheat time
• 3 in (75 mm) thick: 3¾ hr reheat time
• 3.5 in (85 mm) thick: 4¾ hr reheat time

A sphere shape—like a meatball or a round roast:

• 0.5 in (10 mm) thick: 8 min reheat time
• 1 in (25 mm) thick: 25 min reheat time
• 2 in (50 mm) thick: 1½ hr reheat time
• 2.5 in (60 mm) thick: 2 hr reheat time
• 3 in (75 mm) thick: 2¾ hr reheat time
• 3.5 in (85 mm) thick: 3½ hr reheat time
• 4 in (105 mm) mm thick: 5 hr reheat time
• 4.5 in (115 mm) mm thick: 6 hr reheat time

Keep in mind: These are not pasteurization times! All the calculations above assume that the water’s temperature is between 110 °F / 45 °C and 175 °F / 80 °C.

Also, some roasts are more slab than sphere, some legs of lamb are closer to cylindrical, and some things don’t really have a specific shape at all. For these types of meat, go with the average of the time to reheat the two shapes. For example, reheat a big slab of a roast for the average of the time to reheat a slab and a sphere of its size.

Just FWIW.

Kathryn

[efincoop]

Great point Kathryn! I will adjust my sous vide time accordingly.

[efincoop]

I pulled the pastrami at 160°. Its cooling now. Tomorrow the adventure continues!

[efincoop]

Forgot to post this last night. Pastrami after the smoke step. Sous vide happens later today. I cut it in two pieces to make it more manageable.

[efincoop]

Here is the finished product. I was happy with the final product. Thanks for all you input and for following along.

[ecowper]

Looks great!

[fzxdoc]

You did an amazing job. Congrats!

And thanks for letting us follow along with your cook. It's been fun.

Kathryn