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A minor brisket secret....

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    A minor brisket secret....

    OK, maybe not a secret but most people don't do this. Naturally we cut across the grain for the brisket flat and grain direction is non trivial to remember or see once the brisket looks like a meteorite. I always cut a chunk off at 90 degrees to the grain.. the thickness of the flat of course and usually what looks to be the surface area of a computer mouse... I dry brine, rub and even inject this little piece exactly like the rest of the brisket but of course it is done much faster than the rest of the beast.

    In fact, if i put a whole packer in at midnight, this piece hits 200 or so by maybe 7-8 am, many hours before its big brother comes along.

    Here is a secret. these pieces have never gone back inside the house. No one but me ever knows how they tasted.

    That's just how it goes at my house.

    #2
    Pitmaster privilege my friend

    Comment


      #3
      We gotta have a few secrets.

      Comment


        #4
        Freakin’ love it. 👍🏻

        Comment


        • Henrik
          Henrik commented
          Editing a comment
          What he said.

        #5
        "Again, I do not have a specific recollection"

        Comment


          #6
          That's the way to do it.

          Comment


            #7
            I'm fairly sure that when I do something like that my face looks like the dog's when he gets a treat: "Huh? What treat? I never saw a treat."

            Comment


              #8
              Well it's not JUST A TREAT... helps you when it is time to slice and you don't start out with itty bitty slices...

              Comment


                #9
                Depravity I say, but justifiable for needing to get the grain direction, so all's good 😊

                Comment


                  #10
                  Just ate it. Also had taken several thin slices of pure fat and treated them just like the brisket (ok, I didn't INJECT them) and they were crunchy and delicious. I don't normally eat 100% fat, but now I am wishing I had smoked a whole lot of that stuff.

                  Comment


                  • holehogg
                    holehogg commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Crispy crunchy fat is delicious

                  #11
                  Good plan, fracmeister . You deserve those tasty little chef bites.

                  I've made a mini bite with pastrami, not to mark the grain but because it was a victim of too quick a knife slice while trimming. That little bit took about as long as the big pieces to cook to perfection, though.

                  Click image for larger version  Name:	Pastramis 1 2 and 3  on WSCGC and SnS.jpg Views:	1 Size:	146.9 KB ID:	731575



                  I used to cut a perpendicular-to-the-grain piece off brisket to mark the grain on the flat, but I hated losing that corner, so it went into my burger grind stash. Then I started using a toothpick slid in along the grain. That worked marginally, as the toothpick was sometimes obscured by the bark and I had to go fishing around for it. It was particularly embarassing when I would gift a whole cooked brisket to a friend and tell him to fumble around the edge to find the toothpick.

                  Now I use small skinny metal skewers sold for turkey trussing. They're easy to spot at the end of the cook, are "peppy and cheap" and come out smoothly, not disturbing the bark.

                  Click image for larger version  Name:	Turkey Trussers from Amazon.JPG Views:	1 Size:	23.6 KB ID:	731576

                  The ones I have (from the link above) are 4.5 inches long. They sell them in 6 inch lengths as well, but the shorter ones do the job just fine for my needs.

                  Kathryn

                  Comment


                  • fracmeister
                    fracmeister commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Perfect example of technology ruining a snack. That said I occasionally do want to have the whole brisket for presentation purposes and this is a good idea.

                  • Mr. Bones
                    Mr. Bones commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Brilliant!

                  #12
                  I do the same for ribs. I buy whole spare ribs and cut them down to St. Louis style. Lots of good trimmings to snack on during the afternoon as they get smoked and get tender.

                  Comment


                  • fracmeister
                    fracmeister commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Often times Even on St Louis ribs there is a flap underneath that would just burn if not trimmed off. Nom Nom

                  • JCGrill
                    JCGrill commented
                    Editing a comment
                    I resemble that remark. In fact, today I'm making ribs and that little flap on the back got cut off. I wonder where it might end up? 😂

                  • Potkettleblack
                    Potkettleblack commented
                    Editing a comment
                    I don’t trim the tip of spares to square em off St. Louis style. I like that first rib at the short end to be really meaty. Another pitmaster privilege, though I’ll let the wife have every fourth one of those or so.

                  #13
                  That aluminum foil is from holding it in the faux cambro. No need to wrap this baby. Pretty healthy smoke ring. Used Adams Reserve Texas Brisket Rub because we had it. Injected with Kosmos Q RESERVE BLEND BRISKET INJECTION. Smoked 14 hours at 225 on the Yoder 640 with whatever pellets I had laying around. If you look bottom left of second picture you can see the angle I snipped off to preserve the grain direction.

                  Click image for larger version

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                  Comment


                  • fzxdoc
                    fzxdoc commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Oh my gosh, is that gorgeous. Makes me want to slap a brisket in my smoker ASAP.

                    K.

                  #14
                  I do the same thing with the flap of meat on the back of a rack of spare ribs. I made the mistake of allowing my wife a bite on the most recent racks and the secret is blown.

                  Comment


                  • mountainsmoker
                    mountainsmoker commented
                    Editing a comment
                    You poor guy, did the same to my wife many years ago. LOL

                  #15
                  Potkettleblack , marriage is share and sacrifice. Hubby shares, Hubby sacrifices. That's how it goes.

                  Kathryn

                  Comment


                  • Potkettleblack
                    Potkettleblack commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Once upon a time, I gave my wife that meaty, barky tip of short end of the spare rib rack, and she said, "It's true love."

                  • fzxdoc
                    fzxdoc commented
                    Editing a comment
                    And so it is, Potkettleblack .

                    K.

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