Watched my buddy ruin 4 briskets before he finally listened to me about trimming

My friend Mike kept posting these hockey puck briskets to the group chat for like 3 months straight. Finally went over to his place in Austin last weekend and saw him trimming maybe an ounce of fat off each one before throwing them on his offset. I made him stop mid-trim and showed him how to actually take off the hard fat cap and silver skin. The before and after on his last cook was night and day - 8 hours versus his usual 14 and it actually pulled apart. Has anyone else had to physically show someone their trimming mistakes before they believed you?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.thea3d ago

So you're telling me a brisket that cooked 6 hours faster with better trimming is a bad thing? @thomas_torres, I've seen guys leave a fat cap on like a winter coat and still hit 200 internal in 9 hours with good airflow. The issue isn't time, it's that Mike was basically boiling his meat in unrendered fat before you showed up. If you cut that silver skin off and expose the meat, the heat actually hits it instead of sitting on top of a greasy barrier. I've done 7 hour packers on a pit boss that came out tender because I trimmed right and wrapped at the stall. Not every brisket needs to be an all day affair.

thomas_torres3d ago

lol yeah but also 8 hours for a brisket seems kinda short even with good trimming. Most of us are still gonna cook em 10-12 at least to get that fat rendered right.

rubyk263d ago

My buddy tried an 8 hour brisket once after watching some youtube guy swear by it... he pulled it off the smoker and the whole flat was like shoe leather but the point was still chewy. Fat hadn't rendered at all, just sat there all wobbly and gross. He ended up cubing the whole thing and drowning it in sauce to make "burnt ends" that were really just tough chunks. Took him like four tries after that to get his normal 12 hour method back right.