Watched a pro trim a packer brisket in under 4 minutes and it changed how I prep

I was at the American Royal in Kansas City last October, standing behind the ropes watching this older pitmaster from a team called Smokin' Joe's work his way through a 16 pound prime packer. He didn't use a fancy knife, just a standard 8 inch curved slicer, and he had that thing squared up and the fat cap leveled in maybe 3 and a half minutes. I've been doing this at home for about 6 years and I usually take 15 minutes easy, fighting with the deckle and leaving thick spots. He showed me that the vein of hard fat between the point and flat isn't something you have to completely dig out, just trim it flush and let it render. I switched my process that same weekend and now my briskets cook way more even, no more dried out flats or fatty pockets. Has anyone else picked up a faster trimming trick at a competition or class?

2 comments

2 Comments

bethj449d ago

That bit about trimming the hard fat flush instead of digging it out totally clicked for me too. I saw a similar demo at a local comp and started doing the same thing, it saved me so much time and my flats actually come out juicy now.

keithbennett9d ago

Man that demo at the Smoke on the Water competition last year is what sold me on it. I was cutting off way too much fat before and wondering why my flats came out dry half the time. Now I just trim the hard fat flush with the meat and leave that thin soft layer on top. It renders down perfect and keeps everything moist without that chewy bite you get from digging out the whole fat pocket. Saved me at least 20 minutes per cook too.