That moment I realized I was ruining my own brisket flats

Three years of dry brisket flats and I blamed everything. My smoker. My wood. Even my knife. Then last summer at a competition in Lockhart, a pitmaster watched me trim and said "you're taking all the fat off." I was stripping it down like a beef tenderloin. Anyone else make that rookie mistake for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.elizabeth25d agoMost Upvoted

SO wait - were you leaving a quarter inch on there or going completely down to the meat? Because I did the EXACT same thing for two years and even after I figured out I needed to keep fat on I was still cutting too deep. Like I thought "leaving fat on" meant not trimming at all and ended up with these greasy slabs that tasted like lard. What's your sweet spot now for fat cap thickness?

wyattrobinson24d ago

Ever notice how we overcorrect everything in life, like with kids or money, and @gibson.elizabeth I settle right around a half inch since that's the sweet spot between dry and lard... took me way longer than I care to admit to figure that out.