That moment I realized I was ruining my brisket by trimming too much fat

I always went overboard trimming every bit of fat cap off cause I thought leaner was better. Then at a competition in Austin last year a pitmaster named Carl told me I was leaving all the moisture behind and I finally tasted a properly trimmed brisket afterwards and felt like an idiot. Has anyone else had that "oh" moment where you realized you were sabotaging your own cook?

2 comments

2 Comments

robert6415d ago

Wait, you're actually saying you WANT a thick layer of fat on your brisket? Seems like most people who leave all that fat on just end up with a greasy, flabby mess that nobody wants to eat. I trim pretty hard myself and my briskets come out with a nice clean bite and a good bark all the way around. If you ask me, all that extra fat is just hiding a mediocre cook underneath.

avery62915d ago

Depends on the cook. That fat cap renders down and keeps the meat from drying out over a long smoke, especially if you're not wrapping. A hard trim just gives you more surface to screw up.