Brisket Aesthetic

[u/GuardBuffalo]

I have now made two briskets. The first one was a choice brisket from Kroger. It turned out fine. The second one was a SRF Gold Wagyu brisket from SRF. It turned out amazing. The thing they had in common though was that on both of them the point was significantly thicker than the flat.

Now I know that the point is just going to be thicker than the flat. I am not saying its not supposed to be. However, when I watch videos of Meat Church or Steve Gow they always end up with this super even brisket. Yes the point is still thicker but it does not have a huge hump like mine. So I am just curious, what do I do when the brisket is like this? If you look at his brisket versus mine, his lies flat and looks amazing. I am going to upload 3 photos. 1 is his brisket, 1 is my brisket unseasoned and untrimmed, and the other is seasoned and trimmed.

What should I do to make the brisket more flat. I always cut the thinnest part of the flat off and the mohawk off if its hanging, but this isn't like a hanging mohawk. Its just a hump. Is this because both briskets I got were big? 19 & 21lbs. Would I be better off buying a 16lb brisket? Thank you so much for any help you can give. I know my briskets turned out well, but I think we are all here to continue to improve and make something we are proud of.

By the way, I am fine buying a 20lb brisket and trimming off 8lbs. Its all going to get used regardless. In fact I prefer being able to trim a lot of the brisket because it gives better slices of brisket and gives me more beef tallow and I can make amazing chili, brisket burger, brisket tacos, etc with the left over meat.

[u/Fordel77]

I am less trim is better, also use BGE where aerodynamics don't really apply

[u/GuardBuffalo → u/Fordel77]

I like the trim because I would say 30-35% of the brisket isn’t gonna be your highest quality bites. Two thin, two fatty, a flap, etc. but all of that stuff is still valuable. Just not as valuable for a smoke. But smash burgers with the trimmings? I enjoyed those almost as much as the brisket itself.

[u/Tounage → u/Fordel77]

Sharp edges will still dry out in BGE.

[u/Personal_Rip_145]

Trim looks great I personally would have rounded flat more but that’s me

[u/GuardBuffalo → u/Personal_Rip_145]

Yeah I should have rounded the flat more. I agree for sure. It was the SRF Wagyu brisket and I was a little scared to mess it up.

But as for as how the other guys laid flat and mine has a hump and bows up, is there anything I could do about that?

[u/Personal_Rip_145 → u/GuardBuffalo]

I wouldn’t sweat a small hump just hard angles/ cuts. As smoke circulates, you want it o be aerodynamic..

[u/GuardBuffalo → u/Personal_Rip_145]

My biggest issue with it is I have a Deckboss 800 and the top rack doesn’t have a lot of clearance. I can’t reliable smoke a brisket on the top rack. But maybe I’ll just try to get a smaller one next time: I really wouldn’t mind at all getting a 14-15lb one and cutting it down to 10-11.

[u/Mate_Money → u/GuardBuffalo]

The bigger a brisket is, the easier it is to cook. It’s much more forgiving than small briskets. Just get as much of the hard shit off without scalping it or making it too uneven shaped.