How To Trim A Brisket
Brisket is a large, tough cut of beef that comes from the breast of a cow. It is usually used in slow cooking method like smoking, braising or barbecuing. To maximize the flavor and cook the brisket properly you will have to trim it. Trimming is a process you don’t want to do wrong so let me tell you how to trim a brisket.
It is best to trim your brisket when it is cold, so try to keep it refrigerated for several hours to make it easier to cut through. The most important part about cooking a brisket is to level it.
What Is A Brisket?
Until we know what is a brisket and what parts are there in it we will not be able to learn how to trim properly. There are three main things of a brisket; Flat, Point and Fat Cap.
Flat:
It is the largest part of the brisket it usually comes with decent marbling but considered to be a lean meat cut.
Point:
This is smaller than flat. The Point hangs around the top or underneath the brisket flat. It is fatty right through the cut and protrudes at one end. Point is actually a mass of muscle and fat that links the brisket flat to the rib cage.
Fat Cap:
It is a thick layer of fat on one whole side of the meat cut. This fat cap often wraps around one side. It also separates the muscle, the flat and the point.
What you will need
- Brisket
- Sharp boning Knife
- Cutting Board
- Patience, Very important
- Trash bag
Trim Time!
1. First thing first, wash your hands before handling the brisket .
2. Rinse off extra juices from the surface of the brisket.
3. Lay it on your chopping board, fat side down and have a quick look to where to start.
4. If you are inexperienced, start cutting with small pieces of fat.
5. Any meat that is brown should be trimmed off. Don’t trim off any deep red meat because that’s our actual brisket after trimming.
6. Remove any silver skin because it prevents seasoning to penetrate the meat.
7. Flip the meat so the fat side faces up. The soft fat always covers the Flat and harder fat on Point.
8. Begin carving off the thick wedge of fat near Point end. Take one look over the brisket to make sure it’s even and no large intrusions of fat remain between the flat and the point.
9. You should aim to leave 1/8 of an inch of fat on the meat. Avoid over trimming the soft fat. Always remember that the fat that will render is the fat that will add flavor.
10. As you trim, keep feeling the firmness of the fat to help determine what you need to remove and how much.
11. The last thing is to remove your deckle. It is a hard membrane of fat located where the point meets the flat. Use your sharp knife to remove it.
Finishing
Once you are done with your trimming, inspect your brisket. It should be rectangular and the point should be closer in thickness to the flat after removing the hard fat membranes.
Finally, check to see that you have a few windows of exposed meat dispersed across the soft fat surface.
Cut of any bits of meat hanging off. That’s it we are done trimming our brisket.