Battles
The first muscle is the “flat”—a lean slab of meat that lies closest to the steer’s ribcage. The second muscle is the point—sometimes called the deckle—a hyper-generously marbled muscle sheathed in a thick layer of fat.
The Challenge of Cooking Brisket
What makes cooking either brisket so challenging is that it’s loaded with a tough connective tissue called collagen. Cook it “low and slow” (that is at a low heat for a long time) and you transform that collagen into gelatin, resulting in tender meat. If your cooker is too hot or you work to fast, the collagen makes the brisket tough as proverbial shoe leather.
Method 1: The Franklin-Style Packer Brisket
To cook the whole packer brisket, I used the “Franklin method”—named for Texas barbecue legend Aaron Franklin. A simple rub of coarse salt and coarse black pepper. A slow smoke at 250 degrees for about 5 hours (to an internal temperature of 165 degrees), at which point I wrapped the brisket in butcher paper (not plastic lined, please) and continued cooking it to an internal temperature of 205 degrees. (The paper seals in moistness, but allows the meat to “breathe.”) Total cooking time: 12 hours.
Method 2: The Foil Pan and Bacon Brisket Flat
To cook the brisket flat, I used what I call the “foil pan and bacon” method. After seasoning the flat with the salt and pepper rub, I placed it fat side down in an aluminum foil pan, then smoked it for 1 hour. Then I turned it over and draped it with bacon. Inverting exposes both sides to the flavorful wood smoke. The bacon keeps the top from drying out and bastes the meat with the melting fat. The foil pan shields the bottom from direct exposure to the heat and corrals the meat juices. You’ll probably have to replace the bacon strips after a couple hours, but, hey, what’s not to love about brisket flavored bacon? The flat, too, I cooked to an internal temperature of 205 degrees, a process that took 8 hours—mercifully shorter than the 12 hours for the packer.
Why Resting Your Brisket Matters
Whichever brisket you cook, now comes the hardest part of all (or maybe the second hardest part—waking up at 4:30 a.m. to fire up my smoker was hard, too): resting the brisket in an insulated cooler for 2 hours. Yeah, I know you want to devour it hot out of the smoker, but the meat will be a lot more tender if you let it “relax” for a couple hours before serving.
How to Carve a Brisket Like a Pro
The final challenge is carving the brisket—especially a packer. (In a packer, the muscle fibers in the point run almost perpendicular to the fibers in the flat.) To maximize tenderness, you always want to slice brisket (like all tough meats) across the grain.
For a packer, first cut it in half widthwise (from one long side to the other). The thinner portion is the flat. To carve it, start at the narrow end and slice it on the diagonal (across the grain). The traditional thickness is 1/4-inch, but slice it thinner or thicker as you prefer. Now, carve the point (the thicker section). Starting on one side, cut it into ¼-inch slices across the grain. A serrated knife works well for carving—so does a razor-sharp chef’s knife.
To carve a flat, simply start at the narrow end and slice it on the diagonal across the grain.
A whole packer brisket represents a considerable investment in terms of time and money. And unless you live in Texas, you’ll probably need to order it specially from your butcher.
For instructions on cooking a whole packer brisket:
Brisket flats tend to be readily available at most supermarkets, and 4 pounds and 6 to 8 hours of cooking time are a lot easier to manage than the 12- to 14-hour marathon required by a whole packer.
Final Thoughts from the Smoker
My friend mightily appreciated the brisket (by that point he had regained his appetite). Even more than that, he appreciated the effort and friendship that went into it.
And when you stop to think about it, isn’t that what barbecue is all about?
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