Brisket comparison - brined vs unbrined

fergi

I found this prime brisket at Costco and am going to follow Botch's suggestion and brine half and rub only on the other half. I intend to cut it along the line drawn in the picture below. Any suggestions before I get started?

Fireman_Joe

Interested seeing how it turns out

lkapigian

I've never brined , if you do, with the grain..Brother Mixon brines, I say let the meat speak...@SGH has insight on this topic

Botch

Anxious to hear the results!  

Monaarts

Keep us posted!  I'm about to do my first brisket in the next week or 2 so I'm excited to see what you think.

fergi

Just trimmed the brisket and cut it in half as depicted in the above pic. I got about 2 pounds of hard fat off the side pictured above. Is that normal for a 12 pound brisket?

I will let it brine for 24 hours while the other half sits wrapped in the refrigerator beside it. I will then rub both pieces and tie them back together before the cook. Anyone see any problems with this approach?

lousubcap

That amount of fat while on the high side is within reason.  Hopefully you tried to retain around a 1/4" layer at the close of your efforts.  Never have brined a brisket or cut one in half but we will all learn from your endeavor.  And I would guess that tying it back together is about your best option right now.  But just an opinion...If looking for a good source for slicing a brisket, check out the Aaron Franklin video series.   

fergi

lousubcap said:

That amount of fat while on the high side is within reason.  Hopefully you tried to retain around a 1/4" layer at the close of your efforts.  Never have brined a brisket or cut one in half but we will all learn from your endeavor.  And I would guess that tying it back together is about your best option right now.  But just an opinion...If looking for a good source for slicing a brisket, check out the Aaron Franklin video series.   

Thanks for your comment lousubcap, this is only my second attempt at brisket and my first was not great. There was a lot of "hard" fat on one side but there is still a nice layer of softer fat on the other side.

fergi

I've cut the brisket in half and brined half of it in Oak Ridge BBQ's  "Game Changer" brine. The brined half gained 4 oz. which is equivalent to about 1/2 cup of water. I tied the halves back together an will cook them this evening.

lousubcap

Thanks for the update.  I'm sure this will be quite a learning eggsperience.