Recipe question, Jewish brisket

Mosca

This is from Pat LaFreida's book Meat.

4lbs brisket
1T plus 1/2t kosher salt
1/2t black pepper
6 cups beef stock
1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 cup honey
1/4t cinnamon
1/4t cloves

Season brisket with 1T of salt and the black pepper. Put brisket and stock in dutch oven @ 325 for 4-4.5 hours.

Discard stock, raise oven to 400. Mix spices and sugars and coat brisket with that sauce. Bake for about 10 minutes or until a candied crust forms. Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining 1/2t salt, let rest 15 minutes, then slice and serve.

In the notes for the recipe, he says to use the second cut for this, the point, because if you use the flat it will dry out.

Now, Pat LaFreida knows more about meat than I ever will. But I just can't envision that this can't be made with the flat; I don't have a point, but I do have a flat. I think that if you inject the flat with broth, it will be fine.

What says the collected wisdom of the BGE forum?

lousubcap

If a flat is all you have then give it a go-recognize the major difference between it and the point regarding fat content (lean vs fatty) and how that will play with the cook process. The recipe is a braise so you should be just fine. Juicing the flat will only help from my perspective. Recognize the above is all a WAG.
 On a related note, I realize that the above recipe calls for a whole lot of salt...as that is part of the experience but you may want to temper the salt as you won't have as much rendering using the flat. FWIW-

Mosca

I could even inject it with bacon grease, don't you think?

jtcBoynton

That much salt is like braising it in a brine.  The recipe does call for discarding the cooking liquid - it would be way too salty to use for gravy.

Second cut and point are not the same.  Flats and points are separated by a horizontal cut through the fatty layer between them.  First cut and second cut are separated by a vertical cut. First cut is mostly flat with a bit of the thin part of the point.  Second cut is mostly the point with a little of the end of the flat.  Even though different, flat and first cut can be treated the same and I image that some markets may not make the distinction.

lousubcap

@Mosca - I'm guessing the bacon grease would work just fine but never having done it...it would definitely add some moisture to the flat in the form of the grease that would then render.  
Independent of the recipe I would go til that hunk of beef probes like buttah (the proverbial brisket finish-line).  It may be quite close after the dutch oven cook but if not I would leave in the braise til very close.  Then do that glaze part of the cook.  And if it all goes south-chili on the horizon.  Best of luck.
Edit: no wisdom here-just offering some thoughts...

Mosca

jtcBoynton said:

That much salt is like braising it in a brine.  The recipe does call for discarding the cooking liquid - it would be way too salty to use for gravy.

Second cut and point are not the same.  Flats and points are separated by a horizontal cut through the fatty layer between them.  First cut and second cut are separated by a vertical cut. First cut is mostly flat with a bit of the thin part of the point.  Second cut is mostly the point with a little of the end of the flat.  Even though different, flat and first cut can be treated the same and I image that some markets may not make the distinction.

Now that is interesting, you learn something new every day!

Little Steven

You can braise a leg of yak if you want to. It's what's called a moist cooking method.