Little brisket flat - 2.77 pounds

timmyd18

I've picked up a mini brisket flat - just 2.77 pounds.  Any suggestions on how to cook? I've done one full packer and several bigger flats before, but never anything near this size.  Thinking about 300 until 165, foiling to 195, and staying close since it will likely be a much quicker cook.  

Thatgrimguy

Sounds about right to me. Just smaller window for success than the bigger guys.

flexfusion

Let us know how it turned out.  Please tell us what was the cooking temp, how long did it take to get to your desired temperature?  Thanks!

henapple

Travis style...  Search it. 

Acn

I've never tried smoking a flat that small.  Flats are great either ground for burgers, or sliced really thinly for stir fries, or to marinate and grill directly.

timmyd18

Rubbed and on now - it's a windy day and I've already had one temp spike, so we will see how this goes. Worst case scenario the whole thing gets used for burnt ends 

jeffwit

Or chili....

timmyd18

Pulled at 205 - cooked much faster than I hoped, and didn't feel like it went through the brisket magic transformation. We'll see how it goes after a rest.

timmyd18

Final verdict - serviceable and tasty but not the magical moist brisket from other cooks. You live and learn, and buy bigger briskets next time!

timmyd18

buzd504

Nice smoke ring.   Looks pretty moist.

lousubcap

Great ring and as above, looks quite moist to me.  And that small size just compounds the cook.  Having been relegated to flats for several years til the local Costco saw the light and started stocking packers, any flat is more of a challenge than a packer.
I was always happy with a single or a double (baseball analogy) and would infrequently hit a triple or home-run.  (Had some strike-outs as well). 
Don't know what the flat was probing like at 205*F but nothing like giving it a run.
BTW-welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  

Jeepster47

If you want to try a partial brisket again (@caliking says that in TX, they're called a brisketlet), look for the "center cut" portion.  Because it's a more consistent thickness, it's easier to cook to a uniform temp.  Forget the 1.5hrs per pound at 250* estimate though ... more like 2.5 to 3.0 hrs per pound.

henapple

@EggObsessed chili recipe 

timmyd18

Thanks everyone. I think I will do a "brisketlet" again mainly because of my small family and the volume of packers, in the rare case I can find them. I think a little bigger would have helped it stay at the plateau a little longer and stretched the single into a double or triple - I don't know if home runs are possible without the full brisket. 

Thatgrimguy

timmyd18 said:

 I don't know if home runs are possible without the full brisket. 

It's possible. Just much more difficult. The window of success is very small. Your brisket looks like it was just shy of rendering. I think smaller flats really benefit from being wrapped.

SmokeyPitt

The smoke ring on that is a work of art.  For a flat that looks like a home run to me.