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Can I trim off 2-4 pounds on a brisket?

busmania
busmania Posts: 414
in EggHead Forum
I was hoping not to start this brisket till 4am, eat at 5pm. The smallest Costco had was 15 pounds. Will I ruin it if I trim 2-5 pounds off to grind into ground beef?  I don’t want to be up ALL night if I don’t have to be. Using my offset cooler and not my egg for this one so I can’t set it and forget it like I could on the egg. 
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Comments

  • jeffwit
    jeffwit Posts: 1,348
    I don’t think trimming it will decrease the cook time much, if any. Unless you’re talking about dramatically reducing the thickness of the brisket, which I would not recommend. 
    Jefferson, GA
    XL BGE, MM, Things to flip meat over and stuff
    Wife, 3 kids, 5 dogs, 4 cats, 12 chickens, 2 goats, 2 pigs. 
    “Honey, we bought a farm.”
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  • Dobie
    Dobie Posts: 3,458
    Yep cut the end of the flat off or you can drape it over a bowl to make it fit. 
    Jacksonville FL
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  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 17,261
    You can trim it however you want, but, as @lousubcap has stated, "The cow drives the cook." Which means, it will cook until the the toothpick test says it is ready.
    I have had them finish fast, and have had them take forever to reach the finish line, on all sizes.
    Good luck on your cook. Hope it works out for you. I love it, when a brisket cook follows the plans accordingly, which in my case is like, never.
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
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  • lkapigian
    lkapigian Posts: 11,549
    You could , but run it 275 -300 and I it should have plenty of time 
    Visalia, Ca @lkapigian
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  • busmania
    busmania Posts: 414
    Thanks. I was probably going to cook at 250-275 temp. I’ll trim as normal and just Home it’s done in time. If not, then I guess more of the ribs will be eaten and I’ll eat brisket when the guests leave. 
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,806
    @busmania - Ambitious cook with the stick stick burner but as above you can definitely size it any want you want.  You may end you with 2-3 lbs of fat on the initial prep work.  Sacrifice the thin section of the flat as noted above.  And have fun with the sticks-I'm guessing you are the only feeder for the cook???
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.  
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 21,680
    YukonRon said:
    You can trim it however you want, but, as @lousubcap has stated, "The cow drives the cook." Which means, it will cook until the the toothpick test says it is ready.
    I have had them finish fast, and have had them take forever to reach the finish line, on all sizes.
    Good luck on your cook. Hope it works out for you. I love it, when a brisket cook follows the plans accordingly, which in my case is like, never.
     #Fake news .... Briskets NEVER go according to the plan.

    I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.

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  • busmania
    busmania Posts: 414
    edited July 2018
    lousubcap said:
    @busmania - Ambitious cook with the stick stick burner but as above you can definitely size it any want you want.  You may end you with 2-3 lbs of fat on the initial prep work.  Sacrifice the thin section of the flat as noted above.  And have fun with the sticks-I'm guessing you are the only feeder for the cook???
    Just me tending the fire. Only cooking for a handful of non picky eaters. Just got the stick burner so it’s my first on this rig. Yoder Wichita. Love my bge for when I want to set it and forget it but for me the journey is a lot of the fun. Been rotating between my egg and home made offset for the last few years. Never cooked more than 6 hours on the homemade. It was too small for brisket and butts so I gave up (and fire management was a chore due to not the best design).  This will be my first on this cooker. Hoping for the best. 

    The brisket trimmed out probably to 14 pounds. The Costco briskets never have all that much to trim off it seams. I’ll be up at 3 or 4 to start it. Hoping it’s off within 11 hours so it can rest appropriately. May or may not wrap depending on how it’s going with timing. 
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,806
    I love the challenge of managing the stick burner and the whole fire/temp deal.  I have one of the smallest burners (commercial) and associated fire pits you can get and I do believe the smaller the rig the more the fire management challenge.  But given your prior experience you will nail this.  
    Trust the feel and above all, have fun.  
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.  
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  • Philly35
    Philly35 Posts: 859
    To the OPs original question,

    Does a bear **** in the woods?
    NW IOWA
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  • busmania
    busmania Posts: 414
    Ended up keeping it full size. Up at 330 to start smoker. Meat on at 445. So far I can’t beleive how smooth this is going. Throw a log on, walk away for an hour. Burns super clean. Ribs will go on anlbout 1230. 

    https://imgur.com/a/TzbE4WF

    Liking the color so far. 
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  • lkapigian
    lkapigian Posts: 11,549
    busmania said:
    Ended up keeping it full size. Up at 330 to start smoker. Meat on at 445. So far I can’t beleive how smooth this is going. Throw a log on, walk away for an hour. Burns super clean. Ribs will go on anlbout 1230. 

    https://imgur.com/a/TzbE4WF

    Liking the color so far. 
    Nice !
    Visalia, Ca @lkapigian
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,806
    Gotta be nice to manage the fire and use logs that will get you an hour.  I have to feed mine every 20 minutes or so (small logs) to maintain the 250-275*F window.  
    And I'm sure the smell is an additional motivator.  
    Enjoy the rest of the cook.  
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.  
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  • busmania
    busmania Posts: 414
    lousubcap said:
    Gotta be nice to manage the fire and use logs that will get you an hour.  I have to feed mine every 20 minutes or so (small logs) to maintain the 250-275*F window.  
    And I'm sure the smell is an additional motivator.  
    Enjoy the rest of the cook.  
    I think the problem with my home made offset was just that, it was too small and I was using too big of logs and either always burning dirty or trying to chase the temps back down if it was burning clean. No happy medium. This smoker seems about the perfect size for a one log at a time fire. Bought this smoker 3 weeks ago but haven’t had the chance to use it till now. I was questioning spending so much money on a smoker but now that I’ve used it I know I made the right decision. The egg will still get plenty of use too. 
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