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CONFUSED!

flexfusion
flexfusion Posts: 245
in EggHead Forum
I READ HERE WHERE SOME COOK A BRISKET FAT SIDE DOWN AND SOME COOK FAT SIDE UP.  WHAT DOES THE GUY FRANKLIN IN AUSTIN DO?  I HAVE ALWAY DONE IT FAT SIDE UP.  LOOKING FORWARD TO COMMENTS FROM EVERYONE.  THANKS!  
Auburn, Alabama
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Comments

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    Depending on the dynamics of your cooking environment, where you have more heat, either above or below the grate, you want to put your fat, which is an insulator, facing the hotter direction so it cooks more evenly.  Or at least that's what I've heard. In a BGE - I don't think you will ever notice a difference.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 10,227
    This looks like a fun thread to jumpstart.

    If you cook with the fat side up on an egg, you are in a very small minority of us who do so.  

    The guiding principle is "put the fat toward the heat" - I think 90+% of us will agree on that.  That's why Aaron Franklin and virtually everybody who cooks on an offset cooks with the fat up - because the hot air flows across the top of the chamber.

    In an egg, the heat rises so most people go with the fat down.  However, you shouldn't actually have the heat rising directly onto the meat - it should be blocked by your ceramic heat blocker and/or a drip pan and/or a layer of foil.

    So, with good heat blockage and the brisket relatively high in the dome, the top of the brisket is subjected to more heat than the bottom.  Therefore, if you want the fat toward the heat, you should cook with the fat on top.  I just don't understand why most eggheads don't do it that way.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,754
    Fat down here but will offer that when I have to bridge a brisket for 4-5 hours to initially fit it does seem to cook a bit quicker.  That said I have never measured the temp on the top of the brisket when laying flat at the gasket level or the bottom either, indirect.  I do get a great bark with the fat side down and if anything sticks to the cooking grid it's the fat.  FWIW-
    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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  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,759
    edited May 2020
    Depends on the smoker more than the chef.  Franklin's heat comes from the side, BGE comes from underneath, and a reverse flow comes from above.

    I trim the hell out of mine, but I usually go fat side down because I want as much of the point on the bottom side since it cooks slower than the flat.  I've done it either way, it really doesn't matter in a kamado from what I have experienced.
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 21,662
    I HAVE PROVIDED TWO ALTERNATE OPTIONS.

    1. Trim all of the fat and the question goes away.
    2. Just hang it.


    I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.

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  • billt01
    billt01 Posts: 1,885
    Ozzie_Isaac said:
    I HAVE PROVIDED TWO ALTERNATE OPTIONS.

    1. Trim all of the fat and the question goes away.
    2. Just hang it.


    interesting..

    Must be a very lean brisket...
    Have:
     XLBGE / Stumps Baby XL / Couple of Stokers (Gen 1 and Gen 3) / Blackstone 36 / Maxey 3x5 water pan hog cooker
    Had:
    LBGE / Lang 60D / Cookshack SM150 / Stumps Stretch / Stumps Baby

    Fat Willies BBQ
    Ola, Ga

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  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,387
    Ray Lampe goes fat side down
    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP PitBoss Navigator 850G 11/25
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 17,358
    Another question that is easily solved with a single cook, yourself.
    Slice Mr. Briskie in half.  Turn one half over, and butt them together.
    Cook.
    Compare.
     
    Fat-side up, for me.  Because I compared.   ;)

    “I'll have what she's having."  

        -Rob Reiner's mother!   

    Ogden, UT, USA

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  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    Jfc
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 21,662
    Botch said:
    Another question that is easily solved with a single cook, yourself.
    Slice Mr. Briskie in half.  Turn one half over, and butt them together.
    Cook.
    Compare.
     
    Fat-side up, for me.  Because I compared.   ;)
    How do you slice it in half?  Front to back makes most sense, but there are multiple different ways to halve a brisket.

    I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.

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