I have three small briskets given to me by a neighbor. By small, I mean about 1.5 inches thick, and the size of a dinner plate. They were part of a half cow he bought from a local butcher.

I've cooked full packer and half packer, but never something this size. In addition, they are fully trimmed out, so I have no fat cap to deal with.

I will be using a BGE with deflector plate and am looking for suggestions for these smaller cuts.

Thanks.

A

Can you tell if any of them are points vs flats? In my opinion, trimmed out flats should be corned first (easy process to look up) for either corned beef, or pastrami. If you have a point with good intramuscular fat marbling, you can smoke that like a packer, but watch the dry-out and wrap it earlier, preferably in butcher paper. Or you could use the point for burnt ends.

They are frozen in clear vacuum bags. They don't show much marbling, so I suspect they are flats.

I’ve never smoked a flat by itself, and I don’t know if I’d try, especially if it was trimmed lean. You could smoke it long enough to get some good smoke flavor into it, then wrap it with some additional stock, which will be nearly a braise. You’ll lose the bark but it will stay moist. Also, I’ve always meant to try injecting tallow into a flat; it’s supposed to be pretty effective, if not a bit of a project.

Do you have a sous vide machine?

If I have never done a flat by itself, but if I did then I'd:
* season with salt and pepper (e.g. 1/2 tsp salt per pound, 1/4 tsp pepper per pound)
* vacuum seal
* 30 hours in sous vide at 155
* chill
* pat dry
* reseason with favorite brisket rub
* 3 hours on my BGE at 225 to 250.

My thought process is make it tender as possible (i.e. break down collagen) in sous vide then get the smoke flavor and bark on the BGE without overcooking it.

I did something similar with chuck short ribs that were on sale recently but I suspect they had more marbling as it was wagyu. It turned out delicious.

I've smoked flats before. I usually used heavy smoke for a bark and pulled them off at 141 degrees. That leaves them pink inside.

No need to treat them any differently really. Low and slow not much more than 250. Monitor your temps closely after the first 2 hours. When they get around 160 internal put them in a foil pan with some dark beer or beef broth in the bottom. Do not cover. You won't be steaming or braising but you are protecting them from the heat and providing some moisture in the smoker to keep them from drying out. I'd take them to at least 200 internal. Rest for a couple hours then slice.

If you trim off any fat save it and put it on top of the flats and let it render during cooking. I have no idea how you get three brisket flats out of a half a cow. You may be dealing with something other than brisket.

Cut them up into 1/2 inch cubes and use them to make brisket chili. It's a fine thing.

Grind them up for burgers.

quote:

Originally posted by Sailor1911:
Cut them up into 1/2 inch cubes and use them to make brisket chili. It's a fine thing.

VERY Fine...

https://urbancowgirllife.com/texas-brisket-chili/

That brisket chili recipe is the best I have ever had. If you like, you can sneak some black beans into it in the privacy of your own home. Do NOT skip her recommendations for specific chile powder - those brands are markedly different and make a huge impact.

Other thing I've done with flats like that is do a corned beef cure, then after several days (a week?), rinse well, pepper up and slow smoke some homemade pastrami. Thin sliced and you're in heaven.

Those dimensions sound like a steak to me.

I'd cook them just like a full brisket, just be aware they're going to finish much faster.

Also, they say you can't overseason brisket, but you might be able to overseason baby brisket so you might want to season more like a steak.