Watched a guy trim brisket at a competition in Kansas City last week

I was at the American Royal BBQ competition and stopped to watch this old timer named Roy trim a 15-pound packer. He took off maybe half a pound total and saved every scrap for his burnt ends. The way he worked that knife around the fat cap was like watching a surgeon. Has anyone else picked up little tricks just by hanging around competition pits?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryang651mo ago

Saw Roy do the same thing at the Jack Daniel's Invitational a couple years back and honestly I think people overhype how much fat you need to leave on. He was taking off almost everything down to the deckle and the bark on that brisket was like crack. Seems like most guys are scared to trim too much off but Roy told me the fat cap is just there to protect the meat during the stall and after that it's basically dead weight. I've been trimming way closer ever since and my briskets have been better for it.

king.kevin1mo ago

Damn, you might have just flipped my whole thinking on this. I was always in the camp of leaving a solid quarter inch on there, figured it was seasoning and moisture. But hearing that Roy's bark turned out like crack makes me wonder if I've been wasting good trim all this time. I guess I never really thought about the fat cap being mostly for the stall. After that, it's just sitting there not doing much but making the final product greasy if you don't render it right. Might have to grab my next brisket and go a lot closer to the meat than I usually do. Thanks for sharing that, man. I've been stuck in my ways too long on this one.