The day I stopped trimming my brisket flat for competition

I spent 3 years trimming my briskets into that perfect aerodynamic shape for competitions, taking off pounds of fat and meat. Then I watched a pitmaster in Lockhart do a demo where he barely touched his brisket with a knife. He just squared up the edges and left the fat cap thick. I asked him why and he said all that trimming just dries out the flat and wastes money. Next contest I tried his way, left a solid half inch of fat on. My brisket scored higher than ever before and I had way more yield. Now I just trim the loose silver skin and call it good. Anyone else have a trimming habit they had to break?

2 comments

2 Comments

richard11023h ago

Man I used to be the same way but you're totally right, less trimming gives way better results.

singh.blair21h ago

Nah man, I gotta disagree hard on this one. Every time I try to back off on trimming I end up with a lopsided mess that looks like I gave up halfway through. Less trimming might work if you're starting with something perfect, but for most of us regular guys it just makes everything look sloppy and uneven. I've seen too many people try the "natural look" and end up looking like they don't care at all. Trimming is where you actually take control and shape things up, not just let it go wild. You gotta be disciplined with it or it'll turn into a jungle.