Tip From the Pros – Brisket Trimming, David Bouska

by Brian Walrath, MABA Board Member and Pitmaster for Brown Liquor BBQ

Most barbecue enthusiasts and competition pitmasters would agree, brisket is the hardest smoked meat to master.  And part of that education is in taking such an oddly shaped, imperfect meat with two muscles and a huge fat vein in between them, and trimming it up so they’ll cook up perfectly.  David Bouska, owner of Butcher BBQ, most notably known for his lineup of award winning meat injections, created the two videos below to show you how to perfect trimming brisket.  The first video takes you through the basics of trimming a brisket for that weekend cook or catering gig, and many of us may already be well versed in these brisket trimming techniques, but this was a great refresher video for me and I always enjoying watching a true artisan like David do his thing!

The second video…well, now you gotta watch this.  A big new trend on the competition barbecue circuit is separating the brisket flat muscle from the point (or deckle as David calls it in the first video) BEFORE it’s cooked.  This method of trimming makes both muscles more uniform in size and will give you a more consistent and even cook.  David picks up on the second video where he left off on the first and takes a nicely trimmed brisket through a competition trim, right down to rounding off those 90 degree edges on the flat so they don’t darken or overcook.  Good luck out there this year and if you haven’t experimented with cooking brisket muscles separate, I highly recommend it!!