Old timer at a competition told me to stop trimming my brisket so tight

I was at a small competition outside Nashville last fall and this guy named Walt, must have been 70, walked by my setup while I was trimming a brisket. He said I was taking too much fat off and that I'd end up with dry meat by the end of the cook. I ignored him because I always trim to that perfect aerodynamic shape, you know the one. Well, that brisket came out edible but not great, and I placed 14th out of 20. Next time I cooked one I left a solid quarter inch of fat on the top and didn't carve so much around the edges. It came out way juicier and I actually got compliments from people at a backyard cookout. Walt probably knew what he was talking about after 40 years of this. Has anyone else gotten advice from an old timer that turned out to be better than the YouTube method?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas9721d agoRising Star

Old timer advice is almost always worth listening to. They've been doing this stuff since before YouTube existed. I had a guy at a competition tell me to stop wrapping my ribs in foil, said it makes the meat mushy. I laughed it off at first but tried it his way for a chicken cook and the texture was way better. Now I only wrap if I'm running behind on time. That quarter inch fat rule he gave you is gold too. Most online videos show you that perfect trimmed brisket but they don't show you the juice loss. Sometimes the old school methods beat the Instagram trends every single time.

morgan.cameron1d ago

Wait, isn't that always how it goes though? The guys who've been doing this for thirty years aren't trying to sell you anything, they're just telling you what works because they've already burned through every mistake you're about to make. I had the same thing happen with trimming brisket actually. Some older pitmaster told me to leave a fat cap on and just score it instead of cutting it all off, and I thought he was crazy until I tried it. The meat stayed way more moist even after a long rest, and you couldn't even tell the fat was there once it rendered down. Those Instagram videos where they shave every last bit of fat off are just chasing the perfect shot, not the perfect bite. The old school guys know that fat equals flavor and moisture, and you can't fake that with a rub or a spritz.