Point over Flat... The Easy Way to Smoke a Brisket on the Big Green Egg

The words Easy and Brisket do not always go hand in hand...  but that is about to change for you!  

In this edition of Grillmaster Tips we are going to walk you through the point over flat method of smoking a brisket on your Big Green Egg or Kamado Grill using the Smokeware Grate Stacker. Not only are you going to crush the main course with this recipe, but you are also going to have some killer Burnt Ends to snack on as an appetizer!

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Store Goods Needed:

1 Full Sized Packer Brisket - ours was 18 lbs before trimming

1 Cup of your favorite brisket rub (We used Lane's BBQ Brisket Rub)

2 Cups of Beef Broth

Tools of The Trade:

Kamado Grill

Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

Smokeware Grate Stacker

Flame Boss WiFi Temperature Controller

Meat Prep:

Herein lies the trick to cooking a great brisket every single time.  When smoking a whole packer brisket, most recipes call for it to be cooked all in one piece (point and flat connected).  Some pitmasters have this nailed, but separating the point from the flat before cooking and makes a world of difference when it comes to difficulty!

See the video below to get a visual of how to separate the point from the flat of the brisket (a picture is worth 1,000 words).  Anyway, the "flat" is the larger flat piece of beef that sits in top of the brisket when the fatty side is down.  The flat is what you are used to getting when you order brisket at your favorite BBQ restaurant. The "point" is the smaller marbly piece of beef which produces the ever so tasty Burnt Ends.  To separate the two, find the seam of fat that connects the two and follow it with your knife.  Leave more fat on the flat side as you cut, because you will want to maintain 1/4 inch of fat on the brisket flat for the cook.

Once separated, trim the fat off of the two pieces of beef leaving 1/4 inch of fat on the bottom of the flat.  You want to clean the point up as much as possible.  

Now it is time to season your brisket.  Put a fairly generous amount of your favorite beef rub on both the point and flat.  More rub than you would normally put on a steak, but less than you would put on a Boston butt.  You can now get ready for the cook, or put it in the refrigerator to soak in the seasoning overnight. 

Fire up the Grill!:  

Pre-heat your Kamado Grill to 250 degrees and set it up for indirect cooking with your platesetter.  If you have a Flame Boss or other temperature controller for your Big Green Egg, now is the time to hook it up.  These are nice, especially the WiFi versions, because they eliminate any guess work and allow you to nail the temperatures to the exact degree.  

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Point Over Flat:

Using a Smokeware Grate Stacker, place the flat on the lower grill grate fat side down.  Then, on the higher grate stack on the point.  The goal in the first part of the cook is to bring the internal temperature of each piece of meat to 160 degrees.  It is normal for the point to cook a little faster than the flat because it is a smaller piece of meat.  Once each piece reaches 160 degrees (this is easy if you have them probed with your Flame Boss) pull them off and place on aluminum foil.  Pour 1 cup of beef broth around the point, wrap tightly with aluminum foil and return to upper level of grate stacker.  When the flat reaches 160 degrees, repeat this process and use 1 cup of broth as this is a larger piece of beef.  Re-insert probe through the top of the aluminum foil into the center of the beef and continue cooking until each piece reaches 203 degrees.

Rest:

We gave the resting part of this cook its own title because it is so important to having a delicious, tender, and juicy brisket!  Keeping your point and flat wrapped in the aluminum foil, place both pieces in a cooler and let rest for a MINIMUM of 2 hours...  try to shoot for 4 hours if you can.

Slicing:

Now your hard work has paid off and it is time to enjoy your delicious brisket and your beefy burnt ends.  

Slicing the Flat: Slice brisket flat against the grain in 1/4 inch strips.  "A floppy brisket is a tasty brisket " - you will know you "nailed it" if you can hang a juicy slice of brisket over your knife or finger and it bends like an upside down "U".  

Slicing the Point: Cut the point of the brisket into 1 inch cubes and enjoy these melt in your mouth beefy finger foods! (see video below)

We really appreciate you taking the time to visit us and read our blog.  Hopefully, we have helped you learn a thing or two about cooking on a Kamado style grill!  As always, drop us a line below to let us know how we are doing and what you would like to see on the blog next!