4.7 lb Point

What smoker are you using? What temp are you planning on?

Cookshack Smokette and 250.

My rec, cook it at 225, take it out at about 190, foil it for an hour and enjoy! I'd leave 7 - 8 hours and start checking internal temp at 6 hours. Point is so fatty and tender that you don't need a long very cook. Just my (very limited) experience. This assumes no marinating or injecting. All the excellent and experienced brisket cooks here will chime in and either kill me or agree! That's how I learn!

I've never smoked a point as a singular cut. There are comp cooks (Fast Eddy being one) who separate packers into flats and points and finish the former for burnt ends.

When smoking a packer, I usually find the flat to test tender around the 202-204 mark +/- At that stage, the point is 4 - 6 degrees higher. Me, I'd take the point to 208 - 210. It will test tender below that. It all depends on how much fat you want to render out of it.

Thanks guys I appreciate the help !

Just to add on with MaxQ. I'd guess you are gonna be around 212*. You will want to squeeze the piece of meat between your finger and thumb and try to fell for the easy moment of layers of meat. Your feeling for the slippage of the layers of meat, that tells you the meat has rendered and broke down.

OK, color me red-faced. Experience speaks volumes. But now, I'm confused by the idea that a solo point should be cooked to a higher temp than a solo flat. Is it just to render more fat? In my limited experience, with a packer, the point is always tender and juicy before the flat is. Jeez, I hate it when my learning curve takes a sudden uphill turn!

Hey all, my brisket came out great. Pulled it at a little over 9 hours and it was foiled for 1 hour and 15 minutes. I had injected it with white wine, onion and garlic powder, with worstershire sauce, rubbed. I used small amount of hickory and larger amount of mesquite. I will make the leftovers into brisket reuben sandwiches.

quote:

Originally posted by Jay1924:
OK, color me red-faced. Experience speaks volumes. But now, I'm confused by the idea that a solo point should be cooked to a higher temp than a solo flat. Is it just to render more fat? In my limited experience, with a packer, the point is always tender and juicy before the flat is.

Slicing a point at which point it's tender can be done, I'm guessing, around 195 and up. It would make for great eating for chopped beef, sandwiches or a stand alone meal. If the intended use is burnt ends, the point is usually taken as a whole to 210 +/- and then cubed and put back into the smoker. Yes, the intention is to render as much fat as possible without drying it out.

Thanks for the clarification Max! When I've done packers, by the time the flat is tender, the point is usually beyond the slicing stage, so I've always used it for burnt ends or chili. Next time I see a solo point for sale (pretty rare) I'm going to try for a slicing version.

I was lucky when I bought this point, I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan after Christmas and went to a great butcher shop in Escanaba. I didn't have access to a smoker, so I brought it home.

BOB