Cman, we have a wealth of knowlege to offer you...unfortunately, much of it is pure bs.
Couple of things...by the nature of "packer cuts", they aren't trimmed...none that we've seen, in any event. But, a rose by another name might still smell pretty. Was your brisket cryovac'd or open? By the way you described it, sounds trimmed to us.
Next, go for something around 10-12 lbs unless the size is just overwhelming for you. You'll have far more fat to protect the brisket as it's cooking; your yield will be a little over half in the CS.
Cman, how long did you leave that brisket out to cool before you sliced it?
We ask these questions because if your brisket passed the fork test, was Choice beef, had enough fat to start with, and you let it cool down before carving, you need better advice than we can provide. We're stumped.
Before we'd learned to test brisket, we made up for our errors with chopping. We'd chop the enire brisket, fat and all..chopped into fingernail sized pieces, so the fat would be distributed as equally as possible. This will make up for a multitude of sins. Too much smoke, or don't like the taste? Simple. Pour on and mix in a bottle of your favourite sauce.
Final thought...Our Angus Choice briskets are costing us over twice per pound what yours are costing you. We haven't a clue if this makes a difference, or if we are grossly overpaying. Maybe something to think about. Maybe not.
Double Lazy
