Fat Side Up or Down?

Should I cook my brisket fat side up or fat side down?  This question is asked repeatedly by smokers the world over.  We would like to share a couple of thoughts to let you make your own decision.  The first item to note is fat doesn’t melt or absorb in to the meat.  I’ve heard folks say that they leave the fat side up so that as it renders it will keep the meat most and juicy.  While it can act as an insulator to keep the direct heat from drying the meat it does not keep it moist because it saturates in. And, if your heat source is coming from the bottom as it does on many smokers then you would likely want the insulation on the bottom.

When the fat renders it will also carry away with it any of the seasoning that you’ve put on it.  So instead of the seasoning becoming part of a great bark, it will run off the meat in to the drip pan or fire below.  Your brisket can finish with one side with a great bark and the other dry and unseasoned.

Our preference is to not only cook the fat side down, we trim it to about ¼ of an inch in thickness prior to cooking.  This helps to get a nice bark all the way around the meat.  We also separate the flat and the point, these are two unique muscles that comprise the brisket.  This helps minimize the situation you may get in to where the thinner part of the meat is at temperature, but the thicker parts are not.  You can distinguish the point and the flat by the fat vein that is running between the two.  With the two parts separated they can be equally trimmed and seasoned with both turning out an excellent end product that your friends and family will devour!