There seems to be a lot of questions out there pertaining to cutting the brsket once it has finished cooking. I think most of the problems during cutting come from a couple of things that you should really understand. First, you are going to cut the brisket across the grain in slices about 1/4" thick. Cuting across the grain is really pretty simple. Remember when you marked you brisket so that at the end of the cooking process you would be able eto know where to start cutting the brisket? If you did this, you are in great shape. Cutting a brisket is one of the biggest problems a lot of people have. You got the answer to that question. You also learned to let the brisket sit and rest after you took it out of the cooking area. Therefore, you brisket has cooled down a bit from the really hot temperature. The cooler a brisket is, the easier it is to slice. So, you are way ahead of the average person trying to cut a brisket.

There is one thing that even the most seasoned cook has roulbe with in the slicing of a brisket. This pertains only to a whole untrimmed brisket cooked with the oint intact. Remember, the whole brisket is made up of both the brisket flat, and the brisket point. These are two separate pieces of meat connected together with a layer of fat that runs between the two. Each of the grains of these two pieces of meat run in dirrecerent directions. This makes slicingthe whole untrimmed brisket a big challenge. That is why this area of the brisket get chopped up most of the time and served as chopped beef.

We will teach you how to cut this section of the brisket in our future newsletters with some video to show you hot to do this. So, please join our newsletter group to find out how to learn some advanced slicing techniques.

What you will need to slive your brisket:

1. The most important single item is a really sharp knife that has a cutting edge of approximately 8 inches long. I mean really sharp. Sharp enough to cut thru that tender meat without tearing it apart.
2. A pair of BBQ goves that will allow you to hold yout hot brisket and turn it as you are cutting it to stay with the grain.
3. A good cutting board.

NOTE: If you prefer to use an electric knife, that is fine. They work pretty well on a hot brisket.

I would like to point out that once you slice your brisket, it will begin to immediately dry out. Even the mooist interior juices of the brisket, once exposed to the outside elements, will immediately being to dry out. So, I recommend you slice your brisket as close to the time you are going to be serving it as possible. Also, don't slice up that entier brisket. Cut only the pieces that you need to serve for the first serving. It is easy to slice more, but you canot replace the juices if the slices stay out on teh table for a long time. Once you slice your brisket, keep the slices together to avoid them drying out. This will certainly help. Remember you saved all of those great natural juices in your foil pouch, and you can use that juice to add it to the slices if you wish.

OK. Take your brisket out of the foil, and place it on the cutting board. You marked your brisket so that this is where you will begin slicing the brisket. With a sharp knife in hand and BBQ gloves on (so that the hot brisket does not affect your ability ot hold it); cut nice 1/4 inch slices across the grain following your mark. If the brisket is falling apart tender, then incerase the thickness of the slices. If you are slicing a whole untrimmed cooked brisket, make the slices as far as you can. Once you hit the point where there are two grains of meat running in different directions, try your best. Slicing will be difficult. So, get the best slices you can get, and then chop the rest for sandwiches the next day.