Brisket - cook whole or in half?

I bought a 13.5 lb USDA packer brisket that I plan to smoke on my 30" Masterbuilt electric smoker. I'd like to make sliced flat and burnt ends from the point. I have two problems:

1) The whole brisket is too long to fit on the smoker shelf. I suppose I can roll the thin end of the flat underneath the brisket for part of the cook to remedy that situation.

2) It will only be my wife and I eating this. Would it be OK to cut a big hunk of flat off and freeze it for another cook at a later date? Alternatively, should I smoke the whole thing and freeze a large portion for reheating at a later date? I have a vacuum sealer so I'm not worried about freezer burn.

When I use the smoker I fill it up with as much as I can, and when I'm done I portion out into vacuum seal bags and freeze. It is just too time consuming for me to smoke one meal.

The only downside to this method is the bark softens up when it is defrosted, but it doesn't bother me any. To reheat I defrost in the fridge, or under cold water until defrosted, and drop the bag in simmering water until up to temp. Meat never overcooks and no hot and cold spots that way.

Good luck. I've never done brisket but made fake pastrami brisket this way and it was fine.

That must be a pretty nice looking brisket! How much would you have to roll? If you could hump it a little in the middle to get it to fit for the initial few hours it might shrink enough to fit flat. Good Luck!

I would smoke the whole thing then freeze what you don't eat.

I had the same problem on the 4th. I cut mine in half and had great results

How about separating the flat from the point, will it fit then?

FWIW, I usually slice a pound or so off of a flat to get it to fit into my WSM. I freeze the trimmings and grind it up with a chuck and other cuts next time we want burgers.

Separate it and it should fit just fine.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/94908/separating-a-brisket
This way you can start the point first and have burnt ends to snack on while the flat smokes to perfection..

JustBrewinAround said:

Separate it and it should fit just fine.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/94908/separating-a-brisket
This way you can start the point first and have burnt ends to snack on while the flat smokes to perfection..

Click to expand...

^^^This^^^ Please do not hump it or roll it up; it will not likely cook properly. And it does freeze beautifully in vacuum bags.

adiochiro3 said:

^^^This^^^ Please do not hump it or roll it up; it will not likely cook properly. And it does freeze beautifully in vacuum bags.

Click to expand...

I ended up cutting straight down through the brisket, which left me with a large hunk of flat and the point with a small section of underlying flat attached. This brisket was simply too long to fit on my MES shelf, even if I had separated the point from the flat.

The two prices cooked at almost the same rate. Once the internal temperature reached 190, I then separated the point from the small piece of attached flat, cut burnt ends from the point, and returned the burnt ends and little bit of flat to the smoker. The total cook time for both sections was about 14 hours at 225 degrees.

I have about 4 pounds combined of leftover slices and burnt ends vacuum sealed in my freezer.