Here's a tip from Paul Kirk - before you put the rub/slather on the brisket,
find the grain while you can still see it, and cut a small slice off across
the grain. This will show you how to slice when the meat is done and you
can't see the grain for the crust.

Or, if you forget, just take one slice and see how the grain runs.

The grain in the point is trickier, but the point is usually more tender so
getting it exactly right isn't as critical.

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Louis Cohen
Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"


"salchichon" > wrote in message
om...
>i q'ed a 6 lb brisket yesterday. the label on the cryovac just said
> it was a brisket; nothing about it being just the flat or anything
> like that.
>
> i've recently been having trouble correctly slicing brisket after
> cooking. i read about the different grains and how to seperate the
> the point from the flat before slicing. this was the article i went
> by (http://www.cbbqa.com/faq/10-2-1.html scroll down to the Jim
> McGrath entry about 3/4 of the way down the page).
>
> when i started to slice off the point, it became quickly obvious there
> was no change in the direction of the grain throughout this cut of
> brisket, and no apearant division between a flat and point section. i
> mangled the slicing again.
>
> so what cut of brisket did i have? was the point already trimmed off
> and the lable didn't reflect that? did i miss the dividing layer of
> fat between the point and flat? how can i tell when buying if there's
> a point and flat in tact?
>
> with this brisket, i should have just strated slicing against the
> grain at one end and gone all the way to the other end to get nice
> presentable slices.
>
> your thoughts please...
>
> scott