Beef brisket is a high-effort, mega-high-reward food. Whether you , use a slow cooker, or smoke it, a well-cooked is tender and very flavorful. But cooking is only part of the process: For truly melt-in-your-mouth meat, you’ll need to know the right way to slice a brisket.

(It’s also a good idea to read through our ) To properly slice brisket, it helps to have a basic understanding of its anatomy, including how to tell the flat from the point. The most important part, however, is knowing how to slice the brisket against the grain. But don’t worry — we’ll show you all of that so you can cut brisket like the best of ’em.

Most brisket experts recommend trimming excess fat before cooking, because it’s easier to work with when it’s cool and uncooked. (Ideally, you’ll want to leave around 1/4 inch of fat around the brisket. Anything extraneous should be removed.

Remember that there’s lots of fat inside the brisket point! You can also ask a butcher to do this for you. Some grocery store meat departments may be able to help. The steps for cutting the brisket are the same no matter how you cook it, so just choose your favorite recipe.

Here are a few of ours. Once you’ve pulled your brisket out of the oven, the slow cooker, the pressure cooker, the smoker, or the grill, it’s crucial to let it rest for about an hour, although smaller cuts can get away with less time. This allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, so they won’t pool on the cutting b.