klseiverd - I buy brisket at Shop Rite (in Cinnaminson, on route 130) and Wegmans (Mount Laurel). They don't always have them in the case so you may want to call your local store. I like to buy the whole Brisket at Wegman's and then we use a dry rub and put it in the smoker.

may family cures chicken or beef or turkey or any kind of meat. We use Tenderquick and brown sugar and garlic powder. I think this is the same as corned beef.

Thanks, Marie_cate! I've seen it at Shop Rite on RARE occasions and thought maybe it's extra rare with St. Patty's Day only a few weeks away? Have a Shop Rite in Burlington (on 541) and a closer one on 38 in Hainesport. WISH Wegman's (Mt. Laurel) was "on the way" for every day shopping, but it's not. Any time I'm in that area I stop in... have doctor's appointment right across the street on Tuesday, so will stop in.

You don't want a whole brisket - only a portion. Have your butcher prepare either a point cut or the leaner flat cut. It should brine for 5-7 days in a mix of water, kosher salt, pickling salt, some pickling spice mix (save the rest for cooking the brisket after brining) and a bit of brown sugar. The brisket needs to be fully submerged in the brine (it will want to float so weight it down) and it needs to be flipped over every day.

Lots of DIY recipes online. Easy but time consuming cuz of brining. I happen to have one I corned bubbling away in my slow cooker right now :-))

WOuld have to check, but your recipe (Gardengal) sounds like what they said on CC or ATK, whichever it was. I know there are different cuts... I prefer the flat cut over the point... and I know either one usually has a significant amount of fat on it. Also know an already corned, corn beef shrinks significantly when cooked. I'll eiter be simmering in Dutch oven on stove top or going crock pot route.

Is there an alternative cut of beef to a brisket?

You can use a flank steak it's cheaper and a less desirable cut of course but it would be a good candidate. I absolutely love corned beef brisket, I alternate doing it in the slow cooker or the oven. Yes they definitely shrink.

I never ever ever saw "brisket" as a cut at the grocery stores in Central Coast California. Corned beef, yes, not brisket. Maybe available at a specialty market with a real butcher. Some things are not as universal as you might think.

Do you think "London Broil" (another non-cut) might work?

Here in Texas you can get all shapes and sizes of beef brisket! From the butcher to the Walmart grocery stores, they all have them. Huge ones not trimmed in vac packs to finely trimmed small pieces. I have a giant one in my freezer from a recent sale. They were way up in price but have come down some. I put the big ones in the smoker or in the big oven roaster. Hard to beat a good brisket.

nice big vac pack brisket not trimmed. How they look in the stores.

Trimmed down split into parts, flat, point, chunks for burnt ends, fat removed.

This would be a good candidate for corning. Or making some great pastrami!

You need to ask, you aren't finding what is surely there. Even WalMart sells corn beef briskets.

klseiverd - For some reason it isn't in the meat case as often as it used to be - perhaps because it's become fairly expensive or maybe people just don't want to plan for a 3 hour cooking time.

Brisket is my favorite cut for pot roast and if I can't find that I'll use an eye of round. I'll make a large roast and then freeze some of the leftover meat and vegetables with gravy in small containers and give them to my adult kids when they stop over. They all cook but seldom have time for old fashioned 'roast beast and gravy' which is what my Dad called it.

You can also find it around the Jewish holidays when the stores stock more for their customers celebrating Passover.

Wegman's sells both the whole brisket and smaller sizes - when they have it.

I'm not looking for "corned" beef brisket... I asking for suggestions on what cut of beef to CORN my SELF??

A beef brisket is what's used for corned beef.

I've always wanted to try a beef brisket but when I read to cook it for 6 or 7 hours in the oven, that turns me off. Unless it can be done in the slow cooker?

Well, as far as the 6 or 7 hours, plan to cook during a season that you can use the extra heat...and plan ahead (ie cook before you need it perhaps if that helps). It's worth it on a lot of cuts to cook long and slow.

We Texans are spoiled! All of the supermarkets here carry beef brisket regularly. We have one in the freezer too.

Jasdip, it's cooked at a low temp for hours with no 'tending' needed. Hubby marinates or injects marinade for a day or so before cooking, flips it daily and then wraps in aluminum foil and into a 250 degree oven for 12 hours at least. When it's done, it just falls apart. Perfect for our big family get togethers with plenty to freeze into meal-sized portions.

Sorry to hijack your thread klseiverd.

Jasdip -- it can be done in the slow cooker. But I've cooked probably a whole cow worth of brisket over the years low and slow and it is utterly fantastic! I make it a two day process -- low and slow one day, trim fat while it's hot, then refrigerate and save the "juice". The next day I slice it thin, put it back in the juice and reheat in usually a 350 oven until it's hot and delicious. We made 200 pounds of it for my DD's wedding and it's often our choice of meat for celebration meals that involve a crowd -- birthdays, wedding anniversaries, graduations, etc. We serve BBQ sauce on the side. My recipe is an adaptation of one my mother found in the 60s (which did have you put BBQ sauce over it and put it back in the oven) and it's simple -- sprinkle liquid smoke on one side of the brisket, sprinkle with garlic salt and celery salt and onion salt, turn and repeat. Wrap in foil (I always put fat side up), put the wrapped beef in a roasting pan and put in a 250 to 300 degree oven for at least 6 hours (depending on the size or how many I'm doing -- and you really can't cook it too long) When it's cool enough to handle (but still warm), but off any big pieces of fat. Rewrap in clean foil and refrigerate. Save the juice that is in the pan and refrigerate that too. The next day, bring the beef out and slice thinly. Put the juice in a baking dish and put into a 300 to 350 oven (depends on how long you're going to put it in there) and heat until the beef is heated through. I then take it out and put it on a platter and serve BBQ sauce and horseradish sauce on the side.

I've never warmed up to the flavor of long smoked meat in that Texan (& other) style of BBQ. The smokiness overwhelms the flavor of the meat. I like BBQ food in a grilled sense over charcoal or wood.

I like corned beef or pastrami occasionally (good quality of both can be hard to find) but I don't otherwise eat brisket.

To each his/her own taste.

It isn't just in Texas that you will find a beef brisket. They are available here in most grocery stores. They are a pretty common cut of meat popular in traditional Jewish cooking (much like a pot roast) as well as for corning or smoking. This is a pretty inexpensive cut of meat that benefits from low, slow cooking, otherwise it will be tough.

Smoked brisket is my absolute favorite BBQ selection - incredibly tender and flavorful and should not have an overly "smoked" taste if done correctly.

There is a significant difference between 'barbecuing' and 'grilling': when you barbecue you are cooking with a slow circumvented unit of hot air with the lid closed. Grilling is done with the lid up and with direct heat on the bottom, instead of all around the source. They are often used interchangeably but incorrectly. You can't grill a brisket and expect it to even be chewable (unless marinated long enough to break down the fibers).

I would also add that corning a beef brisket and cooking it at home will result in a far superior corned beef than what you will find already prepared at the grocery! And pastrami is just a corned beef that is smoked/roasted rather than boiled or simmered. But still needs the "low and slow" approach :-)

"It isn't just in Texas that you will find a beef brisket"

Of course. All cows everywhere have that same anatomical part. It's tough and requires long slow cooking to be palatable. It has a flavor and texture I never grew to appreciate.

I'm not sure who you're schooling with your comments. Word usage isn't uniform everywhere, I thought I was clear in distinguishing between direct heat, quicker grilling type barbecue (which is "barbecue" to many outside of the South and Midwest") and slower, indirect "smoker" barbeque as with the Kansas City, Texas, Carolina styles, etc.