Brisket - "a tricky meat to cook"

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

This was originally posted in another thread by dcarch. I'm moving it over here to start one on this "tricky" meat. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-14/brisket-lovers-pay-a-premium-thanks-to-hi-tech-barbecue

There are lots of "tricky" meats you can cook, but brisket is certainly not one of them. And it's quite amusing to see how the prices on one of the cheapest cuts of meat have gotten out of hand because of demand for this "tricky" meat. Sorry, I'm still laughing.

Okay, the man said, put your money where your mouth is and show us the trick. Simple answer - time and patience. But I digress. Let's talk about this piece of cow. There are two parts to a brisket - the flat and the point or deckle. The flat is...flat and the point is a lump. The flat has little fat. The point has lots of it. If you are in a barbecue competition, by all means, trim the hell out of the brisket. For the rest of the world TRIM NOTHING. You want all that fat to keep the flat moist while you cook it. I usually cut half the flat off the brisket and turn it into corned beef or pastrami, but that's another story.

Try to buy only large, untrimmed, packer-cut briskets. Supermarkets usually have only flats, so you'll have to look around. BJs and Costco and Sams have the big suckers. Go there. The night before you plan to smoke the brisket, take it out of the package and wash off the blood. Dry it with paper towel and then put on your dry rub (see below). Let it sit in the fridge for at least six hours.

Bring your smoker up to 225 degrees. Add your wood if you're not using a stick burner. Put the brisket into a big throwaway pan FAT SIDE UP and put it into the cooker. The meat will eventually hit 165 degrees and then sit there for a few hours. Be patient. Keep your temperature steady. When the flat hits 205 degrees, it's done. The point may take longer to get to 200, so feel free to cut off the flat so it doesn't burn up and dry out if the point is way behind it.

Take the whole pan, with all that juice, and wrap it in foil. You can hold a cooked brisket in a hot box for at least 4 hours. That's it. No tricks. Just treats.

Boca Boys Brisket Rub - also good for beef ribs

2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon dried oregano

Featured Answer

dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m

4 years ago

Uncooked Brisket - $7.99 a lb.

Corned brisket - $1.99 a lb.

Interesting logic.

dcarch

Comments (7)

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I can't argue with anything you posted other than I usually go for 200 F as the final temperature when I take it off the smoker and it will continue to rise a few degrees after I cover with foil.

In the KC area most of the BBQ restaurants will cut off the point and cook it separately. It is sold as Burnt Ends and is a real delicacy in Kansas City usually served as a sandwich. I've never seen it served outside of KC.

This is basically how I do mine. How to make Burnt Ends.

ETA: I use most of the same spices in my home made rub but I'll make about a quart at a time. I also add a bit of dried honey powder or sometimes brown sugar in a pinch when I'm applying it to the meat.
amylou321
4 years ago
I cook brisket either in the oven or the crock pot. Not tricky at all and very good.
Angela Id
4 years ago
Just cooked a corned beef brisket in the crock pot yesterday. Not sure what is tricky about it?
User
4 years ago
We do it both ways -- smoke and oven. I have my mother's 50's/60's (?) recipe which I've modified over time and I've probably cooked at least one cow's weight of brisket since I've been married. (It's our celebratory meat). And that includes 175 pounds I cooked for our DD's wedding 17 years ago. Low and slow and it turns out perfect every time. Smoked brisket -- OMG is that ever good. But now, those briskets are like $100. Way too pricey for my purse! My grandfather was a butcher (back in the days when butchering meant butchering -- his shop bought the meat "on the hoof") and his opinion of brisket was that it was not worthy of being put in hamburger!!!
Sherry8aNorthAL
4 years ago
Not to hijack, but chicken wings are another thing to have out of sight prices. Only a few years ago, they were the cheapest thing around. The only thing tricky about a brisket is if someone tries to treat it like a steak.
plllog
4 years ago
Good post! Thank-you, Ricky. I can order whole briskets from the grocery store butchers, but sometimes they don't believe me and I have to argue them into it. :)

I've never heard that cooking brisket was tricky, though I've seen a lot of recipes where people cook it "wrong" and you just know they're getting really tough meat. :) The tricky part is slicing it because of the three different muscles. Smoked with a heavy bark, you have to use your memory, or take little slices and correct, but braised (which is how I make it so no need to keep the entire fat cap--it's just that much more to skim as it renders down) it's easy enough to see the grain and cut against it.