Brisket source

Time to try our hand at doing a brisket, but have no idea where's a good source for one? Not opposed to driving for a better quality, but do need it this weekend.

Will be doing it on the grill, so any tips are appreciated!

Time to try our hand at doing a brisket, but have no idea where's a good source for one? Not opposed to driving for a better quality, but do need it this weekend.

Will be doing it on the grill, so any tips are appreciated!

Madeline,

Brisket is one of those cuts where buying "designer" meat is waste of money. I would suggest purchasing your Brisket at either Costco or Sam's. If you don't belong to either or don't know someone who does, I would be happy to pick you one up at Costco provided you could pick it up by Friday afternoon.

I would suggest buying a "flat" in the 6 to 7 pound range, don't panic, it's going to shrink down to about 4 or 5 pounds. Rub it up real good with your favorite concoction and get ready to cook. I personally cook my Brisket for anywhere from 9 to10 hours at around 220 degrees. I'm looking for an internal temp of about 200 when I pull it. There are those who prefer to cook faster and hotter...5 or 6 hours at (say) 320 degrees. Again, you're' looking for an internal temp of around 200 degrees. Given that you are cooking on a grill you'll probably be looking at going with higher temps, faster cooking. Brisket is like a sponge when it comes to smoke, I personally apply smoke for maybe 4 hours (plus or minus) after that (depending on the wood you're using) you run the risk of getting things -too- smokey.

If you and Tim would like to try your hand at the low and slow method you are welcome to borrow one of my smokers. If you need a more detailed description of the process, drop me a P.M. Otherwise here is a pretty good article for getting you started:

http://www.barbecuen.com/champ-brisket.htm

Kingsley Meat is another option. Probably will be around the same price.
http://www.kingsleycatering.com/

Madeline,

I'm assuming you're going to be cooking on Charcoal...If so you need to use indirect heat (i.e. pile all the charcoal up on one side and cook on the other). Not knowing what brand of grill you have (and again assuming it's charcoal) I would speculate that you'll need to start with 16 to 18 lit briquettes and replenish them a few at a time. That -should- keep you in the 300 degree range.

Here is a links to another article you might find useful:

http://cookingquest.wordpress.com/2008/ ... barbequed/

Thanks Steve for the info and the links! Sent them over to Tim so he can start formulating his plan. We are getting a start on the brisket now because Tim's been asked to grill up some stuff for work's Thanksgiving Day party.

We have a 22" Weber charcoal so shouldn't be a problem to get it set up right. He did a pork butt a few weeks ago with the low and slow method and it came out really well, so hopefully will do as well with brisket! May have to borrow the smoker closer to the party if we can't get it just right between now and then on the grill.

Looks like we'll be heading to Costco this weekend!

I would agree with Steve. I wouldn't necessarily go the best butcher in town to buy one. It is a tough piece of meat no matter where you get it.

I typically buy mine at Kroger in Fern Creek. They don't have them out in the case, but everytime I have asked, they have had some in the back.

Brisket turned out pretty well given it was our first time attempting one! Snagged a 6.5 lb flat at Cosco, rubbed it down and let that sit overnight. Cooked on grill at 250-300 for 6 hours with mesquite wood for first 4 hours. We did learn a few things and still need to do a bit more work to get it right. One of the resources suggested cooking until between 150-170 internal temp, then pulling and wrapping for 30 minutes. I should have re-read your initial post, pretty sure if we'd waited until it was 200 internal on the grill it would have been much more tender throughout.

A few things we did want to know and weren't finding in our grilling books or online were about the brisket itself. Is it better to buy ones with a larger fat cap or without? The one I picked had a solid layer of fat on one side, some of the others had very little fat on either side. I was thinking it would be a good thing, like when buying certain types of roast...but can also see how it may not be advantageous in hindsight. Second, do you put the meat side or the fat side down first? We only flipped it once at three hours in, should it be done anymore than that?

I try to find something with a lot of fat and then I trim the fat to about 1/4 of an inch layer. Place the Brisket on your cooker fat side UP...turn as infrequently as your cooking method allows. Personally, I don't usually even turn the brisket, I'll just lift it up off the grates a few times to make sure it isn't sticking. Be careful using Mesquite...it's easy to over do it and if you do it will impart a bitter taste to the meat. When I use mesquite, it's usually more as a "finishing" smoke.

Ref. the temps...it's really hard to force yourself to cook a hunk of meat to the 200 degree range but that's what it takes to get it really tender. BTW, reading back over my original reply I may have not told the whole story...What I will typically do is to cook the Brisket to -around- 190, maybe 195 and THEN I pull it...Brisket is a lot like Turkey in that the temp will continue to climb 5-10 degrees after it's removed from the heat source. Bottom line you end up with the meat in the 195 to 200 degree range when it's finished. Please note however that every hunk of meat has it's own personality...I've had Briskets that were "done" at 185...and I've had some I cooked to 205. Somewhere in the middle of that temperature band seems to put out the most consistent product.

BTW, I'm chipping on Linda B to let me "teach" a BBQ class at her new store sometime...if that idea appeals to anyone let her know.

BTW, I'm chipping on Linda B to let me "teach" a BBQ class at her new store sometime...if that idea appeals to anyone let her know.

But we get all our free advice here???

I have been wanting to make a brisket as well. I was wondering, can you make this in the oven. Will it get as tender?

Steve P is da man!

I have been wanting to make a brisket as well. I was wondering, can you make this in the oven. Will it get as tender?

I have seen "oven smoked" recipes (calling for liquid smoke, etc) that don't sound too bad...but I must admit to having no experience either eating or cooking them. If I run into something in the next few days, I'll pass it along.

I have been wanting to make a brisket as well. I was wondering, can you make this in the oven. Will it get as tender?

I don't know about brisket, but find it easier to keep pork butts more moist and tender by cooking in the oven. I sometimes do a combo of smoker and oven cooking, 2 or so hours in the smoker w/ heavy smoke then move to the oven. If I'm doing "cuba style" pork, I do it in the over overnight at 200 degrees.

Becky, there are lots of recipes online for doing brisket in the oven, it was easier to find info on that than smoking/grilling. I'm going to be sticking the rest of ours in the oven tonight for a few hours to see if it can get a bit more tender. Figure it will either work as planned or my dogs are going to eat good!

I'd send Tim to a class for grilling...he's always learning something new. Though I'd really like to send him to a class on knives and techniques. Maybe she could call it "My Nakiri Isn't For Cutting Ribs"

I have been wanting to make a brisket as well. I was wondering, can you make this in the oven. Will it get as tender?

I don't know about brisket, but find it easier to keep pork butts more moist and tender by cooking in the oven. I sometimes do a combo of smoker and oven cooking, 2 or so hours in the smoker w/ heavy smoke then move to the oven. If I'm doing "cuba style" pork, I do it in the over overnight at 200 degrees.

Justin,

Not to second guess ya, as my experience with such things is limited to sticking my finished product in a warm oven to "hold" until serving, but ya might try that in the reverse way sometime...i.e. in the oven first and then finish off with a couple of hours on the smoker. My instinct tells me this would likely allow the smoke to more effectively penetrate the meat.