Brisket

[clairbare]

Is there another name for this cut of beef?? I was in Bookers and the guy pointed me to Salt Beef - also what sort of price would you expect to pay for this cut??

[All Weather Griller]

Hi Clare,

I haven't heard of it called by another name. Some butchers want to know if you want the flat or the point, but I usually pay around £20-25 for a 4-5k joint.

HTH

Adie

[clairbare]

Thanks Adie - As this will be our first brisket cook, was thinking of trying a cheaper cut - tesco do one quite cheap - but think max package is 1.2kg - I expect that is a bit too small?

[clairbare]

Is this classed as ready trimmed and probably not suitable

[Swindon_Ed]

I toook this to my Butcher on Saturday and got a good full Brisket from them.




A whole 12-pound packer brisket untrimmed fat side up, as it arrived from the packer. The cutting board is 20" x 14 ". The fat cap is 1/4" to 1/2" thick. The flat is A and the point rests on top of the right side of the flat in the oval B. As you can see, the packer trimmed it quickly and left some meat bare. Not the end of the world.




The same brisket fat side down. This side is usually close to fat free, although there may be some tough silverskin that must be removed. The flat is A and the point is B. The grain runs in the direction of the white line. Notice the fat vein that runs between the flat and the point.



This side view looks right at the end of the flat with the point rising in the background. Notice that the flat ranges from 1/4" think on the right to about 1.5" on the left, and the point is more than 5" thick.

Here is a picture of the Brisket i got.

[clairbare]

Here is a picture of the Brisket i got.

How much did that cost? I think tesco just isn't going to cut it for the brisket

Picture it as if you wanted to smoke a rack of ribs but only picked up a single rib bone with some meat on it. Yes you can cook it but...

I get your drift Doc, thanks

We are still yet to establish a relationship with a butcher, we need to work on this one

Thanks for your comments lads

[Swindon_Ed]

That one cost about £30 from my butcher for the whole thing, they're an organic butcher so you should be able to get it cheaper with a normal butcher. I've taken a big cut off the flat that I'm making corned beef with that isn't shown in this picture.

[Chris__M]

Is there another name for this cut of beef?? I was in Bookers and the guy pointed me to Salt Beef - also what sort of price would you expect to pay for this cut??

The confusion there is that Salt Beef (which is beef, cured in brine then later cooked), is often made from Brisket. As is pastrami, for that matter. You want neither of these for your purposes, you want a raw, uncured, brisket.

I've managed to find them in my local Bookers, but not always, so it may be worth looking again, sometime. A butcher should always be able to do you a whole brisket, although you may need to give them a couple of day's notice.

With regard to the Tesco rolled briskets, while first experimenting, I used them a couple of times, getting the largest one they had, and then unrolling it into a flat bit of meat. To my mind, it's worth a go, as for the price of them, it's a cheap experiment. Certainly, I've never ended up with anything but a nice piece of meat - not perfect, perhaps, but perfectly good for sarnies.

[clairbare]

Thanks for that Chris

Right well we have managed to take the pictures that were posted on here to the butcher in town (we are going to try and establish a good relationship with him but fear we do not buy enough meat yet ) he pulled out a 6lb+ vacuum packed brisket with no fat on it

He is keeping one by for us (as he has a bigger fridge than us ) and I am going back tomorrow to purchase it (around £25) then will bring it home to take pictures

So we will have Brisket, Pork shoulder & Chicken thighs to have yet another practice on on Saturday - the neighbours are looking forward to their tea (hope we don't disappoint )

So any tips for the brisket

[Steve]

Here's my 2p...

Don't overdo it on the seasoning with brisket. I like my beef to taste like beef A simple salt and pepper rub is delicious on brisket, or use the copycat recipe for Lawry's on here and use seasoned salt and cracked black pepper. You don't want a sweet rub that's the main thing.

Also remember brisket doesn't taste like prime rib, I inject mine with concentrated beef stock mixed with some worcestershire sauce, onion powder and garlic powder. Plenty of people will tell you not to inject brisket and that's a fair approach to take, it's really down to personal preference.

I've recently started to separate the point and flat for cooking and that's the way I'm going to keep doing it for now, again its personal preference so do it your own way.

Bet you're looking forward to that briskie though