Beef brisket - is this 'normal'?
Discussion
Not sure normal is the right word, but just took delivery of various meats, including the beef brisket for tomorrow.
To me, this seem to be a bloody thin slab of meat! I've actually only done brisket once before, but from what I remember it was a lot thicker than this?
I was assuming I'd be slow cooking/smoking this for 10 hours or so tomorrow, but something this thin I can't imagine is suitable? Or am I being dramatic?
To me, this seem to be a bloody thin slab of meat! I've actually only done brisket once before, but from what I remember it was a lot thicker than this?
I was assuming I'd be slow cooking/smoking this for 10 hours or so tomorrow, but something this thin I can't imagine is suitable? Or am I being dramatic?
Looks like a small piece of the end of the flat, how much does it weigh? I'd guess 1-1.5 KG from the picture. If you're smoking for 10 hrs you probably want a whole brisket, the last one I smoked was 8kg after trimming it down, smoked for 12 hrs in all.
If that's a flat you'll need to smoke it and hold a low temp, then wrap it early to prevent it from taking on too much smoke and cooking too quickly and then over cooking. It's doable, won't take 10 hrs, probably more like 6. I'd then recommend holding it at 70C for another 4-6 hrs in an oven, well wrapped. The additional holding time will mellow out the smoke and give the sinews in the meat more time to break down. I would usually use a piece that size for pastrami, so if you look up some vids on YouTube on smoking pastrami that might give you some good pointers.
If that's a flat you'll need to smoke it and hold a low temp, then wrap it early to prevent it from taking on too much smoke and cooking too quickly and then over cooking. It's doable, won't take 10 hrs, probably more like 6. I'd then recommend holding it at 70C for another 4-6 hrs in an oven, well wrapped. The additional holding time will mellow out the smoke and give the sinews in the meat more time to break down. I would usually use a piece that size for pastrami, so if you look up some vids on YouTube on smoking pastrami that might give you some good pointers.
Edited by AndyTR on Friday 6th February 15:22
Agreed - that's a small piece of flat.
If you are buying brisket to BBQ then you'd be looking for a significantly bigger/heavier piece of meat
I'd be looking somewhere like this:
https://www.johndavidsons.com/categories/pitmaster...
If you are buying brisket to BBQ then you'd be looking for a significantly bigger/heavier piece of meat
I'd be looking somewhere like this:
https://www.johndavidsons.com/categories/pitmaster...
Edited by Motorman74 on Friday 6th February 15:21
Motorman74 said:
Agreed - that's a small piece of flat.
If you are buying brisket to BBQ then you'd be looking for a significantly bigger/heavier piece of meat
I'd be looking somewhere like this:
https://www.johndavidsons.com/categories/pitmaster...
Thanks for that link...some good looking stuff on there! If you are buying brisket to BBQ then you'd be looking for a significantly bigger/heavier piece of meat
I'd be looking somewhere like this:
https://www.johndavidsons.com/categories/pitmaster...
Edited by Motorman74 on Friday 6th February 15:21
AndyTR said:
Looks like a small piece of the end of the flat, how much does it weigh? I'd guess 1-1.5 KG from the picture. If you're smoking for 10 hrs you probably want a whole brisket, the last one I smoked was 8kg after trimming it down, smoked for 12 hrs in all.
If that's a flat you'll need to smoke it and hold a low temp, then wrap it early to prevent it from taking on too much smoke and cooking too quickly and then over cooking. It's doable, won't take 10 hrs, probably more like 6. I'd then recommend holding it at 70C for another 4-6 hrs in an oven, well wrapped. The additional holding time will mellow out the smoke and give the sinews in the meat more time to break down. I would usually use a piece that size for pastrami, so if you look up some vids on YouTube on smoking pastrami that might give you some good pointers.
It's 1kg, bought from my usual favourite: https://www.hgwalter.com/collections/beef-slow-coo...If that's a flat you'll need to smoke it and hold a low temp, then wrap it early to prevent it from taking on too much smoke and cooking too quickly and then over cooking. It's doable, won't take 10 hrs, probably more like 6. I'd then recommend holding it at 70C for another 4-6 hrs in an oven, well wrapped. The additional holding time will mellow out the smoke and give the sinews in the meat more time to break down. I would usually use a piece that size for pastrami, so if you look up some vids on YouTube on smoking pastrami that might give you some good pointers.
Edited by AndyTR on Friday 6th February 15:22
The last (and only one) I did was exactly the same, 1kg from HG......but it certainly wasn't as flat as a pancake like this seems to be!
That one did end up taking about 10 hours, but as I said it was thicker.
Pretty disappointed TBH, this is hardly going to make nice big slices is it.
Oh well, I'll follow your advice and make something of it.
UTH said:
It's 1kg, bought from my usual favourite: https://www.hgwalter.com/collections/beef-slow-coo...
The last (and only one) I did was exactly the same, 1kg from HG......but it certainly wasn't as flat as a pancake like this seems to be!
That one did end up taking about 10 hours, but as I said it was thicker.
Pretty disappointed TBH, this is hardly going to make nice big slices is it.
Oh well, I'll follow your advice and make something of it.
If you are looking for a cut of about a kilo to smoke, have a look at the brisquetta (https://www.johndavidsons.com/product/jacks-creek-brisquetta-brisket/) I've done a couple for when it's just been me and the wife, and they came out great. Take ~4 hours ishThe last (and only one) I did was exactly the same, 1kg from HG......but it certainly wasn't as flat as a pancake like this seems to be!
That one did end up taking about 10 hours, but as I said it was thicker.
Pretty disappointed TBH, this is hardly going to make nice big slices is it.
Oh well, I'll follow your advice and make something of it.
Motorman74 said:
AndyTR said:
Thanks for that link...some good looking stuff on there!
I've used John Davidson's many times, so I'd have no issue with recommending them - great service and great meat.Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff