briskets -- what is ideal size, trimming, etc.?

[Fellers Ranch]

Recent discussions about briskets leads me to ask a few questions. We ask these questions of individual customers quite regularly, but I thought seeing answers from some of you would be interesting.. The questions:

1. What size briskets do you prefer?

2. How much of trimming do you want to do? (versus purchasing it after it is completely -- or close thereto -- trimmed?)

3. Do you prefer fresh or frozen?

4. How/where do you buy? (Local butcher; grocery store; large chain/box store; on-line)

Depending on where someone buys their briskets, they may or may not have a say on those topics.

I'm involved with the production and sales side of the beef industry, but on a small scale. One benefit of being small is it allows flexibility in trying to meet customers' requests and preferences.

Our inventory changes day to day, but here's an example:

May 17 Brisket Inventory

Size: 6.15 - 24# (majority between 12.5 and 18#) ** we've been harvesting larger calves lately that we often do, so our brisket sizes are a bit larger than we often have.

Inventory: 50 (rather high for us, but we try to build a bigger inventory in the spring because we know we are entering the busy season)
(34 frozen; 16 fresh)

Sale Outlets: We identify 4 categories of buyers: 1. On-line sales; 2. retail sales; 3. restaurant sales; 4. competition sales (backyard and pro).

For on-line sales, we only offer two size ranges: 10-12# and 12-14#.

Thanks for any feedback!

[barelfly]

For size, I like 13-15lb briskets. Just a good number, although I’ve purchased larger when I had more people coming over to eat. As for trimming, I like to do that myself because I’ll use that for tallow or to grind up for future use. I use to leave a little more fat on the brisket, but watching and learning over time, the last one I trimmed pretty well and shaped it as well. I’ve purchased from three places in my smoking time - Costco, Snake River and a local butcher. The only frozen one was from SRF (at least I believe it was frozen - it’s been a while), as I buy them when I plan to cook, or at least within a few weeks of smoking.

[Jerod Broussard]

1. What size briskets do you prefer? 10-12lb but it has been years since that size was fairly common.

2. How much of trimming do you want to do? NONE. But just like boneless pork butts, I'd rather not pay someone else to do it.

3. Do you prefer fresh or frozen? Fresh if I'm dry brining NOW.

4. How/where do you buy? Wolly World mostly. There are times I get in a case or two (60-70lbs each) to cook that someone else purchased at a local grocer. All that does is give me practice on 18-22 pounders and appreciate the fact I can pick my own most of the time. Cause some of them dudes ain't "Kosher."

[tstalafuse]

I prefer in the 16lb range. I would like to do as little trimming as possible, but don't mind trimming. I prefer fresh, but even the local butcher shops only sell ones that have previously been frozen. I tried harvesting one fresh, but the rancher seemed upset, so I mostly buy from Costco.

[STEbbq]

I prefer 12-15 pound briskets as that is about the right size for a family of 5 to eat relatively quickly.

I don’t mind on fresh versus frozen as I am never cooking one immediately.

I have bought from Porter Road, Click Akaushi, Creekstone, local place that sold grass fed brisket, and Costco. I am really looking to acquire prime or prime-like beef at a reasonable cost. All local butchers sell choice only.

I prefer to do my own trimming to save on costs, avoid a bad job done on trimming, and sometimes I can use the trimmings for burgers.

I always have a brisket in the freezer available but the number of briskets per year I buy depends on how many I cook.

[STEbbq]

I don’t mind doing up to 18 pounds if I had extra guests or a plan for leftovers to be eaten quickly.

[texastweeter]

14-16lbs

I prefer to trim

fresh

HEB or Sams

[58limited]

For the kamado: 10-12 lbs untrimmed seems to be the ideal size.

For the offset: I prefer around a 15 to 17 pounder untrimmed but can do any size.

I like packer briskets since they are generally cheaper - I prefer to do the trimming myself. Trim goes into ground beef or sausage.

I generally buy from HEB. Fresh or frozen doesn't matter to me, I often buy briskets and pork butts on sale and freeze them. Prime is about $4/lb and wagyu is about $8/lb at HEB. Interestingly, choice is more expensive than prime at $5/lb on heb.com

[Henrik]

* 14-16lbs. To me absolute weight isn't that important, but thickness of flat is. I want thick flats, it always cooks better.

* I prefer to trim myself. I like that I can choose to trim more for certain cooks, and less for others. I.e. I'm in the drivers seat. Plus: every brisket is different.

* Fresh - if I'm cooking it within a week

* Anywhere I can find good quality briskets, which in Sweden isn't easy.

[yakima]

Size less important than USDA grade. They are all too big. May start separating point from flat.

Prefer to trim myself.

Fresh.

Costco or Rosauer's grocery store.

I want cryovac, then wet age up to 90 days.
We have Snake River Farms in our backyard, so will never mail order.

[Mosca]

I guess right under 15 pounds or so. It’s not that easy an answer, because regardless of size, some is going to get frozen; do I want to freeze less brisket, or cook brisket less often? The last one I bought was 11.2 pounds. The biggest ever was a tick over 20, maybe 21 pounds? But that was shaped like a tadpole, the flat was long and thin.

I don’t mind trimming. I find it relaxing. I’ve gotten better at it over the years. I find it gets me familiar with the roast.

No preference between fresh or frozen, other than the planning. I have a nice brisket in the freezer, but if I want brisket tomorrow, well….

I’ve purchased briskets from Sam’s Club, Creekstone, and Snake River Farms. The best one I’ve made has been from Creekstone. But all have been very good. The last one, a prime packer from Sam’s Club, was actually excellent. It had some issues, but when all was said and done it tasted great.

I’d order any size you offered, if I were ordering. But Mrs Mosca has been pretty picky about barbecue in general any more. Now when I make something, I throw a piece of chicken thigh on the grill for her when I’m done, she doesn’t even want poultry seasoning on it. Just some salt. It’s cool, it’s easy to do, it’s just a piece of chicken.

The brisket in the freezer is a Snake River Farms Gold. I was going to make it for a cookout last year, but that fizzled when we couldn’t get all our friends to agree to a date. We’re working on it for this summer, maybe in a couple weeks. Or three? Idk, Mrs Mosca is in charge of that part. I make the food, she makes the plans.

[klflowers]

12-15 pounds. I prefer trimming myself. Fresh or frozen doesn’t matter; I always freeze them anyway since I never buy one with the intention of cooking it right away. I get mine from Costco, Sam’s or a local butcher. Mostly Costco because the butcher doesn’t stock many and I prefer them to Sam’s. The best one I have had was a prime brisket from Costco.

[Bob K]

I like them around 15#, though as Henrik said, I'd like a thick, or at least uniform, flat.

I'm going to trim and shape regardless, so I don't mind it. I leave about 1/4" on the flat, and trim all fat off the point and bottom. I do think some have way too much fat cap, and paying for huge knobs of deckle is annoying. But I do use most of it for grind & sausage. Prefer middle of the road I guess.

Prefer fresh now as I tend to order a week or 2 out from the planned cook. Brisket cooks aren't spur of the moment.

All purchased online. Used to buy Sams but they can be hit or miss and don't like dealing with that circus only to find they're out. Have tried Hassle, Click, Porter Road, Creekstone, and SRF. Most times it's SRF Black, which are consistently great.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Hmmm I think personally I like to do 15-18 lb briskets. It's such a big, long cook, I want to end up with as much as possible at the end of it all. My wife is always rolling her eyes, trying to get me to get a smaller one, if I'm going to get one at all. She's not the biggest fan of beef - she'll eat it, but she definitely prefers pork and chikkin - at least the way I cook them. Maybe my briskets suck? lol Others don't seem to think so, she just didn't grow up eating a lot of beef, so it's not her preference.

I prefer fresh, cryovac, as I'm usually wet again them in my own fridge for 60, 90 days or more before smoking them.

I prefer to trim myself. I enjoy the process, I like shaping it the way I want, and I don't want to pay the butcher to do it and then end up with $8/lb (or more) for brisket. Butchers here only carry choice. So I usually get mine at Costco or Sam's and aim for Prime if they have them


*Note* I'd freaking LOVE to try a 25lb wagyu packer brisket someday - but then, I'd have to break into my 401k to manage that.

[DaveD]

1. What size briskets do you prefer?

~12 lbs seems good for us.

2. How much of trimming do you want to do? (versus purchasing it after it is completely -- or close thereto -- trimmed?)

Want to do? None would be great. But realistically, I expect them to be in need of full trimming prior to cooking.

3. Do you prefer fresh or frozen?

Frozen, because it'll go into the chest freezer anyway, I always need plenty of lead time to plan a brisket cook and don't have access to decent quality fresh brisket anyway. (see next Q)

4. How/where do you buy? (Local butcher; grocery store; large chain/box store; on-line)

Online because there isn't squat for quality brisket near me.

[DaveD]

Also, just visited the site and I don't see any brisket listed on the product page. Are you currently out of stock?

[DaveD]

STEbbq That is weird, how did you get to that page? When you go to their site and hit Products, brisket is not listed.

Edit: I got to it by searching Brisket in their search tool. So why don't they list it on their Products page? I say again: Weird!

[STEbbq]

I don’t know Dave. It is the very bottom of the product page in the last row. Part of the issue may be it is a pic of Minnesota versus brisket.

[DaveD]

STEbbq You are quite right - I missed it because of that graphic, I just wasn't reading closely enough. My bad!