Live in Colorado. I just went to a great meat shope
called tonys. Spent 66 dollars on a 8 pound brisket. Got it home and read the package and it’s choice. Does it really make a difference? I bought it while assuming it was select. Any thoughts on this or slow and steady and enjoy a delicious piece of meat?
Choice is good meat. I think you mean you hoped it was PRIME. SELECT is the worst of cuts, and not worth cooking. CHOICE is the middle grade.
Considering Costco has Prime full packers and flats for $2.99 a pound, and Sam's Club has Angus Choice for $2.89 a pound, $66 bucks for an 8 pound brisket is a lot of money, at over $8 per pound - especially for USDA Choice. Is it certified Angus beef (CAB) at least? If so it will likely be good.
Brisket is one of the toughest and typically cheapest cuts of beef.
Just cook it low and slow, following the directions from the Tested Recipe portion of the site, and it should be good. I would shop a little more next time, as what you paid is a lot, especially for Choice.
Thank you for the feedback. I thought so but being naive and new, completely unknown. It was from a really good meat shop in town, I know their prices are a little on the high side but I now know. Appreciate it!
Same here as EdF I've never cooked a prime always choice. Price on brisket varies on what part of the country you are in. I pay on the high end $3.99lb and low end $2.99lb. I've been tempted to buy a Prime grade brisket from Snake River Farms or Creekstone Farms but haven't convinced myself it's worth the extra money as I have been very happy with the results I've been having with choice grade. I do envy the guys who get Prime grade from Costco at $2.99lb.
To what Jon said, it's all about what you can get! I've never tried a select simply because I've always had choice available. I've done a couple choice packers and they turned out great. I scored a prime grade at Costco today and I'm interested to see if there's a noticeable difference in taste or tenderness. I'll cook it the same way as the choice and report back...
Grill/Smoke/Roast = SnS Grills Kettle + SnS Deluxe Insert & Drip n' Griddle
Grill/Smoke/Roast = Hasty-Bake Gourmet Dual Finish with HB rotisserie and Grill Grates
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Pizza = Blackstone Propane Pizza Oven (Stacy's, but she let's me use it sometimes)
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Knives
Wusthof Classic Ikon set: 9" carving knive, 2X 8" Chef's Knife, 7" Santoku and three utility knives
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Best Cookbooks - Meathead's "The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", Chris Lilly's "Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book", Aaron Franklin's "Franklin BBQ"
Cookbooks to check out - Raichlen's "Brisket Chronicles" and anything by Adam Perry Lang.
Current fanboy cookbook - "Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant"
As Jon Solberg said, BBQ is about taking the bad cuts of meat and making them good. The foods we absolutely love originate with very poor folks who got the leftovers from the rich folks. French peasants created Boeuf Bourguignon, not French nobles. Poor Jews in Eastern Europe created Pastrami, not the Romanian and Hungarian nobility. Poor blacks in the south created pulled pork, not the Plantation Owners.
Nothing for or against one, or the other. But an observation that some of the absolutely finest of foods, foods that are completely celebrated as the greatest cuisine today, come from peasants and slaves figuring out how to deal with the cast-offs that the Masters, Kings, Dukes, etc wouldn’t eat.
I think that if you cook a select brisket at 225-250, if you wrap it when the bark is set, and if you hold it for 2 hours, or so, at 170 after it is probe tender ... you will have an absolutely fine piece of meat that will wow all your guests. For your Choice brisket, this can only turn out better. Use the basics that the poor folks in Texas figured out years ago ... the Ranch owner was eating steak, what did the ranch hands eat? Brisket. How did the cook it? Following the very basic recipe I just laid out.
Excellent point. I know I'd much rather eat a select cooked by a good cook than a prime cooked by a dilettante. Plus, as you learn you will make mistakes and as frustrating as it might be, at least you didn't ruin something that cost twice as much.
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