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Effectively cooking those thin little brisket flats from Costco?

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    Effectively cooking those thin little brisket flats from Costco?

    As others have mentioned, my Costco seems to only carry choice flats that are fairly thin......and that is it as far as Brisket goes. I will admit to being a brisket neophyte as I have only cooked 3 in my life, one was great following the "official" Pit Barrel Cooker web instructions, one was tough and dry and the the third one was simply OK. Since I love brisket I really need to refine my technique so I have confidence in my ability to turn out consistent results.

    The flat options at Costco are all fairly small and thin from what I can tell. How should I cook this thing? Given the size I am guessing there will not be much of a stall which concerns me about turning out another dry and tough brisket. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

    #2
    Personally, I would branch out and look somewhere else for my briskets, if the selection they have isn't very good.

    Comment


      #3
      I agree that there are better options for brisket than the small Costco ones. However I always inject choice brisket. They don’t have a lot of internal fat and can be tough. Cook it at a lower temp, around 225. And monitor the temperature with an external thermometer. You can get a baseline on any piece of meat with some trial and error.

      Take care, Jamie

      Comment


        #4
        My first brisket was a 16# packer from Costco, and the flat end was pretty thin - maybe down to an inch or so at the thin end. My thoughts are that to preserve moisture in the small flats I see at Costco is to wrap the brisket in foil sooner rather than later. Meathead says to wrap as early as 150F in his brisket cooking instructions, and that is what I did on the 16# packer, and while the flat was not as moist as the point, it was still very good. I think with a thin flat retaining moisture is probably more critical than better bark.

        Comment


        • MeatMonster
          MeatMonster commented
          Editing a comment
          Totally agree jfmorris I always wrap a little earlier on thinner Briskets. Also on full packers I have had some success with partially wrapping in foil (i.e. the thin end of the flat) to equalise the cook across the cut.

        #5
        Leave a nice little fat cap on that dude, dry brine for 2 days, run fat cap up, cook until probe tender, use some mop sauce for some added moistness.

        Comment


          #6
          If all I could find for brisket was flats, I would do chuck roasts instead of brisket! The point is without a doubt my favoritest part and the major reason I do brisket. Also seems just wrong to further braise it in BBQ sauce (burnt ends). Maybe I'll do the next one "bass ackwards" and make burnt ends out of the flat...

          Comment


          • Steve R.
            Steve R. commented
            Editing a comment
            I would like this twice if I could! I actually like the flat just fine, but only when I cut it myself from a packer and cook the two parts separately.

          #7
          You could do pastrami with those smaller flats. It’s not brisket in the end, but just another option.

          Comment


          • PappyBBQ
            PappyBBQ commented
            Editing a comment
            Yup. I corn 'em and use 'em for corned beef and pastrami..

          • Troutman
            Troutman commented
            Editing a comment
            +3 on pastrami. If the flat on any brisket I buy is anything less than say 1 1/2” , I chop it off and corn it. I still get brisket that I can control and lunch meat I can enjoy during the week.

          • CowboyScott
            CowboyScott commented
            Editing a comment
            I vote for pastrami as well. Did that about a month ago with a flat and it was phenomenal.

          #8
          I am used to cooking thin briskets with no fat on or in them. Most brisket here in Argentina is grass fed veal or younger cattle. For me I cook em hot n fast (300f) and wrap em early in foil. If you can rest them in cooler for a long period to help soften themdoesn't hurt. As above when really lean I use as Pastrami which works ok.

          Comment


            #9
            Costco is the best choice for brisket out here in the NYC suburbs. All supermarkets have are tiny little flats that are maybe 2-3 lbs. have never seen a whole packer. Butcher shops rarely have anything more than that. At least at Costco you can generally find 6-7 lb flats with some point still attached.

            Pastrami or sous vide que works the best for me with those options.

            Comment


            • Livermoron
              Livermoron commented
              Editing a comment
              I second the sous vide option...

            #10
            I cooked a small trimmed Choice 5lb flat last weekend and did the following:
            1. Injected with Stubb's Beef Marinade the night before
            2. Rubbed with Eat BBQ Most Powerful Stuff and a sprinkle of Montreal for texture
            3. Cooked at 250 degrees in WSM without water pan for 5 hrs
            4. Wrapped in foil with French Dip broth and back on WSM for 2.5 hrs
            5. Cooked until probe tender 203 degrees. Let cool in foil for 10 minutes.
            6. Wrapped in Saran Wrap, tin foil and towel, then put in cooler for 2 hours to rest
            7. Sliced and immediately served
            It came out tender and flavorful!

            Comment


              #11
              If you are looking at 2-3lb little flats, maybe try playing around with a Sous Vide and smoker/ grill combination.

              Comment


              • Troutman
                Troutman commented
                Editing a comment
                That’s actually a very good suggestion. You even have the option of doing it in a medium rare, steak-like finish !!

              #12
              Sous-B-Que, or very gentle QvQ... I dried out the tip of one doing QVQ, but nothing I wouldn't eat.

              I had an idea based on that that involved reconfiguration. Two different ideas.
              1- Trim the tip about halfway to where it gets acceptably thick. Apply Transglutimase (aka MooGlue), and reattach the trim to the brisket, lining the fibers up, to make a blunt end with about an inch of doubled over brisket. TG is flavorless, and should work very nicely for this.

              2- Trim the tip all the way to where it gets acceptably thick... and roll to use as a smoked matambre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matambre
              With proper slow cook, that should fix the problems inherent to brisket, and make you a nice steak like appetizer or chef bite while waiting for the brisket. Figure about an inch of thin brisket, about 4 inches wide, rolled around a filling, smoked until the brisket stalls, and then seared off...

              3- Trim the tip of the very thin, save for ground beef or pitch like any other trim.

              Comment


                #13
                Thank you all for the suggestions, I appreciate the feedback!!

                Comment


                  #14
                  My costco the other day had small prime flats. I grabbed one and did it exactly as Meathead suggests for brisket. Injected with home made beef broth. Used his beef rub. Used the Texas crutch and let the temp come down in a cooler. I have struggled with brisket being dry, and this one was a success. Getting prime made the difference.

                  Comment


                    #15
                    you could smoke it and make chili out of it if you don't like it

                    Comment

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