Brisket- what do you ask for our how do you order??

[Neris]

When buying or ordering brisket what do people normally ask for? The 2 times I've ordered brisket from my butcher they haven't looked like anything shown online or in bbq books. I normally just ask for 1.5kg of brisket and end up with pic below. A thin cut that turns out very tough. It's kind of put me off doing brisket again

[UncleFester]

Hmm, I'm not sure what they're giving you. Maybe just the flat? When I get brisket I always get the whole packer (or I pick out a whole brisket if I'm at a wholesale club or such). I will defer to some of the other brisket experts, but my advice would be to make sure you find a whole brisket

[Red Man]

Are you buying grass fed? That looks extremely lean, even for a flat.

[Neris]

Yeah grass fed. our cattle are all grass fed and spend most the year out in the fields and when brought in there fed dry grass.

[Red Man]

You could try asking for a brisket point. That cut will have better marbling.

[Ahumadora]

Yep, you are just getting the flat and grass fed is much leaner and will cook a lot faster. Tell the butcher you want the whole brisket and do not specify a weight. (1.5 kg is nothing) You want it from the biggest fattest side of beef he has. 150kg and up is best. It should weigh over 6 kg. Then specify to him DO NOT TOUCH IT. You want to buy it untouched with all the fat on it. Then you can trim it yourself. Leave up to 6mm cap of fat on the whole thing when you cook it. You can always bag the left overs and freeze it.

[ecowper]

I would see if you can get a whole packer brisket from your butcher. What you want is NAMP/IMPS cut 120, which is the primal (ie the whole thing) cut. Tell your butcher that you want the Packer, which has the fat cap still on. You do not want Trimmed or Super Trimmed.

If you don't want 5-7 kilos of brisket, then you can order cut 120A or cut 120B, which is the flat and the point, respectively.

This page will probably be helpful

https://www.chefs-resources.com/types-of-meat/beef/cuts-of-beef/beef-brisket-culinary-info/

[Huskee]

I'm not sure in Ireland they'd follow the same NAMP numbering system.

[ecowper]

They will have a different numbering system, but it’s reasonably easy to look up NAMP/IMPS

[FireMan]

Shoot, and I thought you just walked in, and in a deep voice say: "giimmee a big brisket please, thank you vera much". Sorta Elvis like, and then give a confident sorta smirk, lookin at him with yer left eye.
Guess there’s more to it.

[RonB]

Ok guys. The OP is in Ireland and the butchers there may have no idea about American cuts.

To OP - show your butcher this picture. It might help.

https://www.americanfoodsgroup.com/recipes/beef_chart/fabricatedCuts/256

And try to get a whole brisket. BTW - how are you cooking it, and how do you tell when it's ready?

[Neris]

Ok guys. The OP is in Ireland and the butchers there may have no idea about American cuts.

To OP - show your butcher this picture. It might help.

https://www.americanfoodsgroup.com/recipes/beef_chart/fabricatedCuts/256

And try to get a whole brisket. BTW - how are you cooking it, and how do you tell when it's ready?

Butchers don't know much about bbq here but then again most people know sweet F A about bbq either. Burgers sausages and a bit of chicken are most people's & butchers ideas of a bbq here. I was cooking that piece in the picture for about 4 hours and i just took it off it just didn't look or feel right when I was cooking it.

[Ahumadora]

For thin lean briskets wrap in foil with some beef stock early as soon as it has some color. Forget about what ever photo you have seen on the internet of what brisket should look like. It is not going to look the same as those 10kg+ fatty monsters. Cook 250f+ (120c) until probe tender.

[Huskee]

Maybe just explain it's the pectoral muscle. Briskets will take a good 8 or 10 hrs minimum in most cases. Mine are usually 12.

[FireMan]

So ya don’t think my idea is good?
I mean one of my nick names is Murph, that should count for something.

[Ahumadora]

I blasted a 5 kg one out in 4 hours the other day. 325f with grass fed beef it is easy to do.

[Huskee]

FireMan it's def worth a shot, Murph. Flip your collar up first though. Pompadour haircut optional but encouraged.

[Lazy Layne]

I look for lots of fat on top

[johnec00]

I may be stereotyping Irish cuisine and if so, I apologize. In the US, corned beef is kind of considered an Irish specialty (especially around St. Patrick's day). So maybe tell your butcher that you want the cut that corned beef is made from, but uncured (fresh, unbrined, uncorned?)

[jfmorris]

Corned beef and cabbage is an Irish American thing. My understanding is that the dish originated in the US in the 1800's among immigrants from Ireland, and that they were substituting a cheap cut of beef for pork or bacon used in their traditional Irish dishes at the time. I.e. the traditional dish would have been bacon and cabbage. In the 1800's in the US, beef was much more plentiful and common, hence the adaptation,

[ecowper]

jfmorris that’s what I understand, also. Plus many of the initial Irish immigrants were living in the same neighborhoods in New York as the jewish population lived in. So, they were buying their meat from Jewish butchers, who didn’t carry pork.

[Neris]

Bacon & cabbage would have been more traditional Irish. Back during the migrations of the mid 1800s beef would have been a very expensive meat so not eaten. Beef only became a popular meat here in the 70s & 80s when they pushed the beef industry over other farming

[ecowper]

I have a friend who lives in Belgium. He takes pictures of the cow and the particular primal that he wants with him, plus the NAMP/IMPS numbers, etc

[FireMan]

This is fascinating. We get a history of Irish-Merican food and beef in Jewish enclaves when it should have been bacon. But, my question is, without lookin it up, what is OP. It took me awhile but figured out what F A was.

[ecowper]

OP = Original Poster

[FireMan]

Oh, so "we" mean Neris. As my momma used to say, "well why didn’t ya say so?" 😎. I’m not sure what F A is after thinkin.

[SmokingSteve]

Could it be "sweet effing all", aka "sweet F#*_ing all? Not to be vulgar or anything, just trying to answer the question.