Cuts for Brisket

Hello.  Ever hear the term "eating high on the hog"?  The whole process of low and slow came about because poor folks could not afford to buy the "good" cuts of meat.  SO! they had to make do with what they had.  That is also were soul food came from.  Let's face it; brisket is one of the WORST cuts of beef you can buy.  If you don't know what you are doing you could not cut cooked brisket with a chainsaw.  BUT!  follow the low and slow and you end up with a wonderful tasting piece of meat.

Your question brings up several different issues.

So if I buy wagyu brisket it will surely be better than if I buy select.  And so on down the grading system.  But does it?  We are forgetting the cooking process.  The whole point of low and slow.  The whole point is to take the toughest nastiest hunk of meat and turn it into something FANTASTIC.

NOW! having said that, buy the BEST select you can find.  Quality produces quality.  So if you buy a select brisket that is mostly fat; you have wasted your money.

I hope some of this makes sense to some one.  

  Keep Smokin!

Danny

Brisket is a WELL used muscle and therefore can be very tough, but along with that comes flavor.... I have cooked about a dozen w-m select briskets... I season them very well and smoke at 140 for many hours, then elevate the smoker temp to 200 ish for many more hours... probably 16 hours total... once they get to 185 IT or so, the meat starts to tenderize.... I like to leave them at that temp for 3-4 hours until they fall apart and are delicious..... I find cooking below the boiling point of water is the key to moist and tender meat.... everyone has their own method including high temp and short cooks... I like trimming the fat to 1/4" or so because I don't like the flavor of the fat cap.. It's the intramuscular fat that keeps the meat moist and has the best flavor.... IMO.... YMMV....

HOORAY FOR BELOW THE BOILING POINT OF WATER.

 works every time.

I use Wally World Select Briskys and have had no trouble . They all come out juicy and tender even cooking at 225*F .

The better grades may have good marbling and cook a bit faster , but in the end , they all deliver flavor and  satisfaction.


Have fun and . .  .