Left hand or right hand Brisket-which is more tender?

[indaswamp]

I know...I know...age old debate. But-which do you prefer? Is there a difference? Is one more tender than the other? Do cows favor one leg more than the other like people do arms???

What say you?

 

[gmc2003]

How would you tell if buying from a store? I've never seen it(or noticed) anything listed on the package stating which side of the cow the meat came from, and we don't get full packers here very often. So when we do I'm just happy to get one.

Chris

 

[jimmyinsd]

How would you tell if buying from a store? I've never seen it(or noticed) anything listed on the package stating which side of the cow the meat came from, and we don't get full packers here very often. So when we do I'm just happy to get one.

Chris

The shape tells you what side of the animal the brisket came off. it has to do with how the brisket flat tapers in relation to the point.

As far as if animals favor one leg or the other.... its seems so with ours at least when I have bothered to watch them. nothing scientific but they seem to prefer one leg over the other in the front pretty consistently... does this translate to a more tender piece of meat or is it just a feed and genetics thing... I have no idea.

 

[challenger]

I'm a right Twix kind of guy.

 

[SmokyMose]

How would you know?

 

[tallbm]

I've done left briskets just in case but I can't say I noticed a difference from the right briskets.
When I did my reading on it a long while back I read that most cows are right side oriented so they get up with their right front leg most often.
I don't know if it really matters but I go ahead and pick left hand briskets when I get the chance unless there are none or they all suck compared to the right hand briskets :)

 

[chopsaw]

Yeah ,,, you also need to consider if the cattle was raised on level ground , or did it have a slope ?

 

[eat more beef]

That's funny.... Mostly feed and genetics shape the flavor and tenderness of meat. Days fed also have a large part in it.

 

[hb99]

This reminds me of a TRUE story...When I was last stationed in Germany we got a fast food chicken restaurant put in. Being new to the area, it did a lot of business. Since it was only 2 blocks form the high school, they also had a lot of kids sign up to work.

I'm in there one day and when placing my order I ask the young guy if I could get 2 LEFT breasts. He said "sure", then turned around to fill the box. Then he turned around to me and said "I'm sorry, I've only been here a few days and I don't know which ones are the left or right breasts". I said, that's OK, just give me what you have.

A couple of days pass and I go back and there are 3-4 people behind the counter being talked to by the manager. He mentioned something about how to deal with customer complaints. So, I mentioned that I was in a couple of days ago and requested 2 LEFT breasts and the person taking my order didn't know which were which. Then one of the guys said, that was me. The manager looked at him then at me and said "I hope you were joking"...and I said "Yeah, I was, but he didn't catch the joke." The kid got a little embarrassed and we all had a good laugh.

Thing is, this kid has a funny story to tell for the rest of his life.

 

[lantzy75]

I had no idea there were left or right handed cows! Interesting concept though. I'll have to ask my butcher if the cow they got the brisket from were left or right handed :D

 

[indaswamp]

Not a scientific study, but I was up at the camp this past weekend and I rode by a lot of farms with cows. I took notice of how many were laying on the right vs. left....

I counted 3 on the left and 41 on the right. Something to think about.....

 

[jimmyinsd]

Not a scientific study, but I was up at the camp this past weekend and I rode by a lot of farms with cows. I took notice of how many were laying on the right vs. left....

I counted 3 on the left and 41 on the right. Something to think about.....

how many were laying with their heads pointed down hill?

 

[indaswamp]

how many were laying with their heads pointed down hill?

all of them....

 

[SmokyMose]

all of them....

Was it cloudy or sunny?

 

[jimmyinsd]

Was it cloudy or sunny?

I am guessing flat or the cattle were dead. I've noticed that the critters always lay either level or slightly uphill. If they don't they tend to bloat and thats a bad thing for a cow.

 

[indaswamp]

I am guessing flat or the cattle were dead. I've noticed that the critters always lay either level or slightly uphill. If they don't they tend to bloat and thats a bad thing for a cow.

Oh, their spines were definitely aligned either level or slightly up hill, but all were looking down hill....

 

[chopsaw]

I was watching Cooks country today . They were doing a picnic shank for pulled pork . The gal said " I've often heard the left leg is more tender than the right leg " I couldn't believe it .

 

[Gwanger]

The shape tells you what side of the animal the brisket came off. it has to do with how the brisket flat tapers in relation to the point.

As far as if animals favor one leg or the other.... its seems so with ours at least when I have bothered to watch them. nothing scientific but they seem to prefer one leg over the other in the front pretty consistently... does this translate to a more tender piece of meat or is it just a feed and genetics thing... I have no idea.

I don't think it is that hard to figure out, just watch for when he is next up to swing the bat!

 

[myownidaho]

Of the ones standing, how many were going clockwise around the hill, versus counterclockwise?

 

[hb99]

I don't think it is that hard to figure out, just watch for when he is next up to swing the bat!

Those left handed batters are udderly amazing!