New Years Eve brisket question

[turfmunch]

Good morning all, hope you had a great Christmas. I have a question for those in the know...

We're planning a NYE party and decided to smoke a brisket. I cant decide to slice it for sandwiches or slice it and serve it "as is". Is brisket any good when served like cheesesteaks (with grilled onions, peppers and provolove) or is it best served "plain" like a slice of roast beef?

Also, I see a lot of talk about packers vs flats....whats the difference and which would be better for my needs?

Last question for now...there will be about 10 adults and 4 kids there so how big of a brisket should I buy?

Thanks much for saving whats left of my hair.

 

[richtee]

A "packer" has both the "flat" <think corned beef chunk> and the "point" <think pork butt, only beef>

A nice packer will probably serve the crew, especially since you have other plans I have read.

Cool thing about a packer, is you can smoke it to 180 or so in the flat, seperate the point and slice the flat, and leave the point in to 200-ish, and pull it. So ya got both sliced and pulled.

Typically a plain flat is cooked to slice, 180-ish. And ya just slice it up, and maybe serve a finishing or a BBQ sauce. Folks'll figger out what to do ;{)

 

[kew_el_steve]

IMHO the Smoky Okie method is the best. It's the only way that I do mine now.

http://www.recipezaar.com/207187

 

[chris_harper]

You can buy corned beef in both points and flats.

Anyhow, I only buy packers to smoke. I smoke it until it reaches 185° in the flat. I slice the flat and pull the point. The point will hit a higher temp than the flat. Get a nice 12-lb packer and give it a whirl.

 

[fatback joe]

If you were going to do the cheesesteak kind of thing, I would cook the brisket the same as usual, slice thin and then slap them on a skillet/griddle set up for just a minute or two......just like making a cheesesteak.

You can also take the brisket slices and slap then on a charcoal grill for a bit to make a good sandwich........just don't go nuts and leave them there for long......the slices are already cooked after all.

 

[glued2it]

Me too!


We like to make Hot beef open faced sandwiches wich are really good.
Used to make french dips untill I started to use the chuck roast.
Fajita's are good too!
Never tried a cheesesteak like sandwich.


I would grap a good packer for 10 adults and 4 kids. Should be be plenty.

 

[richtee]

Huh never seen a packer style corned around here. Why not I guess...

 

[chris_harper]

Noooo. I mean, here anyway, at Wal-Mart, you can get flats and points cured for making corned beef. The points are cheaper, but better for making shredded corned beef. For sliced I buy the cured flats.

 

[richtee]

Heh OK. But I have never seen a point here. Not on it's ownsome anyway. Weird how regions affect availability on some cuts. Like that damned elusive tri ...SHEESH!