by Chris__M » 04 Jul 2015, 09:50
May sound like sacrilege, but if you don't want to risk it all on your first attempt; spend the 40-50 quid on a real packer brisket, then cut it into 3 good sized (2kg) pieces. Cook one, and refrigerate or freeze the other two bits for future tries.
It may sound like a waste, having bought that big slab of meat, but it does mean you are cooking the full thickness of brisket, with a good fat cap, so it is more representative of cooking a whole brisket than unrolling rolled briskets (which may be made up of bits and pieces inside, anyway). Plus, you are more likely to get a good quality piece of beef, with each cook only costing you about 15 quid for the meat.
To get a decent experience, I don't think you want to go smaller than 3 pieces. In particular, I suggest you save the point end for last, once you think you know what you are doing.