British BBQ Society Forums

Yo Dudes,
I've done a few briskets now. I've bought them from costco and a few butchers and every time I find there lacking in a good point and also have very poor marbling. I may be wrong (It may be my cooking) but I think this is leading to my brisket not being a juicy as I'd like.

I had the pleasure of tasting brisket from Franklins in Austin and although I don't expect mine to come anywhere near his in terms of flavour I'd like to get it juicy. The meat I do is tender but I just want that juice factor you get when the connective tissue breaks down. In my local butchers they have beef joints that look a decent size and have great marbling. I'm no meat expert but why don't people slow smoke these instead of brisket?

Cheers

Chris

HI Chris,

The biggest problem is the animals. In the states they inject the meat with hormones which are banned in the EU so we lose out? you will be hard pressed to find beef with good marbling unless its bred that way, we have such a varied stock of cattle breeds that constancy is also difficult. My butcher knows what i am after and searches smithfield for me to get the right one. We arent a brisket nation, especially with BBQ hence only seeing it rolled in the supermarkets for slow cooking.

Make sure you ask your butcher for a full flat and point. If i was going to choose just one or the other go for the point because it is much tastier and juicer.

For anyone that wants to know the difference between point and flat you can see them in the brisket video here viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1758

Even getting mine straight from the abattoir its still a struggle. I get decent size pieces but invariably they have had all the fat removed and although I ask for a whole brisket I have to make do with the flat and possibly a tiny bit of point if Im lucky.
When cooking I inject quite a bit and I tend to cook it lower and slower than most recipes call for. Maybe 200°-210° then foil as soon as it looks to be drying with some more liquid. Probably nowhere near the juiciness of the american ones but Ive had some nice results.

I'm lucky. I have a really good local butchers who has a walk in fridge full of beef carcases so i go into the chiller with him and tell him what i want. All of the fat is left on. Nearly had half an inch of fat on the one I'm smoking today! I find the bulk of butchers nowadays just buy all of their meat pre butchered and vacuum packed. Just keep trying different places until you find what your after.