Somehow I have gone several decades as an adult without having smoked a brisket, but I'm going to try to rectify that. My problem is when looking at what, exactly, to buy.

Since this is my first try, and I'm not feeding a large group, I'm really not keen on spending $40-50 on a large brisket (or cooking something like 15 pounds worth of meat). But when I looked at HEB and Kroger, the only options I saw were either big briskets like this or smaller "point-only" or "flat-only" pieces that were maybe 4-6 pounds.

My assumption was that I would want both a point and a flat, but is that actually correct? And if my best option is just to find the smallest whole brisket I can, even if it's a little more than I need this time, does it matter whether it's already been trimmed? There were labels on some of the whole briskets about whether they had been trimmed, had the deckel removed, etc. What am I looking for there?

As mentioned, we have HEB and Kroger (we're not members of Sam's or Costco), but we also have a nice local meat market.

Thanks for any help!

Unless there is a good sale, you are going to be spending $40+ on a whole brisket. The untrimmed will be cheaper than the trimmed since there is less labor. Remember that the finished weight will be less after trimming and cooking so don't let that bother you. Obviously a brisket is a lot of meat, but it freezes and reheats great for later.

For price and quality, HEB is hard to beat.

That's about what I expected to hear, and I'm good with freezing some, or sharing, or both.

Is it a given that I should want a whole brisket in order to cook what we expect a Texas brisket to be? I was actually surprised to see that they sell flats and points separately.

And if whole, should I cook it untrimmed or trimmed?

TXAG 05 said:

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Unless there is a good sale, you are going to be spending $40+ on a whole brisket. The untrimmed will be cheaper than the trimmed since there is less labor. Remember that the finished weight will be less after trimming and cooking so don't let that bother you. Obviously a brisket is a lot of meat, but it freezes and reheats great for later.

For price and quality, HEB is hard to beat.

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Agree with all he said. They freeze great and I enjoy left overs for several days as well. And if you are cooking chili, soups or some other dishes, brisket can be a great meat to add in.

You will end with well less than 1/2 the original weight. Between trimming before smoking, removing the remaining deckle fat after and just plain water loss it's going to happen.

It's the biggest reason why good bbq costs so much. You may buy it for $4/lb but the effective cost of the finished weight may be $10/lb. And that's before labor, wood, prep costs for rub etc. Next thing you know you are paying $25/lb at the register to sit and eat.

ConroeAg said:

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That's about what I expected to hear, and I'm good with freezing some, or sharing, or both.

Is it a given that I should want a whole brisket in order to cook what we expect a Texas brisket to be? I was actually surprised to see that they sell flats and points separately.

And if whole, should I cook it untrimmed or trimmed?

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Trimmed, whole brisket.

From untrimmed weight, you can lose close to 50% of the weight after trimming and cooking.

If you have a vac sealer, just get a larger brisket.

Right before serving I separate the point and flat and slice to each person's preference. The flat is then refrigerated over night before I vac seal it. I freeze and then use this in chili.

Depending on what's left of the point I usually give about half to my folks and I keep the other half. Eat or freeze it. I'm generally feeding 5-6 adults.

I also avoid the ones over 14-15lbs, mainly due to too many leftovers, but the smaller ones often have a very thin flat end, that would be done way ahead of the rest. Just one thing to look at.

Also a test of how much deckle (hard) fat you may be buying (and thus trimming), is to see if the brisket will "bend", in its package (along with the visual inspection). Unless you're into making sausage, a pile of fat trimmings, before you even begin, is discouraging.

If you have a vacuum sealer and a sous vide, that's the route to go for freezing and reheating.

Look for the smallest brisket they have that still has some width and size to the flat. That's one of the common things you see at all the top BBQ joints that people are surprised by...the briskets are always smaller. The smallest you can go and closest you can get to the flat and point being the same depth.

Buy a whole brisket. Seperate the point from the flat. Smoke the point. Brine the flat , smoke with the point and slice for pastrami. Makes great sammiches

Have you considered a Beyond Meat Brisket?

Thanks to everyone for the answers! I know this (like many things on this forum) could be Googled, but for some things we just like to get opinions from a group of "real people" who know stuff.

GeorgiAg said:

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Have you considered a Beyond Meat Brisket?

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I sincerely hope that no such thing exists.

ConroeAg said:

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GeorgiAg said:

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Have you considered a Beyond Meat Brisket?

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I sincerely hope that no such thing exists.

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Definitely a joke, but I have a vegan doctor friend and I could see him trying to pedal something like this on me and I'd have to pretend it tastes good in front of his wife and kid.

Rice grad - figures.

https://girlscangrill.com/bbq-tips/separate-brisket-point-and-flat/#:~:text=The%20flat%20cut%20is%20a,smoking%20a%20higher%2Dgraded%20brisket.

Here's what you do. Walk up to the cooler with what size you want already in mind. Pick up whatever one is on top and shake it a little. Hold it high and shake it. Put it back and grab one that is the size you want. Hold it high and shake it. Grunt and put it in your cart. Tell the closest guy 'they just don't make them like they used to, but I guess this one will do.' Then walk confidently away.

The prime at HEB are smaller. Paying more for less but I got one for around $35 this past weekend.

I used to be scared of the brisket (price/size).

But now I'm decent with it. This last brisket fed our family of 6 four meals. Get a food saver and sous vide for reheating. Comes out like you just smoked it.

Sliced Brisket on the day of smoking.
Put 2 cups of brisket in the fridge and made brisket fried rice a couple of days later. Sub Bachans japanese bbq sauce for soy. Best damn fried rice ive ever eaten.
Froze the remainder of the point and made brisket nachos.
Froze the remainder of the flat and made chopped sandwiches.

Now that you've been lured into buying a whole brisket, tell us your plan on what you're going to use to smoke this bad boy (offset, ceramic, pellet, electric….), what wood, temp, slather, rub and most importantly, fat side up or down, wrapped after the stall or not wrapped at all, and are you pulling at a certain temp or by feel? We can then help you debate these most important issues for a minimum of 3-4 more pages and get this thread through the weekend to keep us all preoccupied on TexAgs.

Also, take photos and post pics. Give us a ConroeAg "goin live" thread.

I'm smoking a 14 lb'er tomorrow night for a party at our place for Saturday lunch. I smoke 1-2 a year. I'll show you mine if you show us yours.

A 15-17lb brisket after you trim it will only be 12lbs or so.

And get a prime brisket. You will notice a huge difference

I knew I might have trouble limiting discussion to only the "purchase" part. So many cans of worms to open with brisket involved.

It may or may not happen *this* weekend, but I'll update you guys.

I've done all the variations and definitely had more success with the whole briskets vs the trimmed parts. Look for a smaller one with the least amount of trimming needed (and avoid ones w/ a thin flat if possible).

Franklin's Help

If you haven't already, you will need to spend a minimum of $8,000 on a quality stick burner to smoke it. The wood must also be perfectly seasoned in an average air temperature of 73.8 degrees at no more than 33.1% humidity for a minimum of 411 days. So, while you might want to buy the brisket now, you've got a lot of work to do before you can actually cook it.

…which means I'll also need to go buy a good chest freezer to keep the meat in until then. Boy, things are really adding up.

I'd go ahead a build a separate building out back to do all your preparation and keep the new freezer in. It needs a sink and hot a cold running water also. A/C and heat too.

and you'll need a beer fridge.

BBQ with Franklin: The Brisket

I always wait for them to go on sale if possible, then buy and freeze one or two if not cooking right away. I always just get the untrimmed and try to find one with the least amount of thicker fatty areas. I look for one that is pretty uniform and tapers gradually in width. Also, try to find one that will flex easier than others which usually means less fat.