{"id":3090,"date":"2021-01-03T18:52:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T18:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.thegentsplace.com\/?p=3090"},"modified":"2021-01-03T18:52:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-03T18:52:23","slug":"brisket-basics-buy-and-prep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.thegentsplace.com\/brisket-basics-buy-and-prep\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisket Basics: Buy and Prep"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tAfter years of watching others cook some amazing brisket for you, this might be the year you decide to take on the challenging cut of meat for yourself.\u00a0 In this two-part article we\u2019ll take a look at each part of the process to help those Gents that just need a bit of encouragement to get after it and make this the year they make their first brisket.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buy<\/span><\/h2>\n

The only type of cut you don\u2019t want for brisket is USDA Select.\u00a0 The price of brisket seems to go up all the time, and given its history as a throwaway cut or something to be ground into hamburger, it\u2019s perhaps a sign of just how far brisket has come that it\u2019s no longer confined to Select and Choice grades, but comes in Prime and even Wagyu.\u00a0 Which grade should you get?\u00a0 The best you can afford, with a note that Wagyu brisket is something you should definitely treat yourself to at least once.<\/span><\/p>\n

Generally you\u2019re going to want to get a full packer, which will be in the 12-14 pound range before trimming.\u00a0 While you\u2019ll find brisket in many grocery stores, you\u2019ll always get the best service from your local butcher, who can also get to know your likes and dislikes and can hence help you pick out better cuts for the flavors you are aiming for.<\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously with many of the briskets in packaging already it may be hard to inspect it too much, but look for good red color in the meat and \u201cbend,\u201d some flexibility right off the bat.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Brisket?<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re looking at a full\/whole packer, these are the overlapping muscles from the chest of a cow.\u00a0 The animal will use these muscles to walk, run, push itself off the ground so it\u2019s made up of tight connective tissue.\u00a0 When you are looking at the brisket itself you are going to see a \u201cpoint\u201d that is usually fattier and the \u201cflat\u201d which will have less fat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prep<\/span><\/h2>\n

Your butcher may have already trimmed down the brisket for you, in which case, great, you don\u2019t have to worry about it.\u00a0 However, if that hasn\u2019t been done, you\u2019ll want to trim it when it is cold, right out of the fridge.\u00a0 You\u2019ll want to trim your fat down to about a quarter of an inch, particularly the fat cap itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are lots of opinions on brisket rubs.\u00a0 Rather than get into those debates, we\u2019ll reference Central Texas style, which tends to simply use kosher salt and coarse grain black pepper for the rub.\u00a0 Some prefer to slather some pickle juice or yellow mustard (or both) on the brisket before laying down the rub, but like anything, this is going to come down to your preferences.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once your prep is done you\u2019ll want to leave it at room temperature for at least an hour before cooking.\u00a0 In the meantime, you can get ready for the cook.\u00a0 You should budget between 30-60 minutes per pound which puts a 16 pound brisket at between 10-12 hours.\u00a0 If you hope to eat in the evening, you\u2019re going need to start your cook early in the morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

In our next article we\u2019ll examine the cooking and cutting process.<\/span><\/p>\n

Any tips you would add for your fellow Gents?\u00a0 Let us know in the comments below.<\/span><\/i>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After years of watching others cook some amazing brisket for you, this might be the year you decide to take on the challenging cut of meat for yourself.\u00a0 In this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[415,3],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBrisket Basics: Buy and Prep - The Gents Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.thegentsplace.com\/brisket-basics-buy-and-prep\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brisket Basics: Buy and Prep - The Gents Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After years of watching others cook some amazing brisket for you, this might be the year you decide to take on the challenging cut of meat for yourself.\u00a0 In this...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.thegentsplace.com\/brisket-basics-buy-and-prep\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Gents Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-03T18:52:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.thegentsplace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/pexels-isaac-taylor-3641761.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"432\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gents Place Blogger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gents Place Blogger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.thegentsplace.com\/brisket-basics-buy-and-prep\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.thegentsplace.com\/brisket-basics-buy-and-prep\/\",\"name\":\"Brisket Basics: Buy and Prep - 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