Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Brisket - Just the flat

brenkj
brenkj Posts: 21
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Okay, my favorite butcher shop just closed. Every other good butcher shop in town sells only brisket flats - not the whole brisket. They're around 5 pounds. So, my options are: (1) Cook 2 flats, or (2) buy a whole brisket - 13 or 14 lbs - from a big chain supermarket like Kroger's.

What to do?

Thanks.

Comments

  • I 'm debating on a local IGA 's choice or Sam's Angus -- wonder what the difference in results might be.

    Thinking of buying 2 and grinding the flat of one and cooking the whole and the extra point!! Too bad all the point are sold as corned beef :(

    Mollyshark recommends an 8-10 pound flat. Think the smaller dry out too fast :unsure:

    Have a good cook B)
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    The consensus of the forum is to cook a whole brisket for better results.

    I don't mind cooking the flat only and get good results. Cook to temperature and texture using time only as a guide.

    Cooking multiple flats won't affect the outcome other than more food to serve.

    GG
  • Bordello
    Bordello Posts: 5,926
    Hi GG,
    I can remember when some of us could only get flat and many were covering with bacon but that seems to have changed. Are you having good luck with just the flats and are you using anything else for moisture???

    Thanks,
    Old Bordello
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    brenkj,

    All the butcher shops (and grocery stores) have access to whole brisket. I order special cuts all the time.


    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    I am cooking it as I would a whole brisket but watching for the tenderness to determine when it is done. Somewhere between 190° - 200°.

    I have been wondering about cooking the flats at a higher temperature say 325° - 350°. At some point in time I will give this a try.

    I haven't seen any benefit of spritzing and have not used brine or mopped. I get a tender and moist to taste result. So far I have not foiled (steamed) the cut either.

    If a cook turns out dryer than I would like I cut the pieces thinner and if too moist then I cut thicker slices.

    Kent
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    I have found the same down here also, the lead time is usually 4 to 5 days.

    Kent
  • Bordello
    Bordello Posts: 5,926
    Good info as always from GG, it seems as though once you put it on you just leave it alone??? or do you flip it at all??? Sorry, I should have asked that in the first post.

    Thanks,
    Bordello
  • bigoz89
    bigoz89 Posts: 4
    Too moist!?!?! Man do I wish I had your problems! haha
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    Indirect an leave it alone. I may rotate the grid if I see there is a hotspot developing. I will also foil tent if the bark is developing too much. Other than that I usually leave it alone.

    Let me know how your cook turns out.

    Usually there is just he two of us here and cooking a whole brisket is just way too much food as well as the cost of the full cut.

    Kent
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    Sometimes the brisket (flat & whole) come out dry. That's when we use bbq sauce. Flavor is always good though.

    I am not a great brisket cook and by no means would I enter a contest, but I can/do get a good results.

    I have seen some very impressive brisket cooks posted here on the forum I sure would like to be able to learn some of their techniques.

    GG
  • brenkj
    brenkj Posts: 21
    Thanks for all the advice. I found a place that will sell me a flat that is about 9 lbs and I think maybe I will try that. On the cooking time, should I still expect 1 to 1.5 hours per pound?

    thanks.
  • bigoz89
    bigoz89 Posts: 4
    I have only had one crack at it, and it came out alright, but not what I was hoping for. I am pretty sure my cook temp was too low. I had it at 215 dome and for the longest time the meat was at 160, then finally it broke through to 170, then it dropped to 165. I finally raised the temp up to 250 to finish the thing as it had been on 12 hours already! (6.75 flat) I think next time I am going to try somewhere around 235 or 240 dome and see what that gets me.
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    That's what I would plan but I would begin check for the cook being done at about 190°. Don't just trust the time.

    GG
  • transversal
    transversal Posts: 719
    I have tried both flats and whole briskets. I personally like the flats better, provided that I can get one that is reasonably thick and in the 9 pound range. However, I have a hard time finding those, in that they predominantly run 6.5-7 lbs. Got lucky last weekend and found an 8.5 lb. flat. It was killer.
  • transversal
    transversal Posts: 719
    Yeah...that's what you call "Pleasant Problems!!"
  • transversal
    transversal Posts: 719
    I think you're sand baggin', GG. Got a feeling your briskets rank right up there with the best of'em.
  • transversal
    transversal Posts: 719
    Try 250* dome....that will put your grid temp around 225*. At 225* dome, you're probably little more than 200 at the grid......and that's the temp you're cooking to.
  • transversal
    transversal Posts: 719
    DOW.......I never realized that before...points being used for corn beef. But, I can see that now......thanks.....learn something evrytime I get on the site.
  • brenkj
    brenkj Posts: 21
    I think I've come up with a solution - I'm going to do both: a full 13-lb brisket from a big-box supermarket; and an 8- or 9-lb flat from my local meat market. Then I can compare and contrast.

    Based on the comments I've read on here, it sounds like I should put the whole brisket on the main cooking grid, and the flat on the upper grid extension, so that the flat is cooking at a slightly higher temp. Sound right?

    Thanks.
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    With a few of the pictures I have seen posted I am not even close... but thanks for the thought.

     
  • Buy the whole brisket no matter how big it is. Burnt ends are well worth it!
    Large & MiniMax in Lexington, KY
  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
    BUY A PACKER.I don't care if you have to mail order it.There is no comparison.
  • transversal
    transversal Posts: 719
    Hoss, I know what a flat is, and I know what a whole brisket is.......what is the difference between a whole brisket and a packer?
  • brenkj
    brenkj Posts: 21
    I would much prefer to do a whole brisket. However, the only places in town that carry them are big chain supermarkets (Tom Thumb, Kroger, etc.). I've always been real skeptical of the butcher shops in those big chain stores. So the choices are: (1) whole brisket from a possibly sketchy chain supermarket, or large flat from a very good meat market that, for some reason, doesn't carry whole briskets.