Pre-sliced brisket

DavidL

I have low and slow'd many a whole brisket, but my wife returned from the grocery store with a tray of sliced brisket she found in the "sale bend."  The butcher told her that when a brisket is too big to fit on their Styrofoam meat tray, they cut the end off and slice it up.  Never in my life have I seen or heard of this before.  Personally, I'd be pretty unhappy if I bought what I thought was a whole brisket to find that the end had been removed--to me the ends are the best part, especially the ends of the point.  Or, maybe when they package only a flat (separate from the point) is when they cut it to fit their Styrofoam tray.  I don't know; I wasn't there to ask.  I think it would be better if they just sold the end they cut off as one piece, rather than slicing it up.  So, she phoned me about it and I told her to go ahead and pick up a package.  In the package, there are 8 slices, approx. 1 inch thick each, for a total package weight of approx. 3.5 lbs.  Anybody have any suggestions on how to cook these brisket slices?  I'm not sure they lend themselves to low and slow, which needs to be done to a brisket to render the fat and tenderize it.  However, it seems to me that any other way to cook them would not result in a tender piece of meat. Perplexed.

DavidL

dsrguns

Sous Vide? I wouldn't know what else to do with it as I have never cooked sliced brisket. Someone will offer up some good ideas.

Wolfpack

My gut reaction is to braise it- 

Check out the Travis method

johnnyp

Texas style is not the only way to cook a brisket.

both Sous Vide and braising will yield a fine finished product. Tenderness is key. Serve like a pot roast. 

lousubcap

Rolling into virgin territory here as well, but I would give it a whole lot of moisture (assuming you have the lean flat) and go with a braise.  You are correct in that there is no way a L&S cook with result in anything besides a tough outcome.  Now if you have section if the point you may have little more room but not enough to try anything different.
BTW -  good call for recognizing right answer from SWMBO when told.  Having flunked that enlightenment many times does not yield a good outcome.  

SGH

@DavidL
Brother, I haven’t seen those brisket slices in decades. But I know exactly what you are talking about. Many years ago there was a independent (family) grocery store in my original hometown. It was called Randal’s (owner was Benny Ray Randal). 
They came on a styrofoam tray with clear plastic wrap on them and a label that simply said sliced beef brisket. I haven’t thought about them in over 30 years until you mentioned them above. You talk about bringing back some memories. 
Back on topic now. We use to take and fry those slices on both sides in a cast iron pan and then throw them in either the pressure cooker or crockpot with some onions and beef broth until tender. This will probably never win a brisket contest, but it’s darn sure good for sandwiches. The frying gives them an excellent taste while the crockpot/pressure cooker finish makes them tender. Top your sandwich with some of the onions and your cheese of choice and go to town my friend. 

Hawg Fan

I'm assuming that it was discounted because it was a discarded piece of the brisket, so you would have a lot of options if you ground it up.  Burgers, chili, tacos, etc.

DoubleEgger

Grind it for burgers. Get the butcher to do it if you don’t have a grinder. 

buzd504

I'd try making pho.

fishlessman

i would go with a chili cook

westernbbq

Get yer meat grinder out and make burgers.  Jaques pepin uses brisket for hamburger

Carolina Q

No meat grinder? Pulse it in a food processor. If you want it ground that is. 

GrillSgt

Carolina Q said:

No meat grinder? Pulse it in a food processor. If you want it ground that is. 

Yep, start with it nearly frozen, seems to help prevent overgrinding.

gdenby

I'd be concerned that it dried some when sliced and packed. If grinding, maybe toss in some extra fat. Personally, I'd go w. braising. Sauté some onion and mushroom, add liquid and a pack of gelatin, simmer w. the meat part exposed, and stop and strain when half reduced.

DavidL

I truly appreciate all of the feedback/suggestions!  Those are some great ideas.  I was at a total loss.  I think I'll braise it, which is something I've never done so that piques my interest, however, grinding it for hamburgers is tempting as well.  Cheers to you all!

DavidL

DavidL

johnnyp said:

Texas style is not the only way to cook a brisket.

Well, I'm in Texas; what can I say?  

DavidL

SGH said:

@DavidL
Brother, I haven’t seen those brisket slices in decades. But I know exactly what you are talking about. Many years ago there was a independent (family) grocery store in my original hometown. It was called Randal’s (owner was Benny Ray Randal). 
They came on a styrofoam tray with clear plastic wrap on them and a label that simply said sliced beef brisket. I haven’t thought about them in over 30 years until you mentioned them above. You talk about bringing back some memories. 
Back on topic now. We use to take and fry those slices on both sides in a cast iron pan and then throw them in either the pressure cooker or crockpot with some onions and beef broth until tender. This will probably never win a brisket contest, but it’s darn sure good for sandwiches. The frying gives them an excellent taste while the crockpot/pressure cooker finish makes them tender. Top your sandwich with some of the onions and your cheese of choice and go to town my friend. 

We got this tray from United Supermarket, which is a grocery chain in our region.

Glad I could bring back some memories!  I hope they were good ones.

I think this is the method (braising) that I'll use.

Thanks!

DavidL

DavidL

HellrodKC

buzd504 said:

I'd try making pho.

I thought this and/or ramen as well. Lots of beef pho or ramen have super thin slices that are basically just cooked in the broth.