Buying the Best Brisket

I always go by the brisket cooler at walmart. They are always select, but at least I can find some 14-16lb packers.

Seems that Sam's are generally choice, but 10-13lb range.

I like the evenness on the bigger packers across the flats. Seems to finish more even, could be just me though.

Can't say I had a bad tasting brisket out of my smoker yet, but that had a lot to do with reading on this forum.

You guys with the packers at Walley world. The only packers they have at Wally world by my house is packs of catfish and burgers. What the heck is the deal there. You ask for a packer at Wally World in Michigan they look at you like your from another planet.

Bubba -- I lived about 10 miles from you (Plymouth) for about 30 years. You might need to get away from the big city where folks know the difference between a Jersey bull & Hereford cow. Maybe some small butcher shop in Milford or other cities away from the bright lights would suit your needs better. Might ask your local butcher if he know the difference between a flat and a packer cut. If he stutters, move on down the road...

LOL...Wheelz you must be feeling better?

Yep, one of them Guernsey milk cows sorrta looks like a Herford or Short Horn tell you skin them.

quote:

Originally posted by Wheelz:
Bubba -- I lived about 10 miles from you (Plymouth) for about 30 years. You might need to get away from the big city where folks know the difference between a Jersey bull & Hereford cow. Maybe some small butcher shop in Milford or other cities away from the bright lights would suit your needs better. Might ask your local butcher if he know the difference between a flat and a packer cut. If he stutters, move on down the road...

Wheels,
I work in Plymouth, 5 and Sheldon. I just go down to the Eastern Market Saturday morning, they have it all.

I smoked me a $4.75/lb Wagyu brisket this past weekend and really couldn't tell any difference between that and the $1.96/lb choice brisket I buy from Sam's. I won't be spending the extra money anymore.

Glad to see the comparisons.

All is relative to what we find to cook.

Now if choice is about 70% of the cows,and the packer is from the bottom end of that 70%,yes there would be a good reason that better results might be had from the high dollar cow.

But,an awful lot of good comp teams have been buying Sam's-choice grade-and cooking them well enough to get calls.

I live in Northern Michigan so I must really find it tough to buy briskets, but it's not.

The Sam's around here only sell flats... asked about full packers and they said they never get them.

WallyWorld in Gaylord always has full packers - usually select.

But the best source is a small IGA store out in the boonies and that's where I got the prime brisket flats. They will have packers in the summer when there is more call for them.

My point? You need to do a lot of checking in small stores because 'ya just never know' where you're going to find what you want.

Yep.

I have a question on briskets. I just bought a nice trimmed 10.5lb from WW. It was Excel brand, no other sticker but USDA approved. It surely didn't appear to be a select, but what grade?

Nice white fat, red meat,good marble, but just a tad bit small.

Any thoughts?

With Excel, it will be either Choice or Select. And since it was not marked, it was probably select.

Hey RibDog,
I had an Excel Prime brisket back in January, why do you say they will only be Choice or Select. Not that it matters, my last non marked Excel was hands down nicer than the prime marked Excel.

I think it just means if it's Choice, they brag about it and mark it as such. If it's select, they low profile it and don't state what it is.

Well, keep in mind that when an animal is marked prime, the inspector has 15-20 per animal to grade it. And the whole carcass is graded the same grade, not just some parts. Can WalMart get a case of prime briskets by mistake, you bet. Can a single brisket be better than a prime graded brisket, you better believe it. Anything is possible but it does not seem to happen that often.

To my knowledge, Walmart does not have access to prime grade meats. If they get prime in, it is usually a mistake. Just as it can happen at Sam's Club also.

I did not meant to denegrate the brisket you had or your experience with them. Just meant to say what my experiences have been with them.

John,
No problem I was just wondering. The way I read it you were saying that excel didn't come in prime and I was like, that's strange.
I have to get all my briskets from the Eastern Market in downtown Detroit as Costco, Sam's or Wally world does not carry them.

Thanks RibDog, It seems my briskets are slowly getting better. I think I'm learning to pick better briskets, without worrying over grade.

The biggest factor, may be, that I'm gaining a little more cooking experience and learning a little more about the animal(brisket)!

The road on being an experienced brisket cook is one that I enjoy and will gladly travel.

It's no problem, Bubba. I have to remember that just because I have not seen it does not mean it does not exist. When I do that, someone proves me wrong every time!

Since Ribdog and I have been thru WW all over the South,we do generalize.From having worked with many of their meat mngrs,they have one market/pricing code for packers,and sell anything that arrives at that price.If the get an item without a code,i.e. Tritips,they may mark the case at $0.99/lb.
If the get 7 lb flats and have no code-they price them as packers.

In the central Fl market,the same two distribution centers ship packers to Sam's and WW.Packers typically are the only beef product that is not tumbled/injected at WW-except those few "restaurant" steaks??.
the south central WW can sometimes order Prime Xcels,thru the distributor rep living locally by the stores.

The main thing we find with Xcels,is their Manufacturing/cutting standards can be somewhat less than many other brands.Most of us find that when we would get to a comp,there could be 2-3 slashes all the way thru the flat,and since that could be the area we use for turnin-they go straight to the nearest dumpster.

They should have been ungraded/cutter/noroll,etc and ground to burgers.

This could have nothing to do with the gov't instant grade of the core of the loin,or the consumer cooking it to serve at home.

It can sure be a disappointment to a comp cook that purchased it for a purpose.

Cal,is doing what we advocate constantly-COOK Something,take notes on the results-instantly write down what you would like to see different.

Then,a cook can ask a question,that the forum can have a shot at maybe adjusting.