[thirdeye]

Originally Posted by Gnaws on Pigs

If the flat of brisket is so bad and nasty and tastes bad, why is brisket so popular, why does everybody cook it and why is it a major bbq category in comps? Seems crazy to cook expensive meat that you don't even like? I honestly don't cook much brisket, because the farking things are nearly $50 here for a 8 lb. packer. I can get four big boston butts or racks of ribs or several good steaks or two bottles of good bourbon for that price. So let me get this straight-y'all actually routinely cook a $50 piece of meat that you don't like, then feed 3/4 of it to the dogs or grind it up into burger when you can get burger meat that isn't dry and tasteless for a third of the price?

I think sliced flat is popular in comps is because it presents well, and takes some skill to cook correctly. There is after all, an appearance score that is very important. However, I often see burnt ends in boxes along with slices of the flat, those might help on the taste and tenderness scores. If you are paying $6/lb for brisket, you need to shop around..... I just bought two sixteen pound choice angus ones for $36 each.

EDIT - I checked prices today when I was at Sam's.... whole choice angus briskets were up to $2.48 lb.