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Brisket as a fairly recent trend

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neuyawk

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So John Fullilove of Smitty's in Lockhart had an interview where he talked about what was popular in Smitty's when was growing up. Seems like he mentions it in other interviews as well. When he was growing up - he's shy of 40 - the more popular items served were clod, sausage, and smoked pork chops. He talks about brisket as a more recent trend.

Pretty interesting considering the trifecta in which Texas BBQ joints are now judged is Brisket, Sausage, pork ribs.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i8sZJkidIs"]Fire Smoke & Flavor BBQ Tour with Michael & Bryan Voltaggio: Texas - YouTube[/ame]
 
Yep, brisket is a more recent cut of meat for BBQ. Remember back in the depression era, there was a demand for cheap cuts of meat that could be cooked into delicious meals and sold at a low price while still offering a margin for a profit. Pork ribs and beef brisket fit the bill. The only way to make ribs and brisket tender is to cook them for long periods of time. Well to do people didn't want them. So, that made them cheap and very desirable to a person running a BBQ restaurant. Low cost meat cooked to perfection passed on to a customer base without a lot of money but still wanting to eat something delicious that was also affordable. Those meats fit the bill very well.
 
I enjoyed the video. Thanks! Makes me really want to take a tasting trip to Texas, just like Harry Soo (Slad Yo Daddy) just did.
 
Boshizzle said:
Yep, brisket is a more recent cut of meat for BBQ. Remember back in the depression era, there was a demand for cheap cuts of meat that could be cooked into delicious meals and sold at a low price while still offering a margin for a profit. Pork ribs and beef brisket fit the bill. The only way to make ribs and brisket tender is to cook them for long periods of time. Well to do people didn't want them. So, that made them cheap and very desirable to a person running a BBQ restaurant. Low cost meat cooked to perfection passed on to a customer base without a lot of money but still wanting to eat something delicious that was also affordable. Those meats fit the bill very well.
Click to expand...

Well,... cooking beef for long periods of time is not really how it happened at the pre '99 (or '00) Kreuz Market, (which is now Smitty's), or how it happens at Smitty's, or how it happens at the new Kreuz...... Those pits are running 375° or more. I think Blacks also cooks hot and fast.
 
Boshizzle said:
Yep, brisket is a more recent cut of meat for BBQ. Remember back in the depression era, there was a demand for cheap cuts of meat that could be cooked into delicious meals and sold at a low price while still offering a margin for a profit. Pork ribs and beef brisket fit the bill.
Click to expand...

Well according to Fullilove, in other interviews not this video, he only really seen a rise in brisket demand in the past 10 years. The breakdown of the top sellers are pretty interesting in terms of price demographics. Pork chops are the very definition of "high on the hog" where as clod and sausage would be economy cuts.

Again Fullilove is nearing 40 so if let's say he was a real inquisitive lad at the age of 10, that would mean that from the 80s to new Millenium brisket wasn't remotely a dominant seller at Smitty's. Sometime after Y2K, is when he started seeing brisket as the big seller.

It might also be due to their own pricing. Clod as BBQ is as inefficient pricing as you're gonna get, especially since McDonald's is paying for that same cut of meat for the billions and billions served Big Mac's.

So brisket as a lower priced option is still true but I imagine it probably had to do more with the increasing competition for clod that drove up that price and moved people to brisket.
 
I notice everyone BUT the Texans are chiming in:
I left San Antonio in 1997 and prior to that we cooked and ate a LOT of brisket. Bought the $.79 a pound "specials" at HEB (limit 2 per customer). My kids learned at an early age how to stand in line to buy two brisket.
So, commercially, brisket may be a new "mass" market meat - but it's been on the menu for a long time.
 
chad said:
I notice everyone BUT the Texans are chiming in:
I left San Antonio in 1997 and prior to that we cooked and ate a LOT of brisket. Bought the $.79 a pound "specials" at HEB (limit 2 per customer). My kids learned at an early age how to stand in line to buy two brisket.
So, commercially, brisket may be a new "mass" market meat - but it's been on the menu for a long time.
Click to expand...

Not saying it hasn't been on the menu for a long time. The fact that it's popular enough now to be considered one of the Big 3 of Texas BBQ is a recent development though. Even when I was living in Texas "BBQ Brisket" was smoked first and then simmered in a crockpot with sauce to tenderize.

So no doubt it's not a popular texan meat but the care and attention to detail now given to it is far from a historical tradition.

I left Lubbock in 2003 btw :biggrin1:
 
He said they are running their pits around 400F, no thermometers. I like hearing that. i should would like to know more about the pork roasts, and how those are cooked.

I first learned about cooking briskets from a gentleman who left southern Oklahoma and called Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana his home states, but, he had been gone from 1942, and he cooked a lovely brisket. Said he had learned as a boy, before he left at the age of 20. Man, I wish I could cook like that man.
 
neuyawk said:
Not saying it hasn't been on the menu for a long time. The fact that it's popular enough now to be considered one of the Big 3 of Texas BBQ is a recent development though. Even when I was living in Texas "BBQ Brisket" was smoked first and then simmered in a crockpot with sauce to tenderize.

So no doubt it's not a popular texan meat but the care and attention to detail now given to it is far from a historical tradition.

I left Lubbock in 2003 btw :biggrin1:
Click to expand...

I lived there '88-'97 and every joint I went to had brisket and sausage for sure. Ribs, maybe. Chicken, often. Smoked turkey was popular. But the butcher block seemed to always have a brisket out being sliced for plates. But, maybe brisket wasn't popular and I just ran with the crowd that liked it!! :mrgreen: Never had crockpot brisket in Texas...around my bunch you'd probably have gotten lynched! :twisted:
 
I think that it has more to do with it, and BBQ in general, being all over TV now more than any time in recent history.
 
I liked his advice at the end

Buy good meat, put some fire to it and don't burn it.

No better words to live by.
 
Let's face it, even cooking a brisket at 400* for 4 to 5 hours is a "long time" compared to grilling up burgers or dogs. You don't need hours for steaks, burgers, pork chops, etc. to make them tender. Brisket was and still is a relatively cheap cut of meat because it must be cooked for long periods of time to become tender.

So, while hot and fast may be hot, I still don't think 5 hours is a fast cook.
 
I'd say that in the world of BBQ that 5 hours to cook a piece of meat that size is pretty fast. And I'm not sure that $3 to $4 a lb for brisket is all that cheap...and that's on the low end for a quality grade in my neck of the woods.
 
I've been reading a lot and watching a lot of clips about BBQ and the one theme that seems to be consistent throughout all of the books/videos etc. seems to be that the folks who last, who are the stalwarts, almost always have a simple process. Not necessarily easy - in fact it looks to be hard work, but simple nevertheless. Good meat cooked right with a clean fire, be it direct or indirect.
 
gtr said:
I've been reading a lot and watching a lot of clips about BBQ and the one theme that seems to be consistent throughout all of the books/videos etc. seems to be that the folks who last, who are the stalwarts, almost always have a simple process. Not necessarily easy - in fact it looks to be hard work, but simple nevertheless. Good meat cooked right with a clean fire, be it direct or indirect.
Click to expand...
Can Somebody give me an Amen!:clap2::thumb::thumb::clap2::clap2:
 
chad said:
I notice everyone BUT the Texans are chiming in:
I left San Antonio in 1997 and prior to that we cooked and ate a LOT of brisket. Bought the $.79 a pound "specials" at HEB (limit 2 per customer). My kids learned at an early age how to stand in line to buy two brisket.
So, commercially, brisket may be a new "mass" market meat - but it's been on the menu for a long time.
Click to expand...


sorry for the late arrival. i work nights, so ya gotta give me a break :biggrin1:
 
chad said:
I notice everyone BUT the Texans are chiming in:
I left San Antonio in 1997 and prior to that we cooked and ate a LOT of brisket. Bought the $.79 a pound "specials" at HEB (limit 2 per customer). My kids learned at an early age how to stand in line to buy two brisket.
So, commercially, brisket may be a new "mass" market meat - but it's been on the menu for a long time.
Click to expand...

What do you mean?,.... I chimed in on the 5th post...... :biggrin1: Here I am in the old days on the family ranch in Texas. I'm the little one on the right.

e3e23ddf.jpg
 
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