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Always consider shopping for your brisket at Costco in order to get a quality brisket at the most affordable price. You’ll find a great selection that will offer you everything you want in a great brisket.
Is Costco Brisket Any Good?
Absolutely, Costco brisket is good. Costco offers prime grade briskets in a nice selection. You will find the flats, points and packers in a variety of sizes that are going to be perfect for the number of people you plan to serve. The briskets available at Costco are also going to be fresh, making them a great choice for your smoking needs. People love being able to smoke a brisket.
It’s a great way for those that rule the smoker to show off their talents and Costco will be able to provide you with an awesome brisket to show and serve. Those you are going to serve your brisket to will rave on the taste, the texture, the tenderness and how juicy and moist your brisket is.
How Do You Tell If A Brisket Is Any Good?
There are several ways to tell if a brisket is good. One of the first things you should look at is the date on the packaging. The date that the cattle was slaughtered should be on the package so check that date out.
The sell by date should also be on the packaging. Look at the color of the meat. You are looking for meat that is ruby red in color, darker is better. Check the packaging to make sure that it is air tight. Most brisket are vacuum sealed to keep the air out of the package so you should not see any air bubbles in the package. If you do see air bubbles, this tells you that the package has a leak and it is not vacuum sealed.
Smell the packaging, if it has any hint of sourness or a rancid smell, the brisket is not good. Don’t purchase a brisket after the sell by date. Purchasing an expired brisket can be not only a waste of money but also a huge risk to your health. If you have any questions about the freshness of the brisket you are considering purchasing ask the butcher, he should have all of the answers you need.
Checking The Marbling
Marbling is so important in a great brisket. Make sure you check your brisket for the best marbling possible. Look for lines of fat through the red part of the meat. It may look similar to white threads flowing through the meat.
You certainly want to see marbling in your brisket. The marbling will create some awesome flavors in your brisket and it also contributes to the moisture of the meat. Prime grade meat will offer the most marbling and marbling is divine.
Checking The Grade Of The Brisket
In order to check the grade of your meat you will find a label on the package. The label will tell you the grade. There are 5 grades which are Prime, Choice, Good, Utility and Cull. You will want to make certain that you choose your brisket to be Prime or Choice. The prime will offer you the best marbling for smoking your brisket.
Choice is a fine selection as well but will offer you a little less marbling in the meat. Either ones will cook up great as long as you watch your time and your temperature for cooking.
Weight Of A Brisket
Choose the weight of your brisket by the amount of people that you will be serving. You can also choose the bigger brisket and freeze your left overs if you are going to have a large amount of people to feed. A serving of brisket can be anywhere from a half of a pound to a full pound per person.
You might choose your brisket to be 20 pounds if you are feeding a group of 15 to 20 people. You may have left over or you may not depending on your crowd. If you are just feeding a family of 4 you may choose a smaller brisket such as the point to smoke and feed your family.
The point is the smallest part of the brisket but still a great piece of meat. The weight of the brisket will be on the packaging so you will know just how much your brisket weighs.
Packer Style VS Separate Cuts Of Brisket
A packer style brisket is the whole brisket, it’s large, it meaty and it can serve a large number of people. This is the perfect choice for feeding a large bunch. This is also a nice choice for event style cooking. Weddings, parties, family gatherings and so much more can be celebrated with a packer style brisket. The flat brisket is great for a medium size group.
You can easily feed 10 people off of a flat brisket. For a smaller group the point brisket might be the best choice since it’s small. Either choice is a fine choice and they will all smoke up wonderfully.
Some people prefer a certain cut of the brisket no matter how many people they plan to serve and there’s nothing wrong with that either. Cooking the brisket that you want the way you want is usually the cooks choice.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.