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Pacman said:
Yeah, I probably should've cooked more, but three briskets was already the biggest cook I've ever attempted. I did provide pickles, pickled red onions, potato salad, Caesar salad, rolls, etc. to stretch what I served. I'm definitely still learning though...

Oh and in the learning department, I did properly defrost the briskets in my garage fridge slowly. Eventually the cryovac bags eventually did leak so my garage fridge looked like a crime scene until I could take everything out and sanitize it. Next time everything goes in rimmed sheet pans.
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I don’t leave brisket without them…

IMG_1858.jpeg
 
Pacman said:
Yeah, I probably should've cooked more, but three briskets was already the biggest cook I've ever attempted. I did provide pickles, pickled red onions, potato salad, Caesar salad, rolls, etc. to stretch what I served. I'm definitely still learning though...

Oh and in the learning department, I did properly defrost the briskets in my garage fridge slowly. Eventually the cryovac bags eventually did leak so my garage fridge looked like a crime scene until I could take everything out and sanitize it. Next time everything goes in rimmed sheet pans.
Click to expand...
These have saved me many times.

1717988271786.png
 
Pacman said:
Pre-qualifier* SRF is pricey and I only buy for special occasions (or unless someone else is paying). I honestly can't tell much difference between their "Black Label" vs. "Gold Label" so I tend to buy based upon my desired weight range and what's available. 14 to 16 pound or larger seems to be their sweet spot, but they have larger and smaller cuts. Availability tends to be pretty good except out of the main outdoor cooking season (late Fall/Winter).

Trimming is less work required than for Costco Prime or Choice without doubt. Most of the silver skin and sinewy fat has usually already been removed. They tend to leave the soft white fat cap pretty much untouched, but I find that to be the easy part of brisket trimming (thanks to the Wusthof butcher knife you enabled me to buy a while back). I tend to hack away at the fat pretty aggressively, sometimes carving deep into the intermuscular seam between the point and the flat to get the point to "settle down" over top of the flat. I trimmed three briskets to my satisfaction in a little over 30 minutes a few weeks ago, but I'm no butcher.

As far as a ratio, again because I tend to be heavy-handed with a knife when trimming the fat cap and seam, I probably lose at least 10 - 15%, but honestly it could be closer to 20% depending upon the brisket. I know I throw away some beautiful clean white fat (that looks and feels like cold butter) in the process as I have temporarily run out of places to store trimmings (until I get the green light to acquire another garage freezer). I tend to focus on silver skin, taking the fat cap down to a quarter inch +/-, and removing any loose pieces of anything.

Throughout a year, I tend to buy enough from Snake River Farms that I get free shipping and discounts that you can apply to existing orders of for "freebie" add on products like filets or ground beef. The product is exceptionally packed compared to other Internet providers in insulated cloth "shopping bags" containing a significant amount of dry ice, all contained inside of an insulated box. With that said, I have gotten a little feedback from my bride when she sees a giant black SRF black cardboard box being dropped off wondering "What all did you order?!?" as they seem to use the same size box for three briskets or a couple slabs of pork ribs and some halibut.

I probably only buy 6 - 8 briskets a year, but accordingly, I see no reason to brave Costco or similar vs. good quality delivered to my door on my schedule. I did have one epic failure a couple years ago when FedEx loaded a brisket on a truck in 100+ degree weather and let it sit on the truck for a day and a half before delivering, but that's the fault of the local FedEx franchisee and SRF promptly refunded my money with no pushback.

Sorry to all for the very long-winded reply, but I have to admit that my three brisket cook last weekend was exceptional, albeit I had ZERO leftovers to bring home with me.
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I appreciate the detailed experience.
 
Pacman said:
…thanks to the Wusthof butcher knife you enabled me to buy a while back.
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“Butcher knife?” :oops: You are, I suspect, actually referring to the now-discontinued “Wusthof 6” Curved Boning Knife.” That’s no “butcher knife;” it is a precision boning and trimming tool! ;)

But the good news is that Wusthof also makes a true “butcher knife in the Classic series;” https://www.wusthof.com/products/wu...WFudC80MTI3NjczMDYwNTcxOQ==&queryID=undefined and, it is currently on sale. Thought you’d want to know. I have provided the link for your ordering convenience. :rolleyes:

And, if you buy one, you’ll be one ahead of me. ;)

:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
Jim6820 said:
“Butcher knife?” :oops: You are, I suspect, actually referring to the now-discontinued “Wusthof 6” Curved Boning Knife.” That’s no “butcher knife;” it is a precision boning and trimming tool! ;)

But the good news is that Wusthof also makes a true “butcher knife in the Classic series;” https://www.wusthof.com/products/wu...WFudC80MTI3NjczMDYwNTcxOQ==&queryID=undefined and, it is currently on sale. Thought you’d want to know. I have provided the link for your ordering convenience. :rolleyes:

And, if you buy one, you’ll be one ahead of me. ;)

:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
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Yeah, I just got the email from Wusthof about the sale price after attempting to ignore this post. I guess I need to reprioritize what goes in the butcher block again when it arrives. Probably need to buy a side of beef now too.
 
Greg Jones said:
View attachment 22075Y’all will never have knife space that isn’t full! I had a Wusthof block, filled it. Bought one, then two, custom knife rolls, filled them. Then I made a custom knife rack/spice rack, filled that too! I give up!
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OMG, I am hitting the ignore, I can’t afford being further enabled. I want to retire in Oct. if I can convo SWSNBN, to stop spending 😂
 
Fired up the Napoleon gasser today and grilled a strip/pinwheel steak for our dinner. That thing was a full 2-1/2” thick. Didn’t bother to use the sear station as the main grill was at 675F. Pulled it at 128F internal temp and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Delicious!

We were hungry, so didn’t get a photo after slicing; sorry.


IMG_2766.jpeg
 

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