There’s nothing like firing up your propane smoker and cooking a brisket for Sunday dinner or for your backyard BBQ.
You’ve got the perfect BBQ rub and homemade BBQ sauce all ready to go; you just need to buy the brisket.
However, buying brisket can be a complicated process. Everyone doesn’t have access to a butcher or even knowledgeable persons behind the meat counter who can answer their questions.
This is why you need to know where to buy brisket so you can buy the perfect brisket.
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What To Look for When Buying Brisket?
Before I tell you where to buy brisket, you need to know what to look for when buying brisket. First, you need to know your brisket cuts.
Brisket can be sold whole as a packer brisket, but it can also be separated into the flat and point.
The flat cut usually has very little fat; therefore, it is more expensive.
The point cut contains the deckle or most of the fat, making the brisket nice and juicy.
If you want to smoke a full-packer brisket, they can be difficult to find, especially in physical stores.
Most stores carry briskets that have been separated into the point and the flat.
When buying a brisket, you must also consider the grade of beef. Beef can be graded on 3 scales: prime, choice, and select.
Prime brisket has the most marbling resulting in a juicy, delicious brisket.
Choice brisket is a grade below prime brisket, and it is a cheaper option that will still yield great results. Select brisket is the lowest grade of them all.
Select brisket is not recommended for smoking. It does not have enough fat, so it will be dry by the time the brisket finishes cooking.
You also need to consider the brisket size. Brisket’s weight can range from 2-14 pounds.
You don’t need a 13–14-pound brisket if you are cooking for 4-5 people. A 3-pound brisket is enough to feed 4-5 people.
When calculating how much brisket per person, estimate half a pound on brisket per person.
Lastly, marbling isn’t everything. Marbling is crucial to steaks, but it really does not matter when it comes to brisket.
Yes, the pointcut will contain intramuscular fat. However, most of the fat sits on top of the meat, covering it like a cap.
The most important thing is that the fat looks clean, and the meat has a rich deep red color.
Where To Buy Beef Brisket?
Now that you know the characteristics to look for when buying a brisket, let’s talk about where to buy brisket.
If you start out with a quality brisket, you will end up with a quality brisket.
In contrast, if you start out with a low-quality brisket, you will end up with a low-quality brisket.
This is why you must know where to buy quality brisket.
White Oak Pastures
White oak pastures is a zero-waste farm that has been in existence for 152 years. Their price is pretty affordable compared to other meat vendors on this list.
White oak pastures sell grass-fed beef brisket that costs $52.99 for a 5-pound brisket.
White oak pastures carry the flat cut of brisket. However, they leave some of the fat cap attached to the flat cut to ensure it doesn’t dry out while it’s smoking in your electric smoker.
Therefore, you will end up with juicy, flavorful brisket.
Local Butcher
Butchers have quality brisket. Butchers carry the freshest brisket and can help you find the perfect brisket that suits your needs.
Butchers can be quite expensive. It’s a good idea to compare different butcher shops’ prices before you actually purchase the meat.
You can easily find a butcher in your local area by typing butcher shops near me.
A listing of all the butcher shops in your area will show up on your screen.
In addition to this, most butcher shops have their own website, so you can browse their selection of briskets and compare the quality and price.
Yes, you will probably be paying more for brisket sourced from a butcher shop.
However, the biggest benefit of going to the butcher shop is that you can ask all your brisket-related questions to an expert.
Do not be afraid to ask a butcher questions. Remember, you are paying extra money for a quality brisket.
Butchers should be knowledgeable about topics such as how much brisket per cow and what part of the cow is brisket.
If the butcher cannot answer these simple questions, do not purchase brisket from their shop.
Snake River Farms
Snake river farms have been breeding Wagyu with top-quality cattle since the 1980s.
All oftheir cattle are sourced from their ranches and processed humanely in their own processing facility.
Snake River Farms is known for its American wagyu briskets.
If you are a competitive barbecuer or looking to try the finer things in life, this American Wagyu brisket may be the right brisket for you.
Snake river farms Wagyu brisket is available in black and gold grades. The briskets come in a variety of sizes ranging between 9-20+ pounds.
The American wagyu black grade brisket costs $139, while their American Wagyu gold grade brisket costs $189.00.
Debragga Farms
Debragga Farms sells American grass-fed beef brisket costs $199.95.
Although the brisket is a little pricey, you can rest assured you are receiving a 7.5-pound quality brisket.
Their cattle are exclusively grass-fed cattle. In addition to this, DeBragga farms sources their grass-fed beef from a small group of ranchers who are in the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest regions.
DeBragga also features Angus beef. All of their cattle are free of antibiotics as well as grith hormones.
Their animals grow naturally for 24-30 months in pastures.
Furthermore, during the winter, their cattle are fed a diet of dried grass to ensure they maintain their grass-fed diet all year long.
Final Thoughts
Smoking brisket in your offset smoker is only half the battle.
Knowing what to look for when buying brisket and knowing where to find brisket is more important than cooking the brisket itself.
You might also be interested in the following:
- Where To Buy Corned Beef
- Where To Buy Beef Liver
- Where To Buy Beef Ribs
- Where To Buy Pork Belly
- Where To Buy Beef Tongue
- Where To Buy Beef Shank
- Where To Buy Beef Cheeks
I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.