Q: I have a recipe that calls for a brisket. Are brisket and corned beef one and the same? Are they specifically marked brisket or another name?
_ Pat Miller, Southgate, Mich.
A: They are both beef, but not the same thing. Fresh beef brisket is like a big roast. Corned beef starts out as beef brisket and is brine-cured first. The brine-cure is what makes it corned beef and that curing process is where it gets its color from.
At stores, beef brisket will be labeled beef brisket and have a good amount of fat on it. Typically, it's a pretty big piece of meat.
When I buy beef brisket to cook on the grill, it's usually a good-sized piece, at least 10 pounds or more. Fresh beef brisket has become pretty common to grind and add with other meats for making burgers. When you grill, smoke or roast the whole brisket, it really shrinks. You can lose almost one-third of it.
Brisket comes from the front chest area of the cow near the bottom. There are two briskets per animal. It's one of the tougher cuts of meat because it's worked a lot.
A whole brisket is a big hunk of meat. It includes point and flat cuts. That's why you will also see corned beef brisket sold marked flat and point cuts. The flat cut is much leaner. If the brisket is not trimmed, it comes with a pretty thick fat cap on the point end _ about { inch. You'll want to trim some away, but not all. There's also a thinner fat layer that runs throughout both sections.
Because of its toughness, fresh brisket needs a long, slow-cooking method such as braising (similar to the way you would cook pot roast), or indirect grilling or smoking. In the summer, grilling is a great option _ because of the lengthy cooking time you don't want to heat up the kitchen. Once you put the brisket on the grill, it's nearly a "set and forget" thing if you maintain the temperature.
Depending on the thickness and weight of the brisket, it will take about 4 hours for a 6-7 pound brisket. If you cook it right, grilled beef brisket should have a very dark, almost black, charred but not burned crust. That crust is called the bark. If you have a good bark, chances are you'll have a good brisket.
Try today's recipe for Texas Beef Brisket, one of the hallmarks of Texas barbecue, from our archives. If your brisket is larger than 7 pounds, you'll need to double the amount of the rub so it covers the whole brisket.
