It used to be a very cheap cut. A packer brisket used to run $25-30 for a 15lb cut. That same thing can run $100 or more depending on where the beef comes from, now. And that is for select or choice grades. Prime runs $130 or more.
Combine that with the fact that every clown with a smoker thinks they’re a gourmet chef that deserves $20/lb for brisket and here we are I guess.
The problem is that poor chefs looking to make money get really good at cooking cheap cuts of meat, which then increases the price because more people are buying it, so it is no longer cheap. Same thing happened with lobster.
What happened with lobster was more a result of canning and marketing. Suddenly you could move lobster far inland, it got marketed and sold and became fancy food
the thing is if you know how to cook it right pretty much any bit of meat can be made to taste like it’s worth a lot more (even the ‘waste’ parts, people like soul food for a reason)
It was cheap because people didn’t widely know how to cook it properly, now that people do there isn’t really a reason for it to be cheap
$20 a pound is nuts though lol like let me just get some filet mignon instead, chief
It’s the same thing with skirt steak, and even chicken wings. Wings used to be cheaper than dirt because nobody did anything with them. Back when I ran a small kitchen I remember them being not quite giveaway prices but pretty close.
But now that wing shacks are prevalent, and fajitas have become more popular, the price for those two items has gone up accordingly.
I’m sure there are tons of other examples, but those two come to mind.
When all those cooking shows started cooing over “sweetbread” when it just means a particular kind of organ meat. Consuming offal was associated with poverty. Then some jackass calls it “sweetbread” and it becomes a haute cuisine
I’ve done some nice briskets by sous vide them in a very large bag (can use sealable turkey brine bags) over 24 hours and then just a few hours on a smoker. It’s not even that hard.
Definitely cannot justify the prices out at these spots, doing stuff at home really isn’t that hard. If anything baked stuff always feels way more worth it in terms of doing it myself VRs buying
I try to use eating out as a possibility to get inspired. Pick dishes that seem like they do something weird or works with ingredients I don’t usually use.
Brisket isn’t hard to cook but it’s challenging to cook for the purists. They will holler about the bark, or the smoke ring, or the fat cap, or the fact that you weren’t up at four AM splitting mesquite for kindling.
Honestly funniest thing is these hacked briskets turn out better than a lot of the brisket I’ve had out at places. Not gonna deny that the best of the best is better, but still generally not worth it.
I thought the whole point of brisket was it was a cheap cut of meat, so you did all that stuff to it to give it some zest
It used to be a very cheap cut. A packer brisket used to run $25-30 for a 15lb cut. That same thing can run $100 or more depending on where the beef comes from, now. And that is for select or choice grades. Prime runs $130 or more.
Combine that with the fact that every clown with a smoker thinks they’re a gourmet chef that deserves $20/lb for brisket and here we are I guess.
I knew things were going sideways when oxtail started to go up in price.
i’m glad beans and tofu will never be trendy
The problem is that poor chefs looking to make money get really good at cooking cheap cuts of meat, which then increases the price because more people are buying it, so it is no longer cheap. Same thing happened with lobster.
What happened with lobster was more a result of canning and marketing. Suddenly you could move lobster far inland, it got marketed and sold and became fancy food
the thing is if you know how to cook it right pretty much any bit of meat can be made to taste like it’s worth a lot more (even the ‘waste’ parts, people like soul food for a reason)
It was cheap because people didn’t widely know how to cook it properly, now that people do there isn’t really a reason for it to be cheap
$20 a pound is nuts though lol like let me just get some filet mignon instead, chief
It’s the same thing with skirt steak, and even chicken wings. Wings used to be cheaper than dirt because nobody did anything with them. Back when I ran a small kitchen I remember them being not quite giveaway prices but pretty close.
But now that wing shacks are prevalent, and fajitas have become more popular, the price for those two items has gone up accordingly.
I’m sure there are tons of other examples, but those two come to mind.
When all those cooking shows started cooing over “sweetbread” when it just means a particular kind of organ meat. Consuming offal was associated with poverty. Then some jackass calls it “sweetbread” and it becomes a haute cuisine
I’ve done some nice briskets by sous vide them in a very large bag (can use sealable turkey brine bags) over 24 hours and then just a few hours on a smoker. It’s not even that hard.
Definitely cannot justify the prices out at these spots, doing stuff at home really isn’t that hard. If anything baked stuff always feels way more worth it in terms of doing it myself VRs buying
I hate eating out now that I’m a reasonably talented chef because it’s always like “I could have done this way cheaper and had leftovers for a week”
I try to use eating out as a possibility to get inspired. Pick dishes that seem like they do something weird or works with ingredients I don’t usually use.
Brisket isn’t hard to cook but it’s challenging to cook for the purists. They will holler about the bark, or the smoke ring, or the fat cap, or the fact that you weren’t up at four AM splitting mesquite for kindling.
Honestly funniest thing is these hacked briskets turn out better than a lot of the brisket I’ve had out at places. Not gonna deny that the best of the best is better, but still generally not worth it.