Texas Monthly article: The History of Smoked Brisket


 
Chris in Louisiana

Chris in Louisiana

TVWBB All-Star
BBQ Snob Daniel Vaughan, the BBQ editor of Texas Monthly, has done some historical digging to see how folks came to smoke briskets in Texas.

Who even knew you could ever buy a bone-in brisket?

While you are there, check out his article What I Learned at Brisket Camp.

They did an interesting taste test between Select, the low third of Choice, high Choice (Certified Angus Beef or CAB), Prime, and Wagyu. In blind tasting, CAB, Prime, and Wagyu were all very similar.

There is also some technical, and more understandable, info about how and why brisket is cut the way it is. You learn why ($$) you sometimes see those long skinny brisket tails.

They also compared meats smoked with oak, hickory, pecan, and mesquite. Hickory was the group favorite.

Good reading.
 
I found it very interesting that Franklin takes nearly all the briskets produced by Creekstone. Their plant is only 15 miles from me and we have used their briskets in comps before, however they cost a little more than we could get Wagyus from Snake River Farms. Now we use prime briskets from Sam's Club.
 
Greg Powers said:
I found it very interesting that Franklin takes nearly all the briskets produced by Creekstone.
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I also found this very interesting and sent Creekstone an email and asked if that was in fact correct, just what are the rest of us getting for $100 per brisket! Still waiting on an answer from them. If that is the case, I'll be switching to CABs from now on at about 40% the cost of a Creekstone.

Here is Creekstone's response and my reply to them.

"Thank you for your message. Aaron Franklin does in fact purchase our Natural briskets from Creekstone Farms, but he doesn’t get all of them J. All of the briskets we sell online are our Premium USDA Prime briskets pulled specifically off the line for competition BBQ specifications. I’m not sure if maybe it was just an expression in the article but the briskets you purchase online are in fact USDA Prime Grade briskets. We do also have some other distributors across the country who purchase our Prime grade briskets as well – some being from our Natural line as you referenced above and some being from our Premium line. Hopefully this answers your questions but if there is anything else you need, please just let me know. Thank you!"

My reply:
You might want to check this article yourself as I have talked to several competitors that have indicated they are switching because of it.
http://www.tmbbq.com/what-i-learned-at-brisket-camp/
Here are some excerpts.
"5. Franklin Barbecue uses nearly every “all-natural” brisket that Creekstone can process.

Hormones, antibiotics, and growth promoters are all commonly fed to conventionally-raised beef as they are fattened in feedlots. If you’re eating barbecue in Texas, chances are that’s what you’re consuming.

There simply aren’t enough “all natural” briskets to go around.

He can’t be picky these days because he’s getting nearly every all-natural brisket that Creekstone can produce.

If another barbecue joint of similar size wanted to use these same all-natural briskets, they would have to find another supplier."

I appreciate what you are saying, but this article seems to indicate otherwise.
 
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Dave Alvarado said:
Keep in mind, "nearly every natural brisket" could mean everything but what they set aside for their competition line.
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That is what Creekstone told me this morning. He generally uses choice "natural" and not the prime premium that is for the competition line. They did say the article made it sound like he gets all of their briskets which isn't the case. They describe the natural line as "never ever" in regard to antibiotics, etc. That isn't the case with the prime premium line that can have some medicines and injections.
 
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When we were using them we never had a problem with being able to get a prime brisket. What bothered me was that we were paying the nearly $40 shipping fee when I would drive to the plant and pick them up.
 
We were always able to get what we ordered, I was just a little concerned on what we were really getting if Aaron biught all the good stuff. Feel better after talking to them, but they could have just been feeding me the company line. I don't really think so, and if fact ordered 6 that will be delivered tomorrow and will see what they look like. If not up to their normal standards, we'll go back to CAB.

It sucks to have to pay shipping when you pick them up!
 
J Hoke, thanks for contacting Creekstone about this. I've eat at Franklins a couple times and his brisket is as good as it's touted to be. There is a certain rich natural taste to it.. IMO. About 6 months ago my local meat market was carrying a few Creekstone Master Chef briskets @$3.39/lb, just like the rest of their Excel CAB primes. So naturally I jumped at the chance to get one. About a week later I did my best Franklin impersonation, using my 22 WSM! :p While my brisket was good, it did not have that same natural rich taste I was hoping to get. After reading your post, I realize I most likely had a "non-natural" brisket. I was under the impression that all their briskets were natural.. guess not!

This same meat market also carries HeartBrand beef which is all-natural Akaushi beef.. @ $6.79/lb!!

If I want to try it out, I'm gonna have to pay dearly for it.. and wait a while since I'm in comp. practice mode right now... where's my injector??!!
 
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Got the 6 briskets I ordered. They do look like prime to me and very nice quality. Lots of marbeling in the flat and a nice fat flat, just what we look for in a comp brisket, but they should be nice at $100 per brisket! I will say I have cooked CABs in comps and done just about as well as with the prime, but my thinking is that we spend so much to do each contest, makes no sense to scrimp on the quality of the meat we use.

Most of what I can learn says that the quality of the product and preparation of the product is what separates the top teams from the rest of the field. We have tried do the very best in both and I think it has paid off.
 
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Haven't read all the comments here, but I would like to see Franklin cook a Creekstone brisket and an ordinary, store bought Choice brisket, side by side.
Then have a blind taste test to see if anyone can tell a difference.
 
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