Alternatives to Traditional BBQ Brisket

[Aggie12]

You could also do chopped beef and then eat it as tacos.

 

[ssv3]

Pastrami is a LOT more labor intensive then traditional Brisket. Im only bring this up, because you brought it up. That said, If traditional brisket isn't the most liked in your circle,
I personally would do coarse grind prime brisket for chopped steak with fried onions smothered in gravy and mashed potatoes.

What's SOOOO labor intensive about pastrami brisket? Dump the thing in a brine and wait about a week then smoke it.

 

[Itsdone]

What's SOOOO labor intensive about pastrami brisket? Dump the thing in a brine and wait about a week then smoke it.

twiddling thumbs for 7- 10 days is very Labor intensive. My wife suffered for a few weeks afterwards while i was out of commission.

 

[Charny]

An option to reduce the effort of smoking a brisket in the offset is to hit it for 5 or 6 hours at higher heat to set the smoke and bark, and then finish it in the oven.

I'll admit that I always bbq briskets. Sometimes I'll do a wet or dry pastrami prep before smoking, and those sandwiches are amazing. I want to try braising one, but it just seems wrong - because bbq brisket is so incredible, and I've put so much effort into getting fairly good at it. It is hard to step out of that comfort zone. I know the braised brisket could be great, and that almost seems like cheating. (A friend once did a brisket in his oven, and I don't think even shoe leather could be that tough, but I know how to avoid that.)

It is like that with short ribs - I sometimes make beef stew with braised short ribs (usually Korean recipes), and that is amazing. Way better than I could ever imagine.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[snadamo]

Thanks for all the input, brethren. I have come to the conclusion I am separating the point and flat....the flat I'm certain will be used for Montreal Smoked meat. The point is still up the the air....Pastrami? Burnt ends? Corned Beef? just smoke it? There were some great suggestions in here so I will have to revisit those as well.