# Dumb Question About Buying A Brisket **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [October 11, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-question-about-buying-a-brisket/973076 "2022-10-11T14:08:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 3
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-question-about-buying-a-brisket/973076/3 "2022-10-11T14:40:29Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I’m to understand that the brisket is a unique muscle and that there’s one per animal, yes? Yes. > [@HeyHomie](#): > > Do I need to call my butcher shop and order one in advance? Or are they likely to appear on the shelves, packaged and ready for sale? Sometimes my local Kroger carries whole briskets, cryovac-ed as @bump describes, but otherwise you might want to try a butcher. Briskets can come whole, which means a ‘flat’ and a ‘point’ cut together, or you can just buy a flat. A whole brisket is huge, and it’s difficult to cook the whole thing properly since the point is thicker than the flat. So you might want to start out just cooking a flat. The key to BBQed brisket is getting it to an internal temp of around 200F so that the collagen renders and it’s fall-apart tender, but don’t overcook it and dry it out. It’s more unforgiving than pork shoulder that way. I started a thread early this past Summer and got a ton of great advice about how to up my brisket game…here it is if it helps: > [@Barbecued Beef Brisket!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbecued-beef-brisket/965672): > > So I’ve BBQed beef brisket many times before in my smoker, but only flats, because a whole brisket is too large for my bullet-style smoker. I’ve been wanting to try this ATK / Cook’s Country technique for cooking a whole brisket in a kettle grill using the snake coal method (as seen in video below) for awhile now, and when doing some shopping today found whole briskets at the grocery store for 1/2 off. So I knew that this weekend is finally the time. Going to rub down the brisket soon (simple s… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-question-about-buying-a-brisket/973076)._