It is difficult to beat a backyard get together with friends and family that includes delicious, smoky, perfectly cooked brisket that is being passed around fresh off the barbecue. However, how do you know how much brisket you should be getting (and smoking) to ensure that everyone has enough to eat?
You’re going to want to zero things in a little bit, even though we truly think that it’s practically impossible to have too much brisket. This is because, unless you have an infinite budget that you can squander on high-quality beef, it’s almost hard to have too much brisket.
How many pounds of brisket should I cook for each individual? Some people suggest that you can get away with serving around one-fourth of a pound of brisket to each individual, while others propose that you increase that amount to approximately one-half of a pound – or perhaps a little bit more!
How Much Brisket Per Person Do You Need?
In spite of the fact that brisket, like every other piece of barbecue, might give off the impression of being a very laid-back and unrefined piece of food, anybody who has actually smoked brisket knows that this could not be farther from the reality.
When it comes to brisket, there is not a lot of room for “winging it.” You must devise a strategy beforehand or you will wind up being really dissatisfied with the outcome.
It is essential that you have a precise understanding of the following factors: the quantity of beef you have at your disposal, the grade and size of the particular cut of beef, as well as the quantity of salt and seasoning you want to apply.
And it doesn’t even begin to touch the surface of how you’re going to smoke the brisket, the temperature you’re going to try and retain for hours and hours on end, and how you’re going to make sure that temperature zone is maintained low and slow until your brisket is perfect.
Everything said here is of the utmost significance. Every each thing
But in order for anything to take place with the brisket, you first need to get a piece of beef of a respectable size, and the size of this piece of beef is always going to be determined by the number of people that you are going to serve.
Cuts of Brisket
When it comes to getting your hands on some slices of brisket, you have a few distinct choices open to you to choose from.
On the one hand, you have the option of purchasing what is known as the Packer’s Cut, which is a complete brisket. This monstrous cut of meat often tips the scales at anywhere between 10 and 16 pounds, making it one monstrous piece of steak (and sometimes even bigger than that).
That amount of beef is often sufficient for anywhere from twenty to forty individuals, give or take. It is also the most common method for preparing brisket, and it ensures that there is enough food for everyone.
This cut will provide you with a substantial amount of meat; but, it will also provide you with a substantial amount of fat, which will need to be trimmed. When it comes to taste, a little bit of fat goes a long way, but an excessive amount of fat will almost certainly put virtually anybody off of otherwise delicious brisket.
However, in just a moment we will go into that topic a little bit more.
You should go with either a flat or a point cut of brisket if a packer is going to be much too much brisket for the sort of party that you are planning to give.
If you have to select between the two, the point is almost always the superior option, even if for no other reason than the fact that the flat is going to be much leaner and more suited to a dish like a braise.
It is possible to smoke a flat cut, and doing so will result in something very remarkable, but doing so will demand a little more care on your part than smoking a point would.
Flat cuts are often larger than point cuts, and you can typically anticipate them to weigh anywhere from 5 pounds all the way up to 8 pounds or more. Point cuts, on the other hand, typically weigh somewhere in the vicinity of 3 pounds. There will be a decrease in the total number of points, maybe somewhere between 4 and 7 pounds (though you can find some real monsters from big beef cows, too).
Know Your Crowd
In addition to this, you are going to want to consider about the gathering that you are cooking for and how enthusiastic they are about brisket.
Some people, even those who are major lovers of beef, may not really be enthusiastic about authentic barbecue that has been smoked the way that brisket has been smoked. However, anybody who enjoys beef is certainly going to want to sink elbow deep in brisket just as soon as it comes off the smoker.
If you have a large number of guests who like brisket, you should aim to provide at least a half pound of beef to each person that attends, regardless of their age. That will often leave behind some more material, but not very lot.
You could even want to increase it to three quarters of a pound if you have the room in your budget (though pushing it to a pound of beef per person is usually overkill).
If the brisket isn’t going to be the highlight of the meal, you shouldn’t have any issue cutting down to a serving size of one-fourth of a pound per person. Simply guarantee that the condiments and everything else that comes with the BBQ are of the highest quality.
Rules for Making Great Brisket
When it comes to making a good brisket, two factors matter more than anything else:
- The grade of the meat that you are dealing with
- Your capacity to keep temperatures uniform and stable during the whole process of long-term smoking
As long as you get these two aspects of your barbeque just right (and obviously have enough meat for everyone), you won’t have to worry about things getting out of hand during your cook.
High Quality Meat Matters
The vast majority of truly high-quality brisket is not overly seasoned, often having little more than a little amount of salt and a little bit of pepper; this allows the meat itself to take center stage.
That is only going to be feasible if the quality of the meat you are using is of the highest caliber.
Brisket has historically been a cut that is relatively inexpensive; however, prices have increased over the past few years as more and more people have been denied access to high-quality brisket. Despite this, you will still need to spend additional money in order to obtain something of genuine high quality.
A grass-fed, grass-finished, well-marbled, high-quality cut of beef will always have a greater influence on the taste of the brisket than any unique spice rub combination you can come up with.
Low and Slow Always
There are some people in the world who would want to convince you that it is possible to “hack” the process of smoking beef brisket and reduce the amount of time it takes by a few hours, but it is imperative that you pay them no regard at all. The smoking process takes a couple of hours.
Seriously.
Always cook your brisket low and slow for the best results. We are discussing temperatures that are as near to 165 degrees Fahrenheit as feasible maintained for a period of time more than ten hours in order to cook brisket to the point where people will rant and rave about it.
It is true that pellet smokers make it much simpler to maintain such temperatures, but with a little bit of concentration and additional work, you can get any smoker to sustain temperatures in the range of 165 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 hours and produce something really exceptional.
Strategically Trim the Fat
Before you can salt it, season it, and put it on the smoker, every brisket, regardless of whether you choose a packer, a flat, or a point, is going to have some excess fat that has to be cut off and removed.
You have to put a lot of effort into striking a balance between cutting away excess fat in a planned manner and maintaining some degree of coverage so that it does not seem fully unclothed.
If you allow the brisket to retain an excessive amount of fat throughout the cooking process, the final product will be very rubbery and chewy.
If you remove too much fat, on the other hand, you’ll wind up with something that has the texture and flavor of dry beef jerky. There won’t be any moisture left, and there won’t be any genuine flavor either. Everyone will have a terrible time.
You should be set to go after you have trimmed everything down to the point where there is around an inch of fat remaining on the fat cap.
To Crutch or Not to Crutch?
Whether or whether you decide to crutch your brisket is a matter of personal preference, but it is definitely a method that should be investigated.
Some folks swear by the Texas crutch ignoring brisket through the “stall” that any piece of meat the size is going to have to battle through at some time. “Stall” is an idiom that describes a challenge that must be overcome. Some people even claim that it prevents a significant amount of moisture and juice from escaping.
Some people don’t like it when the crest of a good brisket gets mushy and kind of “sweaty” when you crunch it, and they swear by the method of spritzing and spraying their brisket throughout the cook to add extra moisture that way. Others are fine with the crest becoming soggy and sort of “sweaty” when you crunch it.
In the end, it is not a terrible idea to experiment a little while to see whether or not the crutch works for you. This will allow you to determine whether or not you need it.
Final Thoughts
When you come right down to it, you’ll discover that it’s virtually always impossible to prepare more brisket than people are willing to eat. This is the case regardless of how much time or effort you put into it.
People will definitely, unequivocally load themselves silly on this grill, and there’s a very valid reason for this.
If you’ve ever tasted decent brisket, I’m talking about truly amazing brisket, you know that most people have an insatiable thirst for it.
However, if you are shopping on a limited budget, it is recommended that you limit the amount of brisket served to each individual to between one-fourth and one-half of a pound. Perhaps a bit more than necessary so that there will be enough left over for you to savor as well!
FAQs
How many pounds of brisket do I need for 10 adults?
Depending on how much it weighs, a complete packer brisket should provide enough food for ten to twenty people. If you want to serve one pound of raw brisket to each individual and a complete packer typically weighs between 12 and 15 pounds, you may anticipate getting anywhere from 12 to 15 servings out of it. It should be possible to serve six people using a single brisket flat that weighs six pounds.
How much does 5lbs of brisket feed?
portions of brisket is the industry standard, and it’s a nice average between the serving sizes for large diners and those for children. 1/2 lbs. portions: one pound of food may feed one person. of undercooked brisket.
How many pounds of brisket do I need for 20 adults?
In addition, brisket is often served with a large quantity of other food, which means that you may end up with some leftovers, which is never a bad thing. Therefore, if you need to provide food for twenty people, you need purchase twelve pounds of brisket.
How many people will a 15lb brisket serve?
The average person consumes between one-third and one-half pounds of beef every week. Therefore, a brisket weighing 15 pounds may serve around 15 to 20 people.
How many people does 1 lb of smoked brisket serve?
Two people can be fed with only one pound of brisket. This indicates that each individual needs around a half pound of brisket to satisfy their appetite. When purchasing raw brisket, it is important to remember that it will always be heavier than cooked brisket, so be sure to factor in the additional weight of the raw brisket. This indicates that a brisket weighing 12 pounds should be able to serve 14 people.