First off, I’m not squeezing it.. haha ! I even tried to rest it on the blade so I could hold it gently.. I’m also trialling new seasonings, so apologies if the bark isn’t up to snuff.

Briskets have exploded in price for prime/AAA so wanting to smoke briskets more often, it’s good to see what cheaper grades and ungraded cuts turn out like.

I bought a case of these ungraded briskets, the one thing noticeable immediately is the size, they’re quite a bit smaller and the fat isn’t as abundant and some have a slight yellow tinge. I do have to say, while trimming this one and another the marbling was really great I’ll try and post some screen grabs in the comments. But for literally 50 percent off compared to prime, I’m down with this brisket on a budget!

This seen about 14 hours on smoke, wrapped with the boat method when it was sitting around 169 internal. Rendered beef tallow all night and poured that in to the wrap.

Finished up when it was probe tender I think it was 202 roughly. Sat on the counter for a bit then in to the oven at 170 for 4 hours. It then sat on the counter for an hour before slicing.

If you’re able to buy ungraded meat in your area and you’re also held back from buying prime more often because of cost, this might be the alternative you need to have it more than just on occasion!

Cheers!🍻



by UncleHemmyBBQ

31 Comments

  1. Chuckobofish123

    You didn’t want to let it rest?

  2. The second half looks mad that the first half stole all its juice.

  3. Killjoy_BUB

    Looks fantastic, especially for ungraded. I’m due for a brisket session but I’m just not looking forward to the price. This might be the ticket

  4. REEL04D

    I might give these a try. My Costco has been 3.99 for brisket, even through tough times over the last few years. Just last weekend I saw they were up to 5.69/lb.

    How many briskets came in a case?

  5. TheUltimatePunV2

    Good enough for the women I date

  6. Fonzgarten

    Nice! The qualities that make brisket an ideal cut for smoking are not really the same things that you look for in the grading process. It makes sense you can still get great brisket from sub-prime cuts.

  7. lostwalletbuttplug

    Man at least cut the muscle the correct way

  8. Dry-Inspector6089

    I was not familiar with your game.

  9. headermargin

    Start experimenting with cheaper meats.

    Each cut has hundreds of hours poured into them by researchers and hillbillies and most of this is posted online.

    I never by anything under 9.99 a lb.

    Unless its a special day.

  10. Iamstryker

    Costco small business center is my jam

  11. mountainmase

    Is that a sujihiki you’re slicing with? I just purchased one for this purpose.

    It looks like you’ve got a nice Tsuchime in some other posts too!

  12. Bloodshotistic

    Should mark this as NSFW. Or pixellate that shit, homie.

  13. TopCoconut4338

    I don’t trust the description “ungraded”.

    Seems to me the accurate description would be “graded below any USDA ratings classification”.

  14. Ferniekicksbutt

    So does everyone just cut a brisket in half now? I’ve been seeing seeing this more and more often, why is no one separating the top and bottom pieces? 

  15. bourbonray

    Always funny digging into brisket “grades”. At the end of the day, it’s an ass cut of meat that the BBQ industry has glorified into price inflation. Similar to boutique butchers selling Denver steak for $20+/lb (it’s chuck roast!). Repeat END OF THE DAY ALL BBQ MEAT IS ASS MEAT. We’ve just figured out how to make it delicious.

  16. Legendary_FDA

    I almost dropped $100 on a 16lb prime but I put it back. The prices are crazy so I’m glad to see this post.

  17. gdwam816

    So the US IMPORTED 4.64 BILLION pounds of beef in 2024 (20% of our National consumption) 25% more than it did the year before. I feel like that is important for this sub to know where your beef likely comes from and why prices might be continuing to rise.

    I hate that I have resorted to simply not buying beef for price and health reasons.

    But damn, you made a bargain brisket look mighty fine. Thx for the post

  18. RehabilitatedAsshole

    > First off, I’m not squeezing it.

    LOL, you can absolutely see your thumbs and fingers squeeze and release, pretty hard to boot. You manage to hold it just fine after the release, so 100% intentional and lying about it. Super weird.

  19. Forward7

    Damn, you didn’t inject that??
    Great job dude. When you say you wrapped with boat at 169, you just mean foil boat yeah? Did you ever fully wrap this brisket or no?

  20. mrgtiguy

    I always laugh at the squeeze. Yes the fat between the point and the flat melted. Wow.

  21. huelealluvia

    Looks good! What did you pay per lb.?