USDA PRIME: This whole packer brisket is graded USDA Prime, the top tier of quality in the U.S. On average, about 9% of graded cattle will achieve Prime status, but taking things a step further, we inspect each primal that moves through our facility to guarantee quality. If we don’t think a piece deserves the Prime grade, we won’t ship it.
HOLSTEIN CATTLE: This brisket is sourced from Holstein cattle, raised in California predominantly in the Southeast corner of the state. The size of Holstein briskets will be smaller and slightly more thin than those from Angus.
SHIP FRESH: The briskets are shipped fresh, and once they are received they are good for 4-5 days in your refrigerator, or 6-7 months in the freezer.
DRY AGED: We admit, it sounds insane, but these briskets were dry aged. To keep moisture loss to a minimum, we put about 15days of dry age on these. You will see a noticeably darker coloration to the briskets as a result of the dry aging, and a subtle depth of flavor entirely unique to the dry aging process in the finished cut.
I’ll be honest – when Katie told me her idea of a special run of Dry Aged Briskets, I told her she was crazy, and she’d be lucky if we sold two. Well, I’m glad I didn’t bet any money on her idea, because I’ll be damned, it actually worked out pretty well. We did a test, and asked a few experienced customers to do some taste tests for us, and have been pleasantly surprised at the reviews – very positive overall.
Because we didn’t want to pull too much moisture from the brisket during the dry aging process, we are only aging these for about two weeks; just enough to cause the meat to firm up slightly, and bring subtle flavor notes to the final product. One of our taste testers had the following to say about the experience: “The meat was very tender, held its structure quite well, and was not dry but not as moist as the fresh brisket. Its hard to articulate the difference in taste between the two briskets. I wasn’t getting any of the nutty blue cheese tastes I remember from a dry aged steak, but there were subtle differences that I enjoyed in the meat. Nothing strong or overpowering, just mildly different and fantastically delicious.”
If you want my honest opinion, these dry aged briskets are a unique opportunity to try a variation on a classic; but not something that I would undertake if you don’t already have experience with smoking briskets. This will not be a continuing item, for anyone with foody friend groups; smoking both a dry aged and unaged brisket is a fun dynamic.
