Brisket alternative for Passover

April 2, 2017 10:44 AM

I was super excited to make this recipe for sweet and sour brisket on Smitten Kitchen for Passover - until I started pricing the amount of brisket necessary to feed 9-10 people. I'd prefer not to shell out a hundred bucks for the main dish, so I'm wondering if there's a way cheaper cut of beef that would work well enough in this slow cooked method (I'm thinking the beef version of pork shoulder if there is such a thing). I should also add that I am welcome to suggestions for budget brisket in Queens!
posted by Neely O'Hara to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

Response by poster: I should add that it does not need to be kosher, and my sister-in-law is bringing chicken, so that's not an option.
posted by Neely O'Hara at 10:53 AM on April 2, 2017

I think you may be overestimating how much brisket you need - five pounds should be good for ten people, with a bunch of those heavy Passover sides like potato kugel and matzoh ball soup (well, ideally that shouldn't be heavy). You shouldn't be spending $100 on brisket unless you're getting it super overpriced.
posted by amro at 10:57 AM on April 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Brisket can wind up being surprisingly pricey, since if you get the cheap stuff you wind up trimming so much of it away, but still, if you don't need it kosher there's no reason to pay a lot for it! And as was said above, you certainly do not need more than 1/2 lb per person assuming you're serving soup and potatoes and stuff too.

If you can't find brisket on sale, any big cheap beef roast will do. Chuck roast is a shoulder roast, inexpensive and cooks more or less the same way that brisket does.

Serious budget seder-makers I know make meatballs (with matzah meal and plenty of onion) to stretch the beef budget.
posted by fingersandtoes at 11:26 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Are there any restaurant supply stores near you? In my area (Chicago and Cleveland) you can get pretty cheap briskets at those kinds of places. Otherwise, chuck roast would work great. I also agree that you are probably overestimating the amount of meat you need.
posted by rossination at 1:27 PM on April 2, 2017

Thirding chuck roast. The texture will be slightly different, but in a slow cooker it cooks up pretty much the same way. I use it in the smoker interchangeably with brisket, and have made various sliced and shredded beef recipes with both. Just gotta make sure you cook it long enough at a low temperature for the connective tissue to break down.
posted by mrgoat at 1:29 PM on April 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

This website discusses good beef roasts. I think anything under "cheap and flavorful cuts" should work for you -- the flavor/texture won't be exactly the same as brisket, but still yummy.
posted by rainbowbrite at 1:30 PM on April 2, 2017

Meat that's slow-cooked needs to have both fat - and well, gristle - distributed in the muscle or it will be fibrous however soft it gets. In the UK one of the cheapest beef cuts you can get is stewing steak which is shin of beef. It gets tender, very flavourful and a bit gelatinous after enthusiastic browning followed by long slow cooking.

If shin of beef is still cheap where you are it may suit. If you can get it as a joint you can cut it into whatever size chunk you want, as when it's sold as stewing steak it tends to be cubed quite small. Unfortunately like brisket itself, all sorts of offal and oxtail, there are places where cheap cuts have been relentlessly 'gentrified' and have therefore become expensive, so good luck on your quest. Ask the butcher for alternatives, maybe? Basically you're looking for a cut people might think of as tough and gristley.
posted by glasseyes at 2:32 PM on April 2, 2017

Have you checked halal stores? It's 20 years since I lived in NYC, but back then, it really paid to go to a Muslim grocery store when shopping for parties. It still does where I live now.
Also, I agree with the comments above that you don't need a lot, I'd even say no more than 3-4 pounds in all, specially if there is chicken as well, but maybe that is too European.
Apart from stretching the meat, I've discovered that extra sides are more and more popular, because people are interested in a less meat-focused diet. I don't know if that works for your family, obviously. WP had a really substantial overview last year, with lots of ideas.
posted by mumimor at 2:45 PM on April 2, 2017

if you have a costco near you, i just made my very first brisket and it was $40 for 13.5 lbs. (in Ohio, though) I used that same recipe!
we were having dinner for 7 so we cooked the first 5 lbs for just my husband and me, and the rest the next week. we had plenty of leftovers both times.
i didn't know that there was a fatty part of the brisket and a lean part-- maybe that's common knowledge but I learned that here after the fact-- the one from Costco was both pieces together in one giant slab.

we found that 10 hours in the slow cooker was too long and cut it down to 7 or so the second time through.
posted by katieanne at 2:52 PM on April 2, 2017

Well the price at Costco for brisket is ranging between 3.79 and 7 dollars per pound. Is that a more reasonable range?
posted by jadepearl at 2:52 PM on April 2, 2017

Yes, there is a cheaper alternative to brisket—and it's also brisket! Most of the brisket you'll see is the "first cut" of brisket, but the fattier "second cut" (or "deckle") brisket can be found at your butcher (you may have to ask), and it is usually cheaper than the first cut. And the best part is, it makes an even better brisket! Check out the linked NYT article to learn more.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 5:27 PM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

First cut is often called the "flat" cut of brisket (it's flat and rectangular), and the second cut (deckle, etc.) is called the "point" cut (with a tapered end). The entire brisket, both cuts, are around 12ish pounds together. I agree with above posters that you need only one of them. Flat cut for corned beef or slicing in general, point cut for shredding, so you want the

I'd go to a restaurant supply like Cash & Carry. Googling around Queens it appears you have some here and there, though it's not the chain I was looking for, but no doubt you have some restaurant supplies that're covering the grocery end of things in addition to the hardware end. Call your restaurant supply store to see if they have it and price, but also check whether they sell to the public; not all do.

My Cash & Carry has whole briskets for a good price-- just checked and it's $2.54/lb. (And on sale for $2.35! Yesssss), so ~$31 for a 12-pounder. Wherever you're seeing $100, keep on shopping.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:10 PM on April 2, 2017

Nthing chuck roast. Here is Serious Eats comparing the various cuts of beef suitable for slow cooking.
posted by General Malaise at 8:16 PM on April 3, 2017

Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for your recommendations - happily we found brisket for $3.99 a pound at our local Stop and Shop, so I didn't need to try an alternate cut after all. I still have WAY too much brisket than I need but I guess I'll freeze the leftovers!
posted by Neely O'Hara at 8:54 AM on April 9, 2017 [1 favorite]