Aldi's Affordable Brisket Is Changing How People Learn To Smoke Meat

If you're interested in learning to smoke brisket, you might be wary of purchasing a whole packer cut, which is made of two smaller cuts: The flat cut and the point cut. If you make a mistake on one of your early attempts at smoking one, it might cost you a fair amount of money and time. A packer brisket typically costs between $4 and $5 per pound, while a premium brand can run over $10 per pound, depending on quality. Since a packer cut brisket can weigh between 12 to 20 pounds, it's a significant investment. Premium flat and point cuts can cost up to $12 per pound as well.

However, you can now purchase a high-quality, inexpensive brisket at Aldi to practice on and learn how to become a barbecue master without sacrificing money or flavor. If you're new to Aldi, it has a lot in common with Trader Joe's. However, many people consider Aldi more budget-friendly than Trader Joe's, and it has quite a following. There has been a lot of buzz about Aldi's brisket, which weighs only about 2.5 to 3.5 pounds (give or take) and costs approximately $13 to $25. The price alone makes it a beginner-friendly option, as potential mistakes won't cost as much and will involve less waste. 

Online reviewers have found Aldi's brisket very juicy and tender, displaying a nice sheen when finished, with a top-notch flavor. You can buy it in two pre-seasoned styles — Texas-Style BBQ Rubbed and Salt & Pepper Rubbed. This also makes it more convenient for a beginner, though you might need to adjust the spices to taste. 

The basics of making smoked brisket involve cooking it low-and-slow to make it tender, with a good bark, or outer texture. Begin by cooking the brisket unwrapped in a smoker at 225 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit until the internal temperature reaches about 165 degrees. Then wrap the meat in foil and continue cooking until the brisket reaches around 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Rest the meat for about an hour so that the juices distribute evenly throughout it. Due to the small size of Aldi's briskets, you may want to be extra-watchful of the internal temperature and cook it on the upper rack to avoid it being too close to the heat source.

Keep your meat thermometer handy. Cooking brisket by temperature is considered more effective than cooking by time, because it's the correct temperature that yields a tender cut with a perfect bark. Despite Aldi's briskets being smaller, it can still take several hours to hit the right temps. 

There is some debate about what kind of smoker grill is best, but beginners can benefit from one with digital controls and automatic fans to regulate the fire. If you need to use a traditional grill, you can arrange the charcoal or briquettes in a curved row using the snake method to smoke the brisket, lighting one end so the coals catch fire one after another instead of simultaneously. This regulates the temperature and keeps it in the desired lower range. With these cooking options and an Aldi brisket, you're sure to graduate to bigger cuts in no time — unless you want to stick with Aldi's version.