Help! Is this brisket OK to cook?

[AlphaPapa]

While trimming this brisket I came across a cavity behind the decle that looks like this. Is this a problem?

 

[Gonefishin]

Not like I know what it is, but I do know I wouldn’t eat it after seeing it.

 

[Jim6820]

This! I would take it back to where I bought it and ask for a refund. That is not normal; I have never seen anything like that in all the briskets I've cooked over the years.

 

[Mannydog]

Yikes! I thought briskets were from the FRONT end of the cow.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Everything I am reading elsewhere says that it is OK as long as there isn’t a foul odor. They say it is likely bruising from poor slaughter technique. They say if the appearance bothers you then trim it away.

 

[Mannydog]

Everything I am reading elsewhere says that it is OK as long as there isn’t a foul odor. They say it is likely bruising from poor slaughter technique. They say if the appearance bothers you then trim it away.

In all seriousness, I believe that guidance is correct. Assuming there's no odor, I think you'll be fine with that brisket.

 

[Jim6820]

They say it is likely bruising from poor slaughter technique.

Or, a tumor.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Or, a tumor.

Maybe I should send the trimmings to pathology and see if I got adequate margins.

 

[Jim6820]

Maybe I should send the trimmings to pathology and see if I got adequate margins.

Just let the butcher shop where you bought it do the pathology.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Does Costco have a pathology department?

 

[Jim6820]

Does Costco have a pathology department?

Probably! Just ask at the pharmacy.

I suspect Costco's meat department would gladly replace that brisket for you.

 

[C. Keeper]

Everything I am reading elsewhere says that it is OK as long as there isn’t a foul odor. They say it is likely bruising from poor slaughter technique. They say if the appearance bothers you then trim it away.

@AlphaPapa , let's be honest. The brisket may not kill you, but you certainly won't enjoy it.
Cut your losses and don't waste time and pellets.

 

[AlphaPapa]

Thanks to all for the responses. Unfortunately, by the time I started getting replies I had already started the cook. So, I am finishing it out. In fact it is at 203 degrees now. I am going to slice it up and freeze it. Next week I will go to Costco (about an hour away) and show the pics to the butcher and see what he/she says. I will very likely end up trashing the whole thing. I am very disappointed in my first prime brisket experience.

 

[Gonefishin]

While we’re on bad looking cuts, this is a butt I got some years ago, shot through with black spots. The forum owner where I asked about it sent the photo off to a professor in the Texas A&M’s meat sciences dept. Says it’s blood splatter, has to do with the way they kill the hogs during slaughter. Supposed to be fine to eat but it still got tossed.

https://meatupdate.csiro.au/data/MEAT_TECHNOLOGY_UPDATE_97-4.pdf

 

[Mike]

View attachment 20293
While trimming this brisket I came across a cavity behind the decle that looks like this. Is this a problem?

No idea what that is, but my dad has raised cows for many many years and I've gone through tons of beef. Never once have I seen anything like that.

Can't say I'd be eating it myself.

 

[JTolbert]

My experience in this matter comes from years of butchering deer, often they would look like that in or around the area or the wound. Bruising etc not harmful just always cut it all out and discarded. Wouldn't know how commercial meat would have it but things happen I guesd

 

[Waterboy]

While we’re on bad looking cuts, this is a butt I got some years ago, shot through with black spots. The forum owner where I asked about it sent the photo off to a professor in the Texas A&M’s meat sciences dept. Says it’s blood splatter, has to do with the way they kill the hogs during slaughter. Supposed to be fine to eat but it still got tossed.

View attachment 20296

https://meatupdate.csiro.au/data/MEAT_TECHNOLOGY_UPDATE_97-4.pdf

That was an interesting article. I worked at a pork slaughterhouse for 3-1/2 years and was the sticker for about 6 months. We must have sent out tons of pork with blood spatter. Pigs used to get double stunned all the time. Line shut offs happen regularly and the pigs that have been stunned and waiting in the chute would come to all the time and have to be re-stunned. We processed an average of 1600 pigs per day.
The other three years I worked there I boned out pig heads. It made for a funny line on my job applications after that. I would always put down that I was the Head Boner.

 

[Dr.Floyd]

I think I would be taking that back. Just knowing what it looked like would ruin my appetite.

 

[C. Keeper]

Hey @AlphaPapa , did you survive???

 

[AlphaPapa]

The brisket is the best I have ever made. Again, it was my first prime cut. So, that probably had a lot to do with it. I only tasted a few small bites from areas well away from the problem area. I also discarded some parts close to the problem area. The slices are in the fridge. I will vacuum seal them today. It may be all for naught based on what the butcher says.

An interesting thing with this cook… The brisket was 18.8 lbs before trimming. The cook only took 8:45. And, the first 2:20 minutes was at 180 degrees (then 225). I wrapped in aluminum foil at 7:15 into the cook when internal temps were in the upper 150’s. I pulled it when the flat was at 206 and it was probe tender. Do prime cuts cook faster?

I used @Pacman‘s rub formula. Although I have used the same ingredients in most of my cooks, I have always struggled with volume/mix consistency. Some cooks came out too salty and others too bland. It was my fault for being too lazy to measure out ingredients. His recipe worked out well for me. So, now I should get more consistent results going forward.