Do You Know the Barbeque Meat Cuts?

Smoked barbeque cooks use just about every part of a hog. For most of us, however, we use the Boston Butt, Picnic Shoulder, and Ribs. These flavorful cuts of meat are generally quite tough under normal cooking conditions (its the primary reason these cuts are almost always cheaper than other cuts).

The “low and slow” cooking style of real smoked barbeque renders these cuts incredibly tender when done. I believe that it is the great attraction of barbeque.

These diagrams shows the location of these muscular areas of hogs and cows. It is an area that works the muscle frequently so there is a lot of connective tissue.

To make it tender you have to break down the collagen in this tissue. This is the reason that the internal temperature must reach the neighborhood of 195 to 205 degrees.

At that temperature the collagen starts to break down and the meat becomes tender.

The same holds true for beef brisket. The brisket is located in the breast of the cow. This area gets a lot of work so the muscle is quite strong.

It’s full of connective tissue so the “low and slow” technique is required.

I don’t think it’s too important about the grade of the brisket when buying because the slow cooking makes just about any brisket tender.

To be safe though step up to the better cuts of brisket that you find in the warehouse stores and better super markets.

Some cooks even “age” their brisket in the refrigerator for a week or so before cooking to give it added flavor (I have not tried that yet but it’s on the list).