Brisket in Ottawa [General]

Apr 8
Where can I buy brisket in Ottawa? Is it called something else here?

Apr 8
If you want a substantial amount, Laverne Western Beef, on the Navan Road. We buy all our meat there.

Apr 8
Saw whole (trimmed) briskets at produce depot in south keys yesterday.

T&T normally has them as well.

Apr 8
I'd recommend do a bit of reading on briskets to make sure you know what you want so you can ask for the right thing.. you might often see just the flat (instead of whole brisket which is flat and point). You might also not want it trimmed so you can do it yourself.

As Pete said Laverne is good but talk to Meat Press.. my buddy does the brisket there and he gets them from somewhere else.. maybe Alberta or the states as they are better.

But having said all of this... if you're just starting out with smoking whole briskets, don't bother spent a lot on the ones you practice with as it's hard to nail a brisket so I would recommend working your way up to the more expensive ones if you aren't experienced.

I've gotten from Dumouchel on Donald Street and splurged for dry aged at Piggy market as well.

I don't do them that often anymore but Aaron Franklin has good tutorial on Youtube. My only advice is to make sure you've got a thermometer on the grill and meat when starting out smoking them so you can be sure to learn how to manage the fire because that's really the hardest part and them making sure you know when to pull it.... I used to think I needed to pull at like 190 but then by the end it was pulling over 200.. maybe 202 but again, experience will tell you when it's done.

I screwed up a bunch of briskets trying to get it to be half decent. That sucks because it's a lot of work.


Apr 8
Slipicoff’s delivers brisket. I would go to Lavergne’s if you are out that way but call ahead.

Apr 9
Wellington Butchery has a good stock of them as well, both flat and point. They did not have any doubles when I was there. Just had it last night for the first night of Passover and was very good.

Apr 9
I get brisket from Beckwith Butcher, in Carleton Place. They are doing call-in orders, with curbside pickup. I corned my own last year. This year, the one they gave was so huge we split it in half ourselves, and corned both. Cooking one up tonight actually!

Apr 11
Thanks for all the recommendations. Ended up ordering a couple from Ottawa Valley Meats. Opened to recommendations on how to smoke it as I've never done it myself but just recently bought a water smoker.

Apr 12
A Texan chef told me that brisket only needs a salt and pepper rub and oak smoke. Worked for me.

Apr 23
If you keep an eye out at costco they do carry them, or knock on the glass and make a request.

Apr 23
There are a bunch of ways to cook a brisket and I have never used any other methods than combo of wood and lump charcoal in a green egg or on a kettle grill... Aaron Franklin has a good youtube tutorial and there are some good recipes on smoking meats website.

It's the simplest yet hardest thing because you basically have to try and get the fire to like 225 or 250 and keep if there until the meat hits like 200 to 205 internal temp. Knowing how to manage the fire and when the brisket is done are the keys.

I'd recommend having a wireless probe on your meat and your grill so you know exactly what the temps are. Franklin will tell you that the thermometers on most grills or smokers aren't close enough to meat to know what the temp around the brisket actually is... my green egg can be 25 to 50 hotter because the guage is up higher than the grill.

From experience, most people will screw up their first few so honestly, I might recommend you consider smoking it for like 5 or 6 hours and then wrapping and finishing in the oven as it doesn't get much more smoke flavour after those initial hours and you're less likely to have an issue with it being too dry and wasting almost 12 to 16 hours of your life babying it on the smoker. Of course, automated pellett smokers are another matter as they are easier.