The Budget Brisket At Aldi That's Perfect For Beginner Smokers

Learning to smoke meat can be an expensive endeavor — particularly when you're first learning, because you might not always get the results you want. With this in mind, it can be intimidating to shell your money out on a nice piece of brisket. That is, unless you're an Aldi shopper. Aldi stores offer the ideal beginner brisket: small, pre-seasoned pieces sold at the store's standard cut-rate prices.

Aldi's beef brisket comes in two flavors, Texas-style BBQ rubbed and salt and pepper rubbed, each typically packaged at around 3 pounds of meat and selling for about $6 per pound. Now, $18 for three pounds of brisket is already a steal — about half the price you might see at other stores — but if you are diligent in your stalking of Aldi deals, you might even be able to grab a piece at a further 50% discount. At that price, you'd be losing money by not buying it.

You might be a little worried about picking up a pre-packaged brisket soaked in spices. But the reviews are actually quite good, particularly for the salt and pepper brisket. Across the internet, you can find folks that have been pleasantly surprised by the quality and flavor of these inexpensive cuts of beef, finding them juicy, tender, and surprisingly well-seasoned. Without a doubt, these brisket packages deserve to be on the list of the best cuts of steak you can buy at Aldi.

It may not be the exact piece of brisket that a pit-master would choose, but if you are just learning the ropes, there are plenty of reasons why Aldi's briskets are a perfect choice. For one thing, you don't have to worry about seasoning the meat yourself. Once you get a handle on smoking meat, there are many ways to add flavor to brisket you can try. But when you are just learning, taking one variable out of the equation gives you more time and energy to focus on technique.

Another advantage is that these briskets are small. Buying just a few pounds means that it's both an inexpensive undertaking, and that you won't waste so much should you make a beginner-mistake. While you typically get juicier and more tender results from larger cuts of meat, plenty of home cooks have shown that Aldi's cuts are perfectly capable of passing the brisket bend test.   

Some stores package brisket at closer to 8 pounds, which is not only expensive, but also makes enough BBQ to feed a small army. Whether you are a beginner smoker looking to learn the ropes, or an accomplished pit-master looking for an inexpensive and reasonably-sized brisket for a family dinner, you can't go wrong when buying your brisket from Aldi.