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Brisket was once the cheap, tough cut that barbecue was built around. Now we’re seeing prices pushing toward $40, $50, and even more per pound and one Texas Monthly Top 50 joint has decided the numbers simply don’t work anymore.

So this week on Grab’em in the Brisket, we’re asking: At what price do you stop buying brisket and start learning to smoke it yourself?

We’ll break down why restaurant brisket has gotten so expensive, build our own $50 BBQ trays, debate whether a Texas BBQ joint even needs brisket anymore, and decide which cheaper cuts deserve to become barbecue’s next big thing.

But we’re also taking this conversation back to the backyard. Have we made cooking brisket seem way harder and way more expensive than it actually needs to be? Do you really need a $2,000 smoker? And if you consider yourself a serious BBQ fan, should you know how to smoke a brisket yourself?

Plus, we’re putting modern BBQ trends on Restaurant Death Row and asking you the question that might start a fight:

🔥 What’s the absolute MOST you’ll pay for a pound of brisket?

Join James, Jan & Jon for another episode of Grab’em in the Brisket.

This is an all-purpose spicy seasoning and is excellent on beef, pork, chicken, beans and vegetables. It's even great for potato salad and coleslaw with a spicy kick of flavor. The heat level is medium-hot. Apply a thick layer of rub on before cooking or sprinkle on as a spicy finishing salt. For competition brisket, apply a thick layer of rub first, then add your favorite beef rub on top. Made by the Original Smoking Chick, Deni Lathrop from Houston TX.