Brisket has always been one of the favorite cuts of meat to serve at barbecue parties. And because many guests love eating it, it’s also a bit worrisome if you get to serve them too little of it. That’s why it’s a very common question to ask, “how much brisket should you serve per person?”.

In all honesty, the best answer to this would probably be “it depends”. There are many factors involving how much you should serve depending on what else you’re serving, how much a person can eat, the type of event, the time needed, the cooking method you’d use, etc.

As much as brisket is a good cut of meat, it can be very deceiving. And depending on how you cook it, you can get different portion sizes from it.

In the article below, we’ll explain all this thoroughly. We’ll discuss:

  • The appropriate serving size per person
  • How you can calculate brisket weight loss
  • Other important factors you need to consider

How Much Brisket Is An Appropriate Serving Size Per Person?

As a general rule of thumb, it’s good to serve from ¼ to ¾ pounds of cooked brisket per person. But of course, some people can eat more than others, so you need to consider that, too. If you want to have leftovers, then you might want to serve more than the number of guests coming.

Now, if you noticed, we mentioned that you should serve ¼ to ¾ pounds of “cooked” brisket per person. We emphasized the word cooked because the weight of the brisket when it’s cooked or raw is different.

It is said that around 35-50% of the total volume of the brisket is lost during cooking, which means you need to calculate this lost weight as well. In other words, before cooking, you can estimate that you’d need to serve 1 pound of “uncooked” brisket for every person.

So that you can get a clearer view of how to do this, let’s calculate the brisket weight loss on every cooking process you do…

Calculate Brisket Weight Loss During The Cooking process

To start, let’s define what a brisket is.

A brisket is known to be one of the toughest cut of meat. It comes from the pectoral muscles of the cow, which means you can expect a lot of connective tissues there. That’s why we love cooking brisket at low and slow temperatures because this helps the meat become tender and juicier.

A brisket as a whole could weigh around 10-16 pounds. But it’s often split into two different cuts:

  • Flat cut
  • Pointcut

The flat cut is usually used for braising and is leaner than the others. The pointcut, on the other hand, contains more fat and is used for grilling or smoking.

So, depending on the type of cut you have, you need to calculate its fat content, too. Because the pointcut is fattier, all that fat would most likely loosen up, resulting in a meat that’s probably half of its original weight when cooked.

To be on the safe side, it’s best to have ¼ to ½ pounds of raw brisket per person if you’re getting a flat cut. And you need to have at least ½ to ¾ pound of brisket per person if you’re getting a pointcut.

Now, let’s talk about how your cooking process can also affect the end weight of your brisket:

Smoked Brisket

If you’re planning to smoke a brisket, you need to add more than what’s recommended above. This is because smoking takes a long time, and your brisket would lose more fat than needed. You’ll only be left with a slice of very tender meat, which is usually just half of the original weight of the uncooked brisket.

For this, it’s highly recommended to prepare at least ¾ to 1 pound of uncooked brisket per person, especially if you’re using a pointcut brisket.

Grilled Brisket

For the grilled brisket, you can use the same recommended weight as when you’re smoking the brisket. It’s also best to choose the pointcut as it has more fat. But then again, this fat would loosen, leaving you a slice of leaner and smaller meat.

It’s still recommended to prepare at least ¾ to 1 pound of uncooked brisket per person when you plan to grill it.

Oven-roasted or Braised Brisket

If you’re planning to oven-roast or braise your brisket, then a flatcut would be the best choice. And because a flat cut doesn’t contain lots of fat, the brisket won’t lose a lot of its initial weight.

So, even if you just estimate to have at least ½ pound of uncooked brisket per person, that could be enough. Of course, you can definitely add more if you think that’s not going to be enough.

Things To Consider

Now, apart from calculating how much weight a brisket may lose, you should also consider other factors like:

  • What other foods you’re serving
  • What type of event you’re hosting
  • How much time you’d need

Let’s go over each of them and find out how these could influence the serving sizes…

What Else Are You Serving?

The first thing you need to consider is what other food you are serving.

Naturally, if you’re only serving brisket, then you might need a portion or more of that for one person. However, if we’re already considering the side dishes, one portion or less would probably do.

You can think about how filing your side dishes would be. For example, if you have bread, potato salads, macaroni and cheese, or corn on the cob, then it’s safe to estimate that each person might only want ¼ brisket each.

If you’re serving other meat like chicken, pork, or sausage, a small serving portion of brisket would also do. Of course, most people would also like to have dessert after eating, so they would most likely not try to fill themselves very much with meat.

What Type Of Event Are You Having?

Next, you need to think about what kind of event you’re having.

If it’s a formal banquet setting where guests sit down and food is served, then it’s quite easier to control the serving portions for each guest. Serving them the standard of ¼ to ¾ pounds of brisket per person is safe. But of course, if there are kids, they would require smaller portions.

If the event is more of a buffet-style where guests get to serve themselves, then you need to make sure there’s extra brisket in case people want to get more and go back for seconds.

If you’re tailgating or at a campsite, naturally, people would love to eat more in these informal events. Add some alcohol on the site, and food just becomes tastier, so you definitely want to cook more brisket.

Time Needed

Finally, consider the time you’d need to cook the brisket.

Again, brisket is best cooked low and slow to make it tender and juicier. Depending on the size you’re cooking, it can take almost 12-20 hours, and this is going to be a really big commitment.

Serving so many portions would mean you need to allot a longer time. So, if you don’t have that many, sticking to the minimum of ¼ pounds for each person should be fine, and just prepare lots of side dishes, too.

Final Thoughts

Finally, consider the time you’d need to cook the brisket.

Again, brisket is best cooked low and slow to make it tender and juicier. Depending on the size you’re cooking, it can take almost 12-20 hours, and this is going to be a really big commitment.

Serving so many portions would mean you need to allot a longer time. So, if you don’t have that many, sticking to the minimum of ¼ pounds for each person should be fine, and just prepare lots of side dishes, too.