Brisket to Corned Beef to Montreal Smoked Meat PEJ

[mvscal]

OK. I've fucked around with this before with a store bought corned beef and a Weber kettle grill and the results were...meh at best. Now that I have a proper smoker and a spare fridge, I've decided to do this from scratch. Theoretically this should be a snap. I will be documenting the process as I go. The technique and basic cure is from:

Ruhlman, Michael & Polcyn, Brian (2013, revised), Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking & Curing. I highly reccomend it.

I started yesterday with the star of the show, a 7# brisket flat graded choice from a local butcher.



The brisket is wet cured in a brine solution with various herbs and spices for 5 to 7 days at which point it will be a corned beef brisket and can be prepared as such. To make the smoked meat, it is removed from the brine, rinsed and soaked, patted dry and left to dry overnight in the fridge before applying the rub and smoking it.

The brine ingredients (most of them):



1 gallon water
2 cups Morton's Kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp Prague Powder #1 (salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite)
2 tbs spice mix
1 stick cinnamon (crushed)
5 bays leaves (crumbled)
Allspice berries (about a dozen or so)

Spice mix:
2 tbs peppercorns
2 tbs coriander seed
2 tbs mustard seed
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tbs red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground allspice
Celery seed (a good dash)

Roast the peppercorns, coriander and mustard seeds in a small skillet until fragarant. Coarsely grind with a spice mill or mortar & pestle and add the rest of the ingredients. Store the leftovers however the fuck you please. I'm going to use the leftover as a base for the dry rub before smoking it or in the braising liquid if I go the regular corned beef route.

Bring the water to a boil and add the brine ingredients and makesure the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow the brine to steep until it reaches room temperature and the refrigerate until chilled. It smells fantastic.

[mvscal]

Flipping the brisket a little over halfway through the curing process. The texture of the meat has begun to firm up a bit. The smell of the herbs and spices is very prevalent particularly the bay leaf and the allspice.



I think I'm going to cut in half and smoke one half and make corned beef out of the other. I can tell this will blow any store bought corned beef out of the water.

[Truman]

I'm assuming that's Super Bowl fare, and that'll rack. And congrats on your new Smokey Mountain - you'll be in your 70's before it ever wears out. What kind of smoke wood are you planning to use? Saw a guy on the Web reference oak or hickory, but I'd like to think that maple would be more traditional...

[Dinsdale]

Hickory is nasty for most things.

Then again, "traditional" California BBQ often uses red oak, which is nasty.

I have about a lifetime's worth of English walnut these days -- mild, but good.

BBQ is actually quite popular in Southern Oregon (not enough of a population center to ever hear much about it). Those fuckers use a lot of madrone, which is pretty much the awesomest. Grows like a weed there... a little harder to come up with here in the northern parts. Does grow by the big rivers (Willy, Big C), where I've been known to hit a park, bust off a limb, and pretend it's my walking staff so as not to be accused of removing flora from the parks/public lands.


I want to go to mv's for dinner.

[mvscal]

I'm assuming that's Super Bowl fare, and that'll rack. And congrats on your new Smokey Mountain - you'll be in your 70's before it ever wears out. What kind of smoke wood are you planning to use? Saw a guy on the Web reference oak or hickory, but I'd like to think that maple would be more traditional...

This herb cure is smelling too good to even think about anything other then a mild kiss of smoke as a complement. Hickory is out of the question. I'm thinking cherry. I'd like pecan but I haven't seen it out here. The weather isn't looking that great, though. I'll have to see. If worst comes to worst, I'll saw it in half and use part of it for a beer braised corned beef with roasted brussel sprouts in honey mustard vinaigrette and boiled red potatoes.

[Dinsdale]

The weather isn't looking that great, though. I'll have to see.

I know you're newish to the slow smoking thing. But for myself, I generally tend to the smoker just about nonstop (completely unnecessary), and after 4-6 hours, I'm straight up hammered - it's part of the process. A BAC of stratospheric proportion seems to negate the ill effects of the weather. Granted, it rarely (almost never) gets full-on asschipping cold here, but I've ECBed in brutal gullywashers, where just the runoff from the lid fucked with the fire.

So my advice -- drink heavily.

And give it a good shot of smoke at the very beginning, as this seals (there's a tech term for it I can't think of right now) the outside, and keeps moisture in. You can tone it down to straight charcoal for the remainder. But let whatever wood (unless it's lameass chips) burn a bit before you put the meat on, which will keep the soot down. Smoke = good... soot = bad.

Sounds quite grub... funny how effort and passion do that.

[mvscal]

So my advice -- drink heavily.

Well....duh. That's a given regardless of menu. The forecast for tomorrow is one to three inches of snow with highs in the mid 20s and Sunday won't be any warmer. Boilermaker braised corned beef it is then. I'll vacuseal half of it and wait for a break in the weather to smoke.

[Truman]

So my advice -- drink heavily.

Well....duh. That's a given regardless of menu. The forecast for tomorrow is one to three inches of snow with highs in the mid 20s and Sunday won't be any warmer. Boilermaker braised corned beef it is then. I'll vacuseal half of it and wait for a break in the weather to smoke.

Meh. Give it a couple of years, Cali. We Flyovers live six months in the shit as it is, and you'll adjust to cold and snow as merely a slight nuisance to cranking out good 'cue. Hell, we had a foot of snow dropped on us one Christmas Eve, and still had smoked turkey, brisket, and ribs on the holiday table by late afternoon. Yeah, shoveling a path to the smoker sucked, but it was well worth the trouble.

*Edit* You should be able to find Pecan sold in 20# bags at your local Westlakes Hardware (I checked, you have 'em up there). Great little store to pick up 'cue necessities, as well as a bunch of other neat shit that you probably don't need but can't live without. Your Omaha! Omaha! Farmers Market should have Pecan this spring too.

[Truman]

Hickory is nasty for most things.

Then again, "traditional" California BBQ often uses red oak, which is nasty.

I have about a lifetime's worth of English walnut these days -- mild, but good.

I'll rack the walnut sentiment. Kicked out one of the best Big Birds I ever smoked with that wood. Practically fill the truck bed with the stuff any time I can find it. As for hickory...

You're right, Dins, hickory CAN be nasty. Use too much, and the meat will run away from you, leaving a bitter, inedible aftertaste. But used correctly... Oh my. Nothing is more fragrant. The woods in these parts are lousy with the stuff, so the locals perfected its usage eons ago. You won't find a slab of spare ribs or a plate of burnt ends in any reputable Kansas City Q-house prepared without it.

I want to go to mv's for dinner.

In. I'll bring the beer!

[mvscal]

You're right, Dins, hickory CAN be nasty. Use too much, and the meat will run away from you, leaving a bitter, inedible aftertaste. But used correctly... Oh my. Nothing is more fragrant.

That's why I like pecan. It's similar to hickory but more mild. Plus my introduction to true BBQ was living in the hill country of central Texas. Pecans are everywhere and it pretty much defines Texas BBQ. Pecan smoked brisket is sublime and if you bring sauce of any kind within ten feet of my plate, I'll stab you in the eye with my fork.

I think I've gotten pretty well adjusted to the cold. We haven't really had much snow so far this winter, so that helps. I'm just looking for a clear day slightly above freezing. I need to establish a baseline with this corned beef anyway, so I'll braise half of it tomorrow. Braising in a 250 degree oven is definitely the way to go with corned beef. Boiling it is horrific.

[mvscal]

The moment of truth. I took the roaster out of the fridge, lifted the lid and carefully sniffed for any trace of an off odor. Nope. It smelled fresh like...rootbeer actually. The ginger, cinnamon and allspice were the dominant smells after a little over 7 days in the cure.

I cut the brisket in half. It sure looks a fuck of a lot better than any store bought corned beef I have ever had.



For the braise, I used two bottles of stout, one half cup of bourbon, a small onion, half a head of garlic and 1 tbs of the spice mix from above.



A covered dutch oven, five hours in a 250 degree oven:



Honestly, I don't think the beer and bourbon add much of anything other than a nice color and a weak, hipster cache that I couldn't give a fuck less about. I won't bother with it again. The corned beef itself was simply the best I've ever had. I believe that starts with the quality of the brisket. I did fuck up a little bit and didn't soak out the salt long enough before braising so it was little bit too salty. I'd say a 3 hour soak changing the water every half hour would do it.

Bottom line: Practically effortless and the only specialty item (curing salt) is a cheap Amazon purchase away. I would definitely reccomend it if you're looking to impress on St. Paddy's Day.

Sides were steamed carrots & brussel sprouts with buttered new potatoes & chives.

[Mikey]

Looks pretty damn tasty.

[mvscal]

The moment of truth. The weather fucked me. Earlier in the week is was supposed to be sunny and 50 degrees today. Nope. Overcast with a high in the mid 30s. It was 25 when I fired up the WSM. There wasn't much wind and it had no trouble whatsoever maintaining that 225 degree sweet spot. I didn't have to fuck with it at all.

I did the remaining half of the corned beef brisket and a fresh half of a brisket flat. The corned beef is on the left.



After five and half hours ready to be foiled.



Not a very good pic. A little too dark.



Bottom line: the corned beef was tasty as all fuck but still too salty. I will have to boil it briefly to pull some of the salt out. The fresh brisket was pretty damn good for a newb. I will improve but there were no complaints and not much conversation for a steady 20 minutes of power grubbing.

[Dinsdale]

Welcome to your new obsession.

The more the do it, the better you get at it (I know, shocking). And it's never not fun.

[mvscal]

Welcome to your new obsession.

Yeah, I can see that. My new mission in life is the perfect brisket. It will take a good deal of tasty trial and error. This was pretty deece. I liked the rub and got a good bark but whiffed on the melt in your mouth tenderness. I was by no means ashamed of plating this up and serving it but there is much room for improvement.

I was very pleased with the performance of the WSM cooker, though. It was cold and a little breezy yesterday but it had no trouble holding a steady temperature. You really need to send ye olde ECB to the glue factory and spring for the Weber. They aren't that pricey and I'm sure you'll get your money's worth out of it.

[Dinsdale]

Yeah, I can see that.

Oh it starts innocently enough -- a brisket here, a tenderloin there...

Then next thing you know, you're throwing cheese and veggies in a meatloaf, just for the sake of playing with fire in winter.

You really need to send ye olde ECB to the glue factory and spring for the Weber. They aren't that pricey and I'm sure you'll get your money's worth out of it.

Soon enough, though I love My POS Baby.

But I think I want a horizontal, with the separate fire box. I love cooking directly above the water pan (if you're only doing one thing, put it on the water-rack), I just feel like I want the control of the horizontal, even though it takes up more room in storage.

I wouldn't kick a Weber out of bed for eating crackers, though.

[Truman]

After five and half hours ready to be foiled.

I liked the rub and got a good bark but whiffed on the melt in your mouth tenderness.

And therein lies you answer, mvscal: Don't be in such a dern hurry. That said, I wouldn't turn down a sammy, either. Nice work, bugeater.

I've always been skeptical of wrapping perfectly good 'cue in foil. I understand the theory why some folks do it, but it's always seemed a bit like "cheating" to me. Then again, if it works, WGARA? Good buddy of mine has always foiled his ribs a good hour-or-so before pulling them off of his smoker, usually to good results.

Speaking of "bark," if you ever buy yourself a whole brisket, you're in for a treat. After plating the meat, cut off the point and return it to your smoker for another hour-or-so (and don't wrap it in any damn foil, either!). The resulting perfection is fondly referred to in these parts as "burnt ends", and they rarely make the table because you'll eat most of them while cubing them up. Should any survive, you won't believe what they'll do for a pot of barbecue beans, much less a sammich.

Got March 9th circled to give a brisket flat the one-week mvscal treatment. Damn that looked good.

[mvscal]

And therein lies you answer, mvscal: Don't be in such a dern hurry.

Yeah, I think it got too hot too fast. There is a definite threshold.

Speaking of "bark," if you ever buy yourself a whole brisket, you're in for a treat. After plating the meat, cut off the point and return it to your smoker for another hour-or-so (and don't wrap it in any damn foil, either!). The resulting perfection is fondly referred to in these parts as "burnt ends", and they rarely make the table because you'll eat most of them while cubing them up. Should any survive, you won't believe what they'll do for a pot of barbecue beans, much less a sammich.

Hello? I lived in central Texas for 12 years. I might not be able to Q the perfect brisket at the moment, but I have damn sure eaten an obscenely gluttonous amount of it. Hill Country Texas is the epicenter of brisket BBQ on planet earth. Each BBQ region has its own specialty.

Got March 9th circled to give a brisket flat the one-week mvscal treatment. Damn that looked good.

The corned beef was nails for sure. It will be good however you prepare it. I've got half of a flat in my freezer for the occasion. I'm going to go with the traditional boiled dinner this once. Braising and smoking are great for sure, but sometimes you have to tip your hat to the classics.