Has anyone Smoked a Corn beef Brisket?

Dgilleece · Feb 8, 2013

Hi Lads,

Let me first start by saying I love corned beef briskets. I usually boil it sometimes in beer but most times in water with the cabbage and potato's and carrots. Hmmm making myself hungry typing this. Here are my questions. Has anyone every tired to smoke a corned beef brisket? If so is it any good? If you have smoked one and it is good the next questions are how do you go about doing it? Do you buy the store bought ones that are already in a brine? Do you get a brisket from the butcher and then brine one yourself? If you brine what do you put in the brine? If you do not brine what do you put on it? What temp do you get the meat up to before you pull it from the smoker? What types are woods work best with the corned beef? As you can tell I would like to try a new way of fixing the corn beef but I don't want to screw up a good thing. Any help you can send my way is greatly apprecicated.

colonel00 · Feb 8, 2013

Sounds like you are on your way to making pastrami. There are many recipes for this. I highly suggest this one.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/05/beef-pastrami.html

deguerre · Feb 8, 2013

Yep. Alla time. It's called pastrami. :becky:

Gore · Feb 8, 2013

colonel00 said:
Sounds like you are on your way to making pastrami. There are many recipes for this. I highly suggest this one.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/05/beef-pastrami.html

That's a great one. :thumb:

HeSmellsLikeSmoke · Feb 8, 2013

colonel00 said:
Sounds like you are on your way to making pastrami. There are many recipes for this. I highly suggest this one.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/05/beef-pastrami.html

That is my favorite pastrami recipe source too.

deguerre · Feb 8, 2013

Deguerre! Beat by a nanosecond. And I agree about Thirdeye's recipe.

Moose · Feb 8, 2013

Seems like we're all agreed pastrami is the way to go!

Here's a recent attempt that came out FANTASTIC:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140226

Just did another last weekend, and it was just as good!

Gnaws on Pigs · Feb 8, 2013

I've smoked a few. Makes good pastrami.

ScreamingChicken · Feb 8, 2013

Dgilleece said:
Do you buy the store bought ones that are already in a brine?

If you go this route you might want to soak it in fresh water for a few hours to leach out some of the salt. Sometimes packaged corned beef smokes up pretty salty.

BB-Kuhn · Feb 8, 2013

I've done it once - used a pre-brined corned beef fresh out of the package.

It was delicious, but tough. I'd try it again though (or just slice it thinner, lol).

dmprantz · Feb 8, 2013

Just to be clear, smoked corned beef brisket is not really pastrami. It's similar, but not the same thing. Different cut of meat, different spices, and different cooking process. Smoked corned beef is closer to Montreal Smoked Beef than pastrami, but still different.

dmp

deguerre · Feb 8, 2013

dmprantz said:
Just to be clear, smoked corned beef brisket is not really pastrami. It's similar, but not the same thing. Different cut of meat, different spices, and different cooking process. Smoked corned beef is closer to Montreal Smoked Beef than pastrami, but still different.

dmp

Well, I just learned something. :clap2:

Can you clarify with a wee bit more detail?

Andy W. · Feb 8, 2013

Here's a cook done a couple years ago....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czhxuA95jrE&list=UUet-GrALBfhOZApKN92lDoA&index=16

stl-rich · Feb 8, 2013

I thought that both corned beef and pastrami were usually brisket but they are spiced differently and pastrami is also smoked.

Stoke&Smoke · Feb 8, 2013

deguerre said:
Well, I just learned something. :clap2:

Can you clarify with a wee bit more detail?

Typically, corned beef is cured with mostly salt. The term corning comes from the size and shape of the salt used originally to cure the beef. And corned beef is pretty much always brisket, both point (or deckle) and flat.

Pastrami is also cured beef, but not always brisket, although these days, it usually is brisket, and it's generally cured with a wider variety of spices.

If you Google Faux Strami, or fauxstrami, you'll get the pastrami version a lot of folks here do. You could try a search on Fauxstrami right here as well.

Be sure to soak your corned beef (refrigerated!) for at least several hours, and change the water a few times in the soaking process to get rid of excess salt.

End result is very much like pastrami, and damn good!

dmprantz · Feb 8, 2013

Just to add on, American Deli Pastrami is traditionally made out of navel or plate, which are fattier, not brisket. Pasttrami is usually coated with a black pepper rub before it is cooked, and whereas corned beef is usually braised, pastrami is traditionally smoked and then steamed. (I think a cold smoke may be more traditional). Montreal Smoked Beef is smoked like pastrami, but hot smoked, without the steam bath, and is traditionally brisket. That's why I'd say that smoked corned beef is closer to it, though the MM spices are closer to pastrami IMHO.

Of course british "corned beef" is something different all together.

dmp

KotaChuk678 · Feb 8, 2013

All good! [learned]

Oldhoss · Feb 9, 2013

They had one of these on sale and I love to try different things - it tasted great and I since cooked a few of these:

Never brined my own, always used the Maple Leaf. Dryed with a paper towel and smoked with hickory for a few hours at 220f or so:

Put in a foil bowl to prevent drying out partway through:

Pulled at 160f or so:

Tasty right away and reheated for samich's subsequently.

Dgilleece · Feb 9, 2013

Wow, Thanks y'all this is good stuff. Great information and great pron. I love this site!!!! I tired pastrami as a child and did not think I liked it, but after reading all the replies I am going to have to give a try again. Ok well I will at least give fauxpastrami a try. :laugh:

TIMMAY · Feb 9, 2013

Pastrami??? SURE!!!!

+1 for soaking the corned beef for a few hours, changing the water a couple times helps too. Don't be afraid to soak overnight, I did and even then it was borderline too salty for me, couldve soaked longer. One of these days I will brine my own.

Has anyone Smoked a Corn beef Brisket?

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