Smoked Corned Beef Brisket - March 2008 Newsletter

Hello friends and welcome to this months smoked corned beef brisket edition of the smoking meat newsletter!

Last months muffin pan experiment yielded tons of feedback from you and all of it was great. I love it!

With Easter just around the corner and St. Patrick's day just slightly behind us, it just seems natural to talk about the season's favorite dish..

More about that in a moment.

Helpful Links

For the new folks, here are some helpful links you might want to check out:

Brisket - http://www.smoking-meat.com/brisket-smoke.html
Ribs - http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-ribs.html
Pork Shoulder - http://www.smoking-meat.com/pork-shoulder-recipe.html
Chicken - http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-chicken.html
Turkey - http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-turkey.html
Brining Meat - http://www.smoking-meat.com/brining-meat.html

Now on to the March Edition of the Smoking Meat Newsletter..

Smoked Corn Beef Brisket

Many folks have asked me about smoking corn beef brisket and that is exactly what we are going to cover this week.

I have always loved corned beef brisket and I have to say that my mother in law makes a mean one..

However.. if you want to take regular corned beef brisket up a couple of notches or more then you have to try it smoked.

This is sometimes referred to as Pastrami although it is not "true" pastrami due to the differences in spices and such.. it is a very close replica.

Preparation

For this recipe, I am recommending that you just buy a 4 pound corned beef brisket at your local market instead of going through the long process of brining/seasoning the brisket yourself.

If you want to try that part of the process.. simply do a Google search on "corned beef recipe" and you will find recipes for doing it yourself.

For now, place your corn beef brisket in a container of cold water for a couple of hours to reduce the saltiness a little bit.

Once the meat is finished soaking.. remove the meat from the water and place it in a disposable aluminum pan.

Seasoning

Now.. I like to use my very own rub and just add a couple tablespoons of ground coriander seeds to it.

Note: you can grind coriander seeds yourself in a spice grinder or use pre-ground coriander and it will work just fine.

At this point, leave the brisket be and go get your smoker ready.

Smoking Process

I prefer mesquite with brisket but you know pecan, cherry, apple, hickory, etc. is not bad either. It really comes down to what you like.

I like to do a good oak base if I am using an all wood smoker (stick burner) and then add mesquite or other wood here and there for that flavor.

No matter what kind of smoker you have, you will want to get it purring along at about 225 F degrees or so.. even 250 F is not bad.

Once the smoker is going, the smoke is thin and the temperature is steady.. you will want to place the pan of brisket onto the grates.

The pan will collect the juices, keep your smoker clean and make it super easy to bring into the house once it is finished.

It should take approximately 5-6 hours to bring your corned beef brisket up to about 180 degrees or so.

During this time, you will want to keep a nice thin smoke flowing making sure to have plenty of airflow into and out of the smoker.

If you are using a charcoal, gas or electric smoker, you can stop the smoke and just finish with heat after about 3-4 hours.

Serving

This is a recipe that you will love and if you are anything like me.. you will want to try it again and again.

This can be served like regular corn beef with cabbage (even smoker cabbage might be great!) or you can put it on a sandwich like pastrami.

Either way you choose to eat it.. your friends and family will feel honored to be at your table.

Enjoy!!

Special Report

Folks.. I have had a few emails recently with folks criticizing the fact that I sell recipes for profit.

A few of them are a little comical I admit, but they do deserve an explanation.

Well let me help that few of you understand how it works..

I don't do what I do for the purpose of selling recipes. I didn't sell anything back when I first began, however, once I started paying out the wazoo for server space, hosting, domain, newsletter service, software, etc., I realized that there had to be a way to bring in a little income to help pay for this stuff.

After all, it wouldn't be too fair for me to pay for everything and YOU get all the benefits.

This is where the recipes came in.. up to that point, I had kept the recipes to myself and just a couple of very close friends.

I got the bright idea one day to put my faith in YOU and allow you the opportunity to support the website and at the same time, offer you, what I believe are two of the best recipes in the world.

So there you have it in a nutshell. The smoking meat website is my passion. My famous Rub and Sauce Recipes are the vehicle that allows me to express my passion online and you reap all the benefits of my recipes plus a world of information at the www.Smoking-Meat.com website as well as at the forum.

I hope that helps the couple of you who seem to have a problem with a guy asking for a little help from his friends.

I would gladly give everything for free if I could but the truth is I DO need your help.. otherwise, I am afraid the bills would not be paid and the website would soon go dark.

I hope that clears things up.. for the rest of you who continue to support the website month after month, I apologize for that long explanation.

To give a few dollars, look for the "Support this Site" pig logo at the top left of any page on the websites.

http://www.smoking-meat.com
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com

For those who would like to get the recipes now and support the greatest smoking meat website and forum on planet Earth!

http://www.smoking-meat.com/order

Here is a testimony that I just got today and it is what I hear over and over again:

I appreciate your newsletter, Jeff. I have had your Rib Rub for about a year and finally used it for the first time Sunday. Simply the best and I have tried a lot of them.

To order by snail mail (check or M/O only):

Smoking-Meat.com Recipe Offer
PO Box 2531
Sapulpa OK 74066

Be sure to include your email address

In Closing..

I hope all of you had a happy and safe St. Paddy's Day. Easter is just around the corner as well and I hope all of you have a wonderful time with your friends and family.

Keep the feedback coming and until next time.. Happy Smoking and God Bless!!

Jeff Phillips