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 – /brisket-smoke
Ribs – /smoking-ribs
Pork Shoulder – /pork-shoulder-recipe
Chicken – /smoking-chicken
Turkey – /smoking-turkey
Brining Meat – /brining-meat
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!!
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.
Now I want to purchase your sauce recipe.
To order by snail mail (check or M/O only):
Smoking-Meat.com Recipe Offer
401 South Boston
Suite 500-10
Tulsa OK 74103
Be sure to include your email address
I am new to this site and looking forward to spring here in MI which will reduce the time of my smokers. I have two gas smokers, an electric little chief and an electric Brinkman, a gas grill, an infared grill and a charcoal weber style grill and i suppose it goes with out saying, am an avid outdoor cooker. I was a little surprised at your choice of mesquite for the corned beef as i have found it only useful for quick smokes as it tends to make the food bitter on long, slow cooks, but Imsuppose it depends on how ling one applies the smoke. Looking forward to sharing with and learning from my fellow Q-ers!
Dan, I use mesquite really often and love it. The food/meat is never bitter but there is a trick to this.. make sure you are getting plenty of airflow into and out of the smoker as this allows the smoke to pass quickly over the meat just kissing it gently as it sails over the meat and out of the smoker. Bitter smoke from any wood/smoke can be a sign of too little airflow or wood that has not been seasoned for long enough. I even use mesquite for pork butts, briskets, chicken and even whole pigs successfully with absolutely no bitter taste. We use a lot of mesquite, hickory and pecan due to that being so readily available in this area. Here is Oklahoma and even more so in Texas, mesquite is easily found and we tend to use it a lot.
Jeff,
Have only just bought my smoker 1 week ago, while searching for info I found your website and have found it very helpful. My first smoking project was to follow your Xmas ribs recipe with your rub and I must say it turned out pretty good.
I think I have found a new hobby and am really keen to try other meats now.
Thanks for supplying the great info
Jeff,
Just bought your rub & sauce recipes. Gonna try my first pork butt tomorrow for the game,can’t wait to taste it. thanks for the time and the great recipes that I’ve tried from the newsletter.
Phil from Ohio
Jeff,
Been a fan of yours now for several years and have purchased your recipes and have used them with great sucess. Love your web site.
I have a church picnic coming up and they've asked me again to cook my brisket, I've ben looking at the full size brisket around 20 lbs. and was wondering since it is quite large and won't fit on the grate with out folding, should I just fold the brisket and smoke it or cut the brisket in half and smoke it?
Thanks again.