Smoked corned beef

Powak

I’m looking into doing a smoked corned beef. I was at a bbq competition years ago and a guy won with it. I picked up a 5 pound point, all pre-brined from my local supermarket. Malcom Reed has a method where he smokes it to 165 and then does a boil bath until 200 to finish and desalinate the meat. Is this how you guys do it? I want to do one that’s as tender as regular brisket.

Ozzie_Isaac

@travisstrick is your man for boiling brisket.  I personally wouldn't recommend it, unless you mean sous vide.

danhoo

I've seen pastrami smoked from desalinated corned beef and want to try it

Legume

This is a great place to start.

https://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/05/beef-pastrami.html?m=1

Money_Hillbilly

I make pastrami from corned beef regularly.  Desalinate for 24 hours changing the water a few times, SV @135 for 30 hrs.  Apply rub from amazingribs.com and smoke until internal temp is about 145.  As close to NY deli pastrami as you have ever tasted.

fishlessman

i do them every year when they go on sale but i doubt they due after st pats day this year.  soak in water for 24 hours changing water once. smoke at 250 til 185 internal and allow to sit in a cooler for a few hours. reheat for about 15 minutes in a pressure cooker. slice thin. the supermarket corned beef doesnt have enough garlic in it for me, i like to infuse alot of crushed garlic with a small amount of hot water added to the soaking liquid. no salt in the rub, theres plenty in the corned beef. reheating the sliced stuff later is simple, fill a large coffee cup up 2/3rds with pastrami, add a tblsp or two water, stuff papertowel in cup on top and nuke to steam it back up.

 might try the sous vide method this year.

fishlessman

this one was a grey pastrami, not often seen but north of boston alot of butcher shops make their own. flat rolled and stringed, soaked and smoked only

this was a store bought point pressure cooker finished

not fully traditional

made french dip for this one

HendersonTRKing

Money_Hillbilly said:

I make pastrami from corned beef regularly.  Desalinate for 24 hours changing the water a few times, SV @135 for 30 hrs.  Apply rub from amazingribs.com and smoke until internal temp is about 145.  As close to NY deli pastrami as you have ever tasted.

I've done them a bunch, but never SV, which your post has me sufficiently intrigued to maybe try this weekend.  Would like to better understand 30 hours in the bath.  That seems like a really long time -- any sense of why that long, what it does/doesn't do to the meat?

Money_Hillbilly

@HendersonTRKing A corned beef is a tough cut of brisket that needs to be tenderized.  The SV offers a controlled process that in my opinion is much easier and repeatable than steaming or pressure cooking.  Makes the whole process very easy.