Smoked Meat

by grillmaster

5.9K12412

Intro: Smoked Meat

I’ve made pastrami before and

this time round I’m making Montreal style smoked meat starting with a 3.5 lb corned beef brisket that will probably lose 10% of it’s weight when I’m done.

STEP 1: Smoked Meat

I’ve made pastrami before andthis time round I’m making Montreal style smoked meat starting with a 3.5 lb corned beef brisket that will probably lose 10% of it’s weight when I’m done.Step one will be tothoroughly wash the brisket to remove any excess salt. I have found a few times over an hour is enough. Discard any spices that came with the brisket. You’ll be using your own.

STEP 2: Spices

Apply a very light coating of

olive oil to help the rub adhere to the meat.

Time to prepare the spices and coat the brisket. Here’s my rub:

4 tablespoons fresh coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons coriander powder

1 teaspoon mustard powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

STEP 3: Apply Rub

After the rub’s applied, make sure you have

covered the whole brisket, top, bottom, sides and ends, rub it in good, then wrap it in saran wrap or a baggy, put it in the fridge and say good-night for 2 days. I’ll be back in 2 days.

STEP 4: In the Smoker

Time to wake up your brisket and prepare to cook it

in the smoker. If you don’t have a smoker use your grill using indirect heat with a pan filled with wood chips on the side, works almost as well. Get the smoker up to 225F then add your wood or chips, I prefer cherry but I didn’t have any so I’m using birch today. Make sure you remove any bark. Yes you do see snow, it was only 23*F today

STEP 5: Finish It Off

After about 3 hours remove from the smoker andwrap it in 3 layers of aluminum foil. You now have a choice: finish it off back in the smoker or put it in the oven set a 225F in an oven proof dish, either way, same results. Cook until meat reaches 190F then it’s done. Should take about 7 hours total start to finish.Let it cool for an hour then place it in a baggy still wrapped in the foil and put it in the fridge overnight to let all those delicious juices marry.

STEP 6:

By now you really want to eat this right?? This is what I do the next day since we havea slicer. Slice the meat, about 6 oz makes a great sandwich, and yes it’s still cold. Cut as much as you want at the time. No slicer, no problem, a sharp knife works’....Last step, promise. The meat has to be steamed,NOT micro waved. Steam adds moisture, microwave dries it out. We have a rice steamer, works perfect, or use a saucepan with a little water in it, cover with a piece of foil indented, and place the meat in. cover with the lid.

STEP 7: Time to Eat

. Put it on rye with mustard and a dill pickle on the side. We prefer to slice all the meat at once and place 12oz of meat into individual baggies and freeze them till we’re ready for a sandwich. Yes, this seems like a lot of work, but the final product is so, so good. Just like a real deli…. This brisket will yield about 6-7 sandwiches. Considering this brisket cost $8.99 that works out to be about $1.35 / sandwich. Where as a Deli would charge about $8.00 for just one. …… Enjoy.

12 Comments

MK1Jack 7 years ago

Pastrami is smoked, Corned Beef is not... True Pastrami is made from a different cut than Corned Beef which is usually a brisket. Pastrami is made from a leaner cut reference to as the Navel...

JmsDwh 8 years ago

Looks delicious! I bet the already soft corned beef is incredible after it is smoked. Nice job.

JmsDwh 8 years ago

I guess I never realized that Pastrami is usually a smoked and cured brisket. Very cool, and it makes sense why diners often sell Reuben sandwiches with Pastrami instead of corned beef.

grillmaster 7 years ago

I have to amend my previous answer to this post. Pastrami is usually made from the navel cut and smoked meat is made from the brisket.

sourdoughjim 8 years ago

I have a smoker very similar to yours. I've not had good luck with beef. Pork and chicken come out great but I'm still trying to figure out beef. With this instructable, I'll give it a go. I noticed your smoker is not full. I try to fill all 3 racks with something to get the most smoked meat per BTU burned. Thanks for the rub recipe! Many chef's won't share that info.

grillmaster 8 years ago

Don"t mind sharing cause 1: I ain't taking with me and 2nd: I'm not a Competition 'Qer. Beef rub if your interested.

3 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons table salt

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (raw sugar)

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 teaspoons mustard powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons chili or ancho powder

1 teaspoon chipotle or cayenne powder

Cajun Chef 8 years ago

Great Job, That looks really good! Making me want to run to the store to pick up a brisket now!

sprintcarfan 8 years ago

Awesome job love the thinking in this recipe. I will save this and make it when I got a smoker within the next month. Where did you get the base your smoker is sitting on. Thanks for sharing

grillmaster 8 years ago

Had to edit the process, forgot the steaming part, sorry no picture yet. As far as the base .... aluminum angle iron just cut, overlapped and bolted together with 4 small bolts plus one more bolt to keep it from racking. 4 swivel wheels (Princess Auto or Harbour Freight). that smoker weighs 95 pounds. Thanx for looking.