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I have a small confession. When I made fauxstrami I used ground cumin instead of coriander (by accident). I have to say...I still loved the results!

I most likely am going to "cheat" on the first one and do a fauxstrami. Just to get the feel for doing a brisket, I have only done pork, chicken, and sausage on my smoker so far.

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Jamie,

Only four hours work, but I would venture to say the result would be too salty for me to eat, though I have a low tolerance for salty foods. My preferred method, and I have made hundreds of pounds of smoked corned beef in this fashion, is to soak for at least 2-days smoke in the neighborhood of 250 for 7ish hours, rest and serve immediately.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

gary,

you soak the prebrined brisket for 2 days before seasoning and smoking & that pulls alot of salt out? Soaked in the fridge in water? Do you change the water?

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Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

Jim,

I purchase corned beef (raw) from Excel, same as Jamie pictured, soak for a minimum of two days in the frig with three/four changes of water, rub, smoke, rest, eat.

Enjoy,
Gary

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

thanks for the info especially about the water changeouts.

_________________
I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

Yeah, I definately think it could have used a soak, unfortunately my schedule didn't allow for enough pre-planning. I do think I will continue to do the Smoke > Foil. While I loved the product I have made when finishing with a braise/steam, it just isn't possible for me when cooking 2 pastrami (limited by roasting pan and oven space). I think foiling mimicks this step quite well.

Wow, never thought I would be using foil for anything that once sat on my smoker except to hold temp till serving time. Is there some sort of penance or will my soul go to Texas when I die?

Jamie

Took my first crack at smoking a brisket this past weekend.

I started it at 3am saturday night (long story), but that ended up being perfect, as this 13 pound chunk of meat ended up going until around 4-4:30 the next afternoon at a steady 225 (I built a very large fire, filled the water pan up to the rim, and went to bed, then re-built the fire again around 10am, which carried through to the end). Temped it to an internal of about 207, rested an hour or so, and then sliced it.

The result was fabulous. The meat was very tender but still held its shape in slice form when cut.

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very nice lookin' brisket.

well done.

_________________
I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

I think the point on that brisket has swine flu. Please send to me immediately for disposal.

Sorry, the point has already been consumed.


Thanks! Sorry the pictures came out so large. I tried re-sizing them, but to no avail.

The leftovers actually seem to taste better than it tasted the first time around. The meat doesn't even need salt, which I find amazing. I was fairly generous with the salt in the rub, but didn't expect it to carry through into the middle so well.

I considered wrapping it in foil to keep it from drying out, but I'm glad I didn't. It's plenty moist, except for the lean end that sticks out past the fat cap, and that's kind of nice as it serves as a foil to the really fatty parts.

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Edzo's Evanston on Facebook or Twitter.

Edzo's Lincoln Park on Facebook or Twitter.

Beautiful brisket, Eddie. Looks good enough to eat.

Fwiw, my best brisket cooks have been the overnighters. I'm not an early riser and starting them in the middle of the night is generally the only way I can get one done by dinner time.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Looks great, but I'm confused as to why it took so long. I've made a couple of briskets on my WSM and they've never taken more than 8 hours. I've been very happy with the results. Should I be doing something differently? I've used 13-15 pound packer cuts each time.

How did the pig get to the 49th floor?

The swine flew..........


Elakin, brisket looks very tasty!

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

.
Some people sing in the rain, others..................

4.30.09

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

nice looking ribs gary,

I am doing a fauxstrami tommorow for some Rachel sandwiches for dinner.

buying the corned beef tonight, and am going to soak overnight, rub with corriander, black pepper, and garlic powder, and start smoking @ 8:00 a.m. I cant wait.

_________________
I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

Jim,

I am of the opinion 2-days is minimum soak time for smoking commercial corned beef, though I do not enjoy very salty foods.

I rub the soaked corned beef with a 3/1 mixture of cracked black pepper and cracked coriander seed, I also add garlic powder, onion powder and fresh toasted/ground gaujullo powder. The gaujullo adds a nice touch of heat and color.

Enjoy,
Gary

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

thanks for the tips, I didnt have time to buy the beef last night, so a one night soak is all I get.

I am going to make sure to change out the water a couple of times to hopefully get as much salt out of the meat as possible. I will post pics of the whole process, and hopefully some excellent Rachels tomorrow night. I am making my homemade Russian dressing for them as well.

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I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

fauxstrami has been on sicne 10:30, soaked it overnight, changing the water every 4 hours or so. So far so good, I was @ 130 degrees 2 hours in, smoking @ 250 right now. I probaby have another 2 hours then I will steam it in the oven @ 250 until it reaches 205.

Made Russian dressing, and have the fixins for the Rachels, I just hope this is succesful since I want to do a fauxstrami for MIM next weekend.

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Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

As with Jleblanc a couple of pages back, I'll be surprised if 4 hours on the smoker is anywhere near long enough. I haven't taken it straight from smoker to steaming so I can't say what the oven will accomplish, but generally my plan has been 8ish hours on the smoker plus 3ish steaming in a pot (admittedly, that's from cold in the fridge the next day). Maybe this is enough total time to break down the collagen, but it certainly won't be broken down by the time it comes off the smoker.

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Does the collagen need to be broken down when it comes off the smoker? I consider that time to be for flavor. The time in the oven while foiled is where the tenderness comes in. You can make a fantastic packer brisket in 4 hours, why not fauxstrami?

The meat's going to stop taking on smoke at 140 degrees F. Beyond that point, you'll have a ways to go before the collagen breaks down. How you get there is strictly a matter of choice, I'd say.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Maybe so, but it seems a slightly perverse choice to take it off a going fire and fire up the oven on a warm day, to me. Anyway, the point is I have some doubts as to whether the six hours total mentioned will be enough, irrespective of method, but I suppose we'll all know soon enough.

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Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.

its a 3 pound corned beef, & its coming off @ 180 irregardless of time(+/-), lump is the primary fuel, so its gotten its smoke already.

the method I am using is based on a seemingly visually succesful post over on www.smokingmeatforums.com.. although I believe they took theirs off @ 165, imho it needs to be between 180-190 to have the collagen breaking down. As it is its a warm, sunny Saturday, blues on the radio, tequila, and beer in my veins. its all good.

_________________
I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

Okay, big difference. I was assuming something more in the range of the Excel ones mentioned throughout this thread, which are more like 10 lbs. and half a foot thick. Never mind.

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Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.

I agree that heating up the oven when the smoker is already hot seems counter-intuitive and with an uncured brisket I would never willingly make that move. But for a 3-pound cut, 6 hours might be enough. As you said, we shall see.

Fwiw, when I make pastrami (which I always do from scratch), I do braise it at the end for a couple of reasons: first, it adds the desired deli-like tenderness to the meat and secondly, braising for about 4 hours (with a change of water and a flip about halfway through) cuts the salt to what I believe is a much more palatable level.

=R=

_________________
I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

the steaming in the oven is an adding mositure step, I can always crank on the a/c if the 250 oven heats up the house too much.

just check out the fauxstrami the guy put out over on the website I referenced, it looks better than any I have seen. I was considering wrapping the finished product in foil, and placing it in a cooler for 2 hours, but the pics this guy had of his finished product were mouth watering. look under the beef section, and the q-view steamed pastrami, and you will see what I am talking about.

That webiste is the real deal, I learned my ABT's, the inspiration for my version of the armadillo eggs, as well as tips for an offset smoker. www.smokingmeatforums.com/

time to check the temp, I am guessing 165 after 5 hours based on previous reads

either way the White Sox dont come on until 6 or 7, so I got time to burn.

_________________
I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

You can just as easily foil it and pop it back on the WSM. Once the foil is on it doesn't matter if it is oven or WSM. I tend to use my oven as I normally put something else on the WSM when a brisket comes off.

sorry i didnt mention it wasnt an excel 10lb brisket, its just a test run.

i have mentioned before I am just a 15 year backyard smoking hack who ejoys sharing with the site what I am attempting to do.

corned beef up to 170, into the oven in on a rack with boiling water added , just gonna take it up to 205, and it will be all good.

_________________
I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com

Here are the results of a very succesful fauxstrami. Approx 9 total hours to smoke, steam & rest the corned beef, and to turn it into a tender, flavorfull faustrami & int eh end a sandwich.

It only took 10 beers, and a half a flask of tequila, but I was more than happy with the results, although I do not think I will have time to tackle the larger corned beef I have for the MIM. Looks like it will be just ribs.

Heres a recap. Soaked the 3# corned beef overnight, changing the water every 4 hours or so, took out most of teh salt as the finished product wasnt salty at all. Applied a rub of corriander, black pepper, and garlic powder. Smoked at 245-255 for 6.5 hours, until I reached a tep of 170. Removed from smoker placed brisket on a rack in a metal pan, and filled the bottom of the pan with boiling water, covered pan with foil, and put the brisket in the convection oven @ 255 until I reached 195 degrees(I wanted 205, but I was getting hungry). Once I hit this temp, I wrapped the now fauxstrami in douel foil, and let it rest for about 30 minutes before i sliced it.

The end product was peppery, packed with flavor, and tender. Made some great sandwiches, and a little left over(had a slice for breakfast, and it was even better than last night).

beginning product:


corned beef after overnight soak:


rubbed brisket:


Coming off the smoker before steam:


after steaming:


slicing:


brilliant..!:


damn....!


Rachel:


slainte..

_________________
I got a real good mind.

Before Cotton was King: http://www.grubseeker.blogspot.com