In the green

Hey, i2BBQ, try this one:

Cookshack Smoked Corned Beef Brisket
(This recipe was standardized on a Series 100 Cookshack smoker. You Smokette folks will need to adjust quantities downward.)

Smoked corned beef brisket is delicious! The secret is to cook it long and slow. That gives the meat a chance to get fork-tender.

5 to 6 lb. corned beef briskets, untrimmed

Clean and dry individual briskets. Load briskets 2 per grill, fat side up. Load 1 brisket, fat side down, on bottom grill.

Position briskets so that they do not touch each other or the sides of the oven. Close and latch the smoker's door.

Load wood box with 16 oz. hickory wood.

Smoke-cook at 225F for 10 hours. The internal temperature of a well-done brisket is 165F. Leaving it in the smoker for 10 hours tenderizes the meat.

When the brisket is done, remove from the smoker and cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Wrap and refrigerate.

Recommended wood: hickory

quote:

Smoked corned beef brisket is delicious! The secret is to cook it long and slow.

I can do "long and slow," but I can't "set it and forget it." I have to "set it and baby sit it!" Too bad I don't have a Cookshack. Well, maybe with a jug of Irish whiskey, I can make it through the night. Maybe Andi will come and sit with me, too.
Donna, sounds great. I might as well go for it. Thanks.

I2....

You've been hanging around here long enough with the Weber. When are you going to upgrade???

smokin'

This is definitely the time of year to smoke corned beef. Get them now while they are on sale. I use the packaged corned beef that usually runs three to five pounds and always shows up in the local stores this time of year. 200 degrees for 5 (give or take) hours to an internal temp of 160-165. Cool overnight and slice very thin. As has been mentioned in earlier posts, smoked corned beef equals pastrami.

Preheat meat and sauerkraut and toast some rye bread. Put two slices of bread on a plate and layer with large amounts of meat, sauerkraut, 1000 island dressing, and Swiss cheese. Place under a broiler for a few minutes until the cheese bubbles and starts to brown for an awesome Ruben sandwich. Serve with hot German potato salad, pickle, and beverage ---- oh man!!!!

Brisket >>>> Makes Corned beef >>>> Makes Pastrami !

Smokin'

quote:

Brisket >>>> Makes Corned beef >>>> Makes Pastrami !

So, we're talkin' an Italian-Irish holiday, yes? San Patricio's Day? Bag pipes and accordians. Suits me. Me darlin', would you please pass the chianti.

Oh, is Donna correct. Cooking it long and slow is the secret. I was out of town this weekend, and didn't return until early this afternoon. At 2:00 p.m I put a 3.6 pound corned beef brisket into my CS. Since I got a late start I turned it to 250 degrees. By 7:00 p.m. it registered 163 degrees. It was a mistake to take it out, but we were really hungry. It should have gone at least another hour and been cooked at a lower temp, because it turned out rubbery. I will say this, however, it had the best flavor of any corned beef I have ever eaten. Is there anything the CS can't do, short of melting lead for making jigs and fishing sinkers?

[QUOTEit turned out rubbery. I will say this, however, it had the best flavor ] [/QUOTE]

Ditto, DrBodkin, mine was about the same. Cooked forever, but still was tough to cut across the grain. On the otherhand, it broke apart easily with the grain. Some of the connective tissue was blitzed good and proper. Sandwiches next.
My daughter griped about it being too salty. Inevitable, I guess. In the smoking process, no chance to "cook out" any of the salt, as with more conventional preps for corned beef. In fact, you probably concentrate the salt, no? Yes?
Super smoky flavor. Don't tell anybody, but I used dogwood!

the only time I tried to do a packaged corned beef in the smokette it came out WAY too salty. Has anyone tried to soak the meat first -- a reverse brine -- to get some of the salt out, then smoke it??? I may give that a shot. Soak for a few hours, then go. And why 16 OZ of wood? Seems like a lot.

Why are we suggesting an internal temp of 165 for corned beef when the normal internal temp for brisket is 190-200? I once smoked corned beef to 165 and removed from smoker because of time considerations. I was not pleased with the results. It wasn't too bad when fresh off the smoker and still warm, but it was an awful chunk of rubber when cool.

quote:

Why are we suggesting an internal temp of 165 for corned beef

Good point, LS. Maybe a higher internal will do the trick.

I figured something out that you folks probably figured out 3 years ago. I took what was left of the cold, smoked corned beef, about 2 lb chunk, to the local deli. The dude sliced it for me on his machine! 1mm thick slices. Very cool! Very satisfactory in appearance and on the sandwich.

For the true do-it-yourselfer, it's easy to corn beef. Just take a little flat brisket, bottom round, or sirloin tip, make up a solution of TenderCure according to the brine curing directions on the box, add a good amount of pickling spice mixture, and let cure in the fridge for several days. I do this myself because the commercial corned beefs are too garlic-laden for my taste. And, for machine slicing, the more dense but tougher cuts like round work a bit better.

There's also a recipe for dry-cured corned beef at Morton Salt's pages.