Cherry Spiced Cured Beef Brisket: Methods, Recipe & Q-view Maximus

Stall is on...138* @ 7.25 hours, and counting...

 

Bearcarver said:

Eric,

I hate these long stretched out posts!!!!

You're killing me a little bit at a time !!

I think I just blew out a second salivary gland !

Bear

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Ain't I a bugger that way sometimes?!?!?!? LOL!!!!  Ah, with the pic upload issues, I'm just trying my nest to hammer this out while the smoker's making my cured beef happy.

Hey, you gotta know when I post a q-view, I don't mess around...you need to have something wet in a mug after the first 30 minutes, or else you can't swallow from the pool of drool under your desk!

 

SmokinAl said:

Geez Eric, your tutorials are amazing. I feel like I'm going to smoking school. Can't wait to see the final product(s). Thanks for sharing all this with us.

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Thanks, hey, brother, just another day for me...gotta share my knowledge, along with my latest flavor creations. And, you're welcome!

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Well, I was really asking for it this time. 130-150* chamber temps for the first 45 minutes, then 150-155* for the next 4 hours
while I layered in the cherry smoke over the hickory, and as I reached above 165* after 7 hours and stabbed the probe for
internals...138*...137* @ 7.5 hours...I walked away to take care of some additions to my second smoke run for today in my
SV24 at that point.8.25 hrs it decided to wake up and hit 146*. This could turn into a smoke similar to if I had smoked up the
full packer, untrimmed. It may be pushing 12 hours, if not 14, to hit the 180* mark I'm shooting for.

I'm still running a wet pan, but I'll dump the water @ 175* I/T to dry the surface of the flat just a tad before it hits finished temps.

I know no one here reading this tonight wanted to hear/see that this would run so long, but I got all night if need be. I'm off
work until Thursday morning, so I got all night if that's what it takes. Dang, what a hardcore smoker won't do for a great piece
of meat! LOL!!!

This was my slightly distrubing view after the probe stabilized...best pic I could find out of 10 or so...my digi-cam hates these shots:



I'm running 220* now @ 8.5 hours, and 158* I/T, dropped to 147*, so it's probably another double-stall smoke...go figure.

I'm trying to imagine how intense the flavor of this cold/warm/hot smoke will be, especially with cherry layered over hickory, on top of the brine/cure and dry rub...oh, the wait...

I'm getting anxious (to say the least) to see this finished.

Eric

Holy Smokers! Blooper Time!!!

I got so busy messin' with pic uploads on another thread that I over-shot my smoker check time by about 30 minutes. I had been pushing the 250* mark for th epast 3.5-4 hours, with an internal temp of 168* after a couple hours stalled in the 138-142* range, then a slow climb to the 153* and dropping to 152*, where it settled in for the long stall. Well, after first look at my long stem analog chamber temp gauge I have 2" under the center of the brisket flat and saw it was under 210* and falling, I looked at the digi-probe and the flat was @ 155*. By the time I opened the intake fully, got a half chimney of coals going and re-built the fire (about 8-10 minutes) the internal was @ 153*...

So, I have two options, considering the melting temp range for musclular connective tissues is 154-163 depending on species (if I recall correctly), I can bank on the meat geting tender enough by passing through through this temp range again and pull it to foil and rest @ 170, maybe 173*, instead of 180* as originally planned, or, still go for the 180* finished temp.

Based on the history of this smoke thus far, I don't see much need to continue cooking the daylights out of it, so I'll pull it out in th elower 170's range.

I could have been in th epink in another couple hours...meaning resting the cured/smoked flat by now, and getting a few sample slices to nibble on while I pondered the idea of doing about a 20lb batch of this stuff. Oh well, I have time fo rthat yet, but I sure could use a taste right about now...

And I remember stating early in the beginning of this project that I would live to see this to the finish...snow is falling heavy right now, so I hope we don't get one those weird snow-thunderstorms like we had a couple years back, 'cause my outdoor kitchen has quite a bit of metal framing, and of course alot of metal equipment all around inside......yeah, we get some pretty freaky weather here sometimes...only in Wyoming!

Sooooo......more........to.......come.......it'll be worth the wait.

Eric

Foiled and resting at 17 hours & 172* I/T. Yeah, I was asking for a long smoke with the long stretch I ran under 200* chamber temps, but this should be pretty tender with the high smoke chamber humidity. I'm just hoping it doesn't have a mealy/grainy chew to it...we'll see in a couple hours.

I let the water pan steam itself dry about 30 minutes before I pulled the flat to foil so the surface moisture would dry off a bit before foiling.

It looks and smells like something I had not quite imagined coming from my outdoor kitchen in quite some time. The aromas from the brine/cure and rub are coming through quite strongly after cooking it, and I can hardly wait for a taste now, but I'll give it at least an hour to 90 minutes to cool down slowly. It's wrapped in towels about 20 feet away, and I get faint wisps of it now and then...driving me nuts already.

I just decided here after seeing 171* for over 30 mintes to let th epan steam out it's remains...very humid environment, for sure:



A quick flip from th egrate to the fiol with 4" meat forks and a couple shots as quick as th edigi-cam would pull 'em off:

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On another note...

The stock fire pan with a center hole as part of my intake mod with about 2-1/2 inches of ash build up from this cured brisket flat smoke...pretty high angle of repose on the ash pile...looks like a volcano because some of the ashes fall out through the bottom...:



...here...I was pretty careful not to agitate the smoker to keep ashes from going airborn:



Remaining coal bed still on the grate...moved it into my weber 18" kettle to snuff 'em out for a later date:

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OK, you got me...the last three pics were'nt just for instructional purposes...they're also to stall myself from grabbing a knife and steel and opening up the foiled beef......can you blame me???

Ah man, now that things have wound down a bit after finishing my rib/chop smoke earlier this evening, and getting this brisket flat foiled-up, I think I need a pick-me-up...(insert yawn here)...loosing my energy rather quickly, and it's 3:22 am...I started final prep to smoke shortly after 7:00 am yesterday. Heck, now that I think about it, I didn't even brew up my first pot of coffee until I had the smoker dialed in for the inital cold smoke temps.

Back with the finish in a few!

Eric

Some snacks for the chef at last!!!

I managed to squeeze a 2+ hour nap for the flat (none for me though), and for my 1-week journey, I was rewarded with:







And lastly:



I ate those three slices while I started this post, leaving the heal for last so as to not taint my taste buds from the extra high dose of rub and crusted meat, which both would have bounced my overall picture of the way this stuff eats clear into orbit. So, I waited for last on the heal...and yeah, a bit chewier of course, but the flavor was right up there along with a few heated moments.

It's been almost 6 months since I had any cured beef other than jerky, so I had to bring back some rather fond memories of my last runs which I shared with my extended family last summer, and earlier than that, but it did come back to me, including the visits (  ). I'll do my best to bring some of this along for the next ride up to visit the family.

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The cold/warm/hot smoke for as long as it took didn't hurt a thing from what I can tell. Texture and chew are like any of my home-cured/smoked corned beef pastrami. The flavor is pretty intense, not only from the concentration used in the brine/cure, but becaues through cooking the meat shrinks from water loss, so you have less meat being occupied by all the flavor, which conentrates the end result. Being it's cured, that helps to hold everything together even better, from the flavors to the meat fibers themselves.

I must say. I'ts a good representation of what I described of how I wanted this experience of eating to be like, especially the way the dry rub leads into the interior flavors of the brine/cure. A small bite from the outer crust sems strong, but it's not as strong as what's comiong next and that's what's really cool, IMO. I love the way flavors an dintensities change when you're chewing on a something like this.

The cherry, being the base ingredient,  is not super-strong, which may not be achievable without cutting back on alot of other ingredients, but I'm not sure I'd really like it that way. I think in order to really bring out a strong cherry flavor would take away too much of everything else, and it just wouldn't have the same depth and profile at all.

The heat from the cayenne comes on in the background like I wanted, and with no bitterness that I could taste. The chilies are in there too, not strong, but holding a nice share of the flavor.

I will say, if you aren't into to spicy heat, this is not for you. But if you're experimenting with heat and flavors to go with it, this should be a good option for a future project.

Dangit, that was fun, easy and good eating!

Hope you enjoyed the ride!

Eric

Bearcarver said:

Oh Yeah!!!!

That last pic is the one I was waiting for!!!

The others were great too, but that last one makes me sit up & take notice!

Thanks Eric,

Bear

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Ha-ha! I figured you'd like that one! Man, I just woke up a couple hours ago after about 8 hours in the rack...that late night busted my head pretty good, but it was worth it. I still can't type for squat through...

I just reviewed some of the posts from earlier...don't know what happened to my fingers, but they don't get along with a keyboard very well lately. Maybe I should use spell checker? Actually, I think I was rushing through the text due to the slow pic uploads.

Oh, my wife asked how it tasted lastnight. She said she heard me in the kitchen this morning, so she knew when this project was over. I told her the flavor is great, but warned her that it's not a slice for the main portion of a sandwich, at least not for her. But it would be great for layering the flavors and textures. She decided she'd like a slice, so I broke out a board, knife and steel...my two youngest boys are home from school and they wanted to try it as well...they love it. My wife said it's a bit on the hot side, and her dad is here and said it was too hot for him. I did tell them that this is not a typical corned beef pastrami, and that it was packing some heat, so chew it slowly and savor the flavors.

I just had a couple more small slices myself...oh my, that was sooo worth doing this!

Now, the only thing I need to do is go to sam's club and grab a case (or two) of packers!

Enjoy!

Eric

Yeah, Dave, if you look at how much cayenne is the brine (1 Tbls), that's alot for 4lbs or less of meat. And, yes, it does come through quite a bit in the interior flavors of the meat. As you begin to chew, all the flavors get more and more intense, and the heat is no different. Think of it as a marinated/cured non-dried jerky...as you chew, the flavors get deeper and more intense...same thing here. When I make a hot jerky recipe, it takes very little chilies/cayenne to go a long way.

This recipe has some really great flavors, but the heat comes on after a minute or so...it's not harsh, at least I don't think it is. It builds up to a reasonable level though...lets you know it's coming without just grabbing you by the throat.

I use the cinnamon to hide/cover the bitterness of cayenne...depending on what else is with it in the spices, it can leave that aftertaste, and the cinnamon does help this in that respect. I'm finding that red bell pepper seeems to offset that bitterness as well.

If you're really wanting to reduce alot of the heat, you could actually drop the cayenne from the brine, and the dry rub for that matter. Then, the cinnamon would be optional at that point. The thing is, peppercorn, when ground up fine like I used here, and especially when freshly ground, packs some heat of it's own. With only 2 tsp of peppercorn in the brine, it would have just a slight amount of spicy heat.

You know, with removing the cayenne from the equation, I think the taste of the primary flavor, cherry, would take a bit more of the spot light in the overall flavor profile than it does with the current recipe. That said, if you like the idea of a natural cherry flavered spice blend, but not looking for spicy heat, I think that would be the best place to start in modifying this blend.

Don't be worried about modifying a recipe like this either, I won't mind at all. The main thing to take into consideration is that the meat is cured properly, with enough cure concentration and time to do the job.

Now, if you were to smoke up a piece like this and slice it open to find grey meat? Oh my...disaster...unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it, so it's trash can time, IMO. That long period in the fridge after being handled, and then to not get fully cured is a high risk of spoilage/food poisioning, and it's not worth the risk. I've never had cure issues in the past, so what I've been doing is working.

BTW, the late and great RonP (SMF member) was the first to spark my interest in curing, and Tender Quick in specific. He did some really great basic curing recipes that grabbed my attention...  to Ron!

Eric

MORE DROOL-VIEW!!! Breakfast Bagels...

I took 2 - 1/2" thick slices of cherry spiced & cured brisket...:





...and made one cut through the center, then cut across into a rough dice, and warmed through slowly with about 2 Tbls melted butter in med/low heated pan...:


 



...as the diced beef was warmed through, I added 4 grade A large eggs, and just let them slowly cook about half-way through without touching. I wanted a light scramble. While the eggs were cooking, I sliced a couple onion bagels and tossed 'em into the toaster, which has a bagel function to toast one side only...:



...topped each piece with processed swiss cheese to melt a bit (just enough to stick to the bagel) while the scramble finished cooking. I broke the yolks and folded the scramble a few times to finish them up while the cheese melted...:



...mmm, almost ready...:



...about 15 minutes from the time I took a steel to the knife until it was ready for munchin'...:











No added seasonings were needed for this bad boy, and the spiciness and heat from the meat was a really good balance for the sandwich as a whole, but still not for the weak at heart (it's still packin' heat). A nice alternating chewy texture from the beef, with the soft tender egg and gooey cheese, along with bit of crispiness from the cut side of the onion bagel, which by itself is tasty enough, IMO...yummy!

So, if this isn't enough reason to get ya to brine/cure/smoke some brisket flat, then, I guess I'll just have to keep tryin'!!! 

Eric

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NWDave said:

Thanks for the followup.  I've never been shy about adjusting, especially when it comes to sweetners.  I do know with the variety of taste buds around the Q'ing world, there is something for everybody.  What I like is the technique instruction and the "corrective" measures that you sometimes implement, the whys and wherefores.  That's where the true teaching is, what to do when the plans start going astray.

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You're welcome Dave. Thank-you, I guess I do have a natural talent for this, as I'm an analytical thinker, so attention to details and sorting out the best course of action to correct a problem comes easy for me. Now, if I can just keep remembering to document it so you all can benefit from it....ah, I guess I do cover things pretty well most of the time...then, with the all-nighters, I tend to forget things before I get it noted. I never really thought about it as teaching, but more of passing knowledge. Hmm, I guess that would be teaching.
 

Although I'm only one of many here who have some great instructional threads, each of us has a different method, recipe, or opinion of what we would consider to be our favorite way, or what works best for us. It seems that in my case, I keep trying things with a bit of a twist from what I've done in the past. To me, there are so many variables which can affect the outcome when cooking, especially when smoking, so I don't really consider anything to be the best, or my favorite way. That's the tinkerer in me...I'll likely never be truely satisfied with a particular smoking or grillng session for any longer than it takes me to find another way to prepare that particular food. Not to say that I don't enjoy the total experience of everything I've ever cooked, every recipe I've ever tried...I'm always looking for different angles of approach. And then, my challenge begins all over again, and I'm never disappointed with accepting that challenge.

Maybe it's a strange way of viewing cooking, but it's probably why I keep coming up with some of these wild and off-the-wall ideas. That said, I don't think I'll be running low on steam any time soon, so look out! LOL!!!!

BTW, hanging out here on the forums for over 2 years probably had something to do with my insanity............

SmokinAl said:

What a ride that last pic say's it all. Great job Eric! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us all.   

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Thanks Al, that was another fun ride, wasn't it? Only a week this time, where some of my cures have pushed nearly two weeks, so at least this one wasn't a super-long wait to see the end. Ah, but judging from the pics above, is this the end? LOL!!!
 

Shooter1 said:

What can I say, Awesome! Thanks for sharing and taking the time to document all your hard work. The money shot was worth the wait.

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Thank-you, and you're welcome as well! Fun times for sure, and great eating!

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Thanks all!

Enjoy!

Eric
 

Hey, fellas, are you tired of BLTs?
 

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Bearcarver said:

Eric,

I do something similar with cut up Bacon.

Now how do we get you to stop?

My tongue was just about back in my mouth from your last addition to this thread!!!   

Bear

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LMAO!!! I haven't used up all of the spiced/cured beef yet, soooo......
 

     Quote:

Barneypoo69 said:

Thanks Eric. Since I'm just a "grasshopper" when it comes to this hobby, I've learned to follow alot of members here. But your Sir, are one of the best teachers here. Thanks for all your hard work. It pays off for all of us.

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You're welcome Barney! I really do enjoy passing along what I've learned...once I get started on something like this, it's not hard and it's not work, it's just another labor of love.
 

NWDave said:

Bear, that is just plain blasphemous.   For shame Sir!!!!

  (always wanted to use that emoticon).  j/k of course.  Gotta agree, hungry again.
 

Bearcarver said:

Eric,

Now how do we get you to stop?

Bear

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Jeeze, you guys crack me up!!!
 

SmokinAl said:

God Eric, You just keep bringing it on. That last post was awesome, so simple. Why didn't I think of that. I'm gonna have one for breakfast tomorrow. I have some sliced up pastrami & some bagels in the freezer. I'm heading there now to pull them out.

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Ah, you know how those big cuts of meat hit a plateau? Maybe you had a brain-wave plateau...stalled out for a bit?

Here's another one for you, since you mentioned pastrami...a simple but delicious sammie for lunches...

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...the PLPC...

(pastrami, lettuce, pepper, cheese)

Miracle Whip moderately spread over one side of three slices of toast, iceburg lettuce, spiced/cured beef (pastrami), banana peppers (mild, in the jar), colby-monterey jack cheese (thick slice)...viola!









This was really good. I ate this with the beef on bottom so it hits your tongue first...the cured beef carrying it's spiciness, coming on slowly as you chew, then the richness of the cheese blend, which is quickly hit by the zest of the peppers...and, on toast, you can really grab a hold of this baby for a man-sized bite!Gotta love it!

That was my after-dinner snack tonight, btw.

Of course, the cheese and peppers could be whatever kind you prefer on that particular day...I almost grabbed jalapenos, but then I wouldn't have tasted the true depth of the beef and cheese together in the same chew...naw...I'll save the japs for a more bland sandwich...this one's got plenty of flavor to walk and talk on it's own.

If the family doesn't raid what's left of the spiced cured beef, I can do one or two more evening sammies to toss you some more ideas...this is really weird, 'cause I'm not a big sandwich eater...you know, the brand name packaged meats...blah...the freshly sliced deli meats...blah...oh, and I can only eat maybe one subway sandwich a month...but having this home-cured/smoked beef around, well, I gotta play the odds and see where it goes. I'm really enjoying eating cold sandwiches again!

Enjoy!

Eric