Corned Beef...and Chuckie Burnt Ends.

[gmc2003]

Well vacation is fast coming to an end, and I had to try my luck at faux pastrami again. I made it once before and it came out way to salty, and the chuckie burnt ends - well lets just say they were just icing on the cake.

First things first. We got Old Glory flying over the weekend. It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

The corned beef is ready to come out of it's twelve hour underwater expedition: 4 water changes.

It basically loses all of it's color

Chuck steak sprinkled with seasonings:

...and out they go into the smoker. Running hickory for this smoke.

The corned beef coming out of the foil at about 195. It went back on the smoker until an IT of 203 was hit.

The burnt ends with the liquid drained getting ready for to be frozen. I drain the liquid on these and add fresh when I'm ready to eat them. Which won't be for a couple of weeks.

The next day the corned beef is chilled and ready for slicing. Man do these things suffer from the Costanza effect. Mega Shrinkage.

Break out my (cough)industrial Oyster slicer. circa: 1970's

and slice away. Grilled Reuben Sandwhiches is what for supper tonight. When they're done I'll update the thread.

That's it in a nutshell. Not to much detail but not to long. Hope you enjoyed.

Chris

 

[kerstingm]

My 1st attempt at smoked corned beef came out extremely salty (I totally forgot about the brine it's cured in?) As far as temp, crust, doneness I could not of cooked them any better.
I tried smoking another one last weekend, soaked, rinsed, soaked and rinsed several times, no over salt chance this time. Down side, it came out okay to day the least I had almost zero crust/bark, doneness was okay, but nothing to write home about .
Any suggestions on why my bark didn't turn out this time? I cooked at 225 to 250, pulled at 190 IT.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I want to do beef on my smoker next by vote of 'All you do is pork'..Kerstingm; I assume you got a store bought one and did a soak. This is my normal method as well, to much salt in those things! But after soaking to get rid of some salt, and you smoked it..does it still have a corned beef flavour?

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

Looks great chris!!!

Scott

 

[tropics]

Chris nice job We love our Corned beef Likes
Richie

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks great Chris!
You just can't beat a good Reuben sandwich!
Al

 

[troutman]

Is that not pastrami? Looks excellent whatever you want to call it !!!

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

Oh my, my mouth is just watering big time. All I got is a protein shake. Oh well. I'll live I suppose.

George

 

[gmc2003]

My 1st attempt at smoked corned beef came out extremely salty (I totally forgot about the brine it's cured in?) As far as temp, crust, doneness I could not of cooked them any better.
I tried smoking another one last weekend, soaked, rinsed, soaked and rinsed several times, no over salt chance this time. Down side, it came out okay to day the least I had almost zero crust/bark, doneness was okay, but nothing to write home about .
Any suggestions on why my bark didn't turn out this time? I cooked at 225 to 250, pulled at 190 IT.

Kerstingm, yeah my first one also came out way to salty. So that' why I did the 12hr. soak with multiple water changes on this one(rinsing the beef between water changes). As far as bark, I don't really rub any of the meats I smoke. I usually just sprinkle or shake on any seasonings I want to use. This pastrami only has freshly ground pepper and whatever is in that seasoning pouch that comes with the corned beef. I got plenty of bark which I'm not usually a fan of, but it tastes great sliced on the thinner side. Like I stated or think I did. I smoked it at about 250* maybe higher and foiled it at roughly 165 to 175* until it reached 195*. Then I plopped it back down on the smoker until it hit 203*(toothpick tender for this one). Once cooled I put it in the fridge until the next day to firm up for slicing. Once Sliced it went back into the fridge(or at least what was left of it after my wife tasted it) until I make the Reuben's tonight.

Thanks for the read and questions. If I confused you at all just ask for clarification.

I want to do beef on my smoker next by vote of 'All you do is pork'..Kerstingm; I assume you got a store bought one and did a soak. This is my normal method as well, to much salt in those things! But after soaking to get rid of some salt, and you smoked it..does it still have a corned beef flavour?

Tom, it doesn't lose any of the flavor. If you think about it, when you boil corned beef for St. Patties day your essentially doing the same thing(just expedited). Boiling gets rid of the saltiness as does soaking(it just takes longer).

Thanks for the read.

Looks great chris!!!

Scott

Thanks Scott for the kind words. If the Reuben tastes as good as the sliced I'll be in heaven.

Chris

 

[xray]

I could go for a Reuben right now. Looks great!

 

[GaryHibbert]

Looks great Chris. Real nice job. And I've got a feeling those burnt ends will be delicious when you get to them.
POINT
Gary

 

[gmc2003]

Ok, well it's supper time so here's the actual Grilled Reubmen.

First gotta fry up some of that pastrami:

...and get the kraut going. Note the jar opener is older then I am and still works like a dream.

A piece of Rye bread goes down on the griddle with a slice of swiss cheese covered by pastrami and sauerkraut.

A dollop of Russian dressing and another slice of swiss

Topped off with another slice of rye.

Grilled, and Plated with seafood salad and tot's.

One full belly, a little gas, and it's time to put the slicer away in the cupboard for another few months.

There you have my grilled Reubmen. Hope you enjoyed. My wife and I did.

Chris

 

[gmc2003]

Chris nice job We love our Corned beef Likes
Richie

Thanks Richie, for the like and kind words. We like it around here also.

Looks great Chris!
You just can't beat a good Reuben sandwich!
Al

Thanks Al for the read and like, the Reuben is one of the best sammies out there.

Is that not pastrami? Looks excellent whatever you want to call it !!!

Troutman, it is pastrami that started out as store bought corned beef. Thanks for the kindly words and like appreciate it.


Chris

 

[gmc2003]

Oh my, my mouth is just watering big time. All I got is a protein shake. Oh well. I'll live I suppose.

George

Thanks George for the compliment and like appreciate it.

I could go for a Reuben right now. Looks great!

Thanks xray for the like and kind words, we had them the next night and they were good

Looks great Chris. Real nice job. And I've got a feeling those burnt ends will be delicious when you get to them.
POINT
Gary

Thanks for the like and kindly words Gary. The burnt ends will be devoured in another week or so. I was on vacation and did a lot of smoking and grilling.

Chris

 

[kerstingm]

That definitely looks awesome, I love my reubens
Tom
As Chris mentioned above smoking the corned beef really doesn't change the original taste, if anything I like the added smoke/grill flavor better than boiling method.

Chris
You keep mentioning pastrami here, you smoked a corned beef brisket right or did I miss something?
I know they both are made with the brisket, just different curing ingredients from what I remember reading.
I do want to try my hand at a homemade pastrami brisket,

I will definitely refer back to this post my next smoke.
Thanks again for your input

 

[gmc2003]

That definitely looks awesome, I love my reubens
Tom
As Chris mentioned above smoking the corned beef really doesn't change the original taste, if anything I like the added smoke/grill flavor better than boiling method.

Chris
You keep mentioning pastrami here, you smoked a corned beef brisket right or did I miss something?
I know they both are made with the brisket, just different curing ingredients from what I remember reading.
I do want to try my hand at a homemade pastrami brisket,

I will definitely refer back to this post my next smoke.
Thanks again for your input

Kerstingm, You are correct I started off with left over corned beef from St. Patty's day. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the only difference between corned beef and pastrami is the way it's cooked post brine. Corned beef is boiled while pastrami is smoked. There are plenty of threads on site that explain the real process of taking a brisket and turning it into pastrami. I haven't tried one yet, but it is in the cards. If you do one make sure you post up the process and how it turns out. I'd be interested.

Thanks
Chris

 

[dcecil]

CHris, that looks amazing, This is now on the to do list. LIke for sure

 

[troutman]

Chris, I didn't know that you had boiled the corn beef before you smoked it. I'm not sure what that is technically but I still would call it pastrami. You also said you would like to see a pastrami post, here's one I did back in January using the conventional process. I've since switched to the Sous-Vide-Que method and done about 6 or so since then, much preferred by me and my family. I will post that method possibly next week if interested. Here's the one from January....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/the-classic-pastrami-reuben.271952/#post-1790065

 

[Bearcarver]

Oh Man!!:)
That looks like some Awesome Grilled Reuben Sammies!!!
I'd be all over them!!
Outstanding!!
Like

Bear

 

[gmc2003]

CHris, that looks amazing, This is now on the to do list. LIke for sure

Dcecil, That was my first thought when I first saw one done this way. So far I'm one for two. Hoping the avg. increase in the near future. Thanks for the like and read appreciate it.

Chris, I didn't know that you had boiled the corn beef before you smoked it. I'm not sure what that is technically but I still would call it pastrami. You also said you would like to see a pastrami post, here's one I did back in January using the conventional process. I've since switched to the Sous-Vide-Que method and done about 6 or so since then, much preferred by me and my family. I will post that method possibly next week if interested. Here's the one from January....

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/the-classic-pastrami-reuben.271952/#post-1790065

Troutman, sorry about not being very clear in my write-up. It seems to be happening more and more lately(brain functions quicker then the fingers can respond). Here's the poop - I bought a couple of extra corned beefs on sale after St. Patties day and froze them until a later date. I didn't boil this one first - just soaked it overnight in water with multiple changes. Then I smoked it until 203*, and sliced it up the next day.

I looked over your thread and when I find a good fresh brisket I will definitely be using it as a reference. Thank you.

Oh Man!!:)
That looks like some Awesome Grilled Reuben Sammies!!!
I'd be all over them!!
Outstanding!!
Like

Bear

Thanks Bear, I love Reuben's and grilling them takes them over the top. Thanks for kind words and like appreciate them.

Chris