MIxed Results with Brisket

[Nachos23]

Hi,

was trying my hand at making two cuts of smoked meat. Pastrami and Montreal smoked meat...used end for the pastrami and flank for Montreal smoked meat..

Both were marinated in brine for 5 days and were dried off and rubbed with a dry rub prior to going into the smoker @ 275. when internal temps reached 165 I took each piece and wrapped in butcher paper and put back into smoker till internal temps reached 200.... Let sit in towel in cooler for 2+ hours before attempting to slice...astrami section came out amazing! beautiful taste, colour and texture...

Flank section completely separated like pulled pork would.... fell apart in slicer.... thoughts?

 

[Chasdev]

You sir are a victim of "carry over" cooking.
That meat was completely cooked when you pulled it but by wrapping and holding for two hours in a hot box, it kept on cooking.
In future, if you plan on doing the same thing, pull the meat at 190 and let it finish cooking in the cooler.
Also, I find panning my pastrami after the stall, with some liquid (covered pan of course) helps with tenderness.

 

[Nachos23]

You sir are a victim of "carry over" cooking.
That meat was completely cooked when you pulled it but by wrapping and holding for two hours in a hot box, it kept on cooking.
In future, if you plan on doing the same thing, pull the meat at 190 and let it finish cooking in the cooler.
Also, I find panning my pastrami after the stall, with some liquid (covered pan of course) helps with tenderness.

the recipe I used actually dictated putting it back into smoker at the 165 internal mark and smoking until interior temp was 200... should I have stopped @ the 165 mark or 200 mark and not put into cooler?

 

[wild west]

I agree with chasdev. If you want to slice thin like the photo I wouldn't rest it in a hot box. I'd tent it on the counter until completely cooled before slicing. Off topic from your question what was your cure recipe. The meat in the second pic is nowhere near cured through.

 

[Nachos23]

I agree with chasdev. If you want to slice thin like the photo I wouldn't rest it in a hot box. I'd tent it on the counter until completely cooled before slicing. Off topic from your question what was your cure recipe. The meat in the second pic is nowhere near cured through.

HI. Thanks . I'm thinking that seems to make a lot of sense..I will try that way next them. I've smoked Brisket a few times, but first time I tried making a brine.

I grabbed the brine recipe off this site actually and used same brine for both pieces.. I will look up the recipe... if you have a link or recipe for a good brine, please share. I would love to try. yes, that colouring only going midway into the meat, was very weird and unexpected... as was the results of the meat....

 

[wild west]

Hi nachos23. I use a dry brine method using this calculator http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
Just enter your brisket weight in grams and it will calculate the amount of salt sugar and cure#1 to use. You can change the % of salt and sugar to your liking before you hit calculate but the cure % can't be changed. Rub the brisket down useing all the calculated ingredients then I add pickling spice I've ground up and apply in a generous layer on all sides. Then I vac seal and cure in the fridge for at least 1 week sometimes up to 2 weeks depending on my schedule(can use ziplock bags if you don't have vac sealer) If it's corned beef I want it I sous vide in the vac bag after its cured. If it's pastrami I rinse the pickling spice off and apply a pastrami rub before smoking .

 

[Nachos23]

Hi nachos23. I use a dry brine method using this calculator http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
Just enter your brisket weight in grams and it will calculate the amount of salt sugar and cure#1 to use. You can change the % of salt and sugar to your liking before you hit calculate but the cure % can't be changed. Rub the brisket down useing all the calculated ingredients then I add pickling spice I've ground up and apply in a generous layer on all sides. Then I vac seal and cure in the fridge for at least 1 week sometimes up to 2 weeks depending on my schedule(can use ziplock bags if you don't have vac sealer) If it's corned beef I want it I sous vide in the vac bag after its cured. If it's pastrami I rinse the pickling spice off and apply a pastrami rub before smoking .

Thanks so very much! Really appreciate the advice... vacuum sealer I have. I used a water based brine that obviously wasn't very effective.

Do use the entire brisket or just the tip? If you use the flank as well, do you trim of a lot of the fat? You can see from pics above, I kept flank pretty much intact.....

Thanks so very much for all the assistance!

 

[Nachos23]

Thanks so very much! Really appreciate the advice... vacuum sealer I have. I used a water based brine that obviously wasn't very effective.

Do use the entire brisket or just the tip? If you use the flank as well, do you trim of a lot of the fat? You can see from pics above, I kept flank pretty much intact.....

Thanks so very much for all the assistance!

 

[Nachos23]

Hi nachos23. I use a dry brine method using this calculator http://diggingdogfarm.com/page2.html
Just enter your brisket weight in grams and it will calculate the amount of salt sugar and cure#1 to use. You can change the % of salt and sugar to your liking before you hit calculate but the cure % can't be changed. Rub the brisket down useing all the calculated ingredients then I add pickling spice I've ground up and apply in a generous layer on all sides. Then I vac seal and cure in the fridge for at least 1 week sometimes up to 2 weeks depending on my schedule(can use ziplock bags if you don't have vac sealer) If it's corned beef I want it I sous vide in the vac bag after its cured. If it's pastrami I rinse the pickling spice off and apply a pastrami rub before smoking .

When it and you refer to Cure#1 to use.... what are u referring too? It says nitrite..... obviously a very newbie question; but what am I using for nitrite?

 

[wild west]

Cure #1 is a mixture of salt and nitrite at rate of 93.75 % salt and 6.25% nitrite. It is often called prauge powder or pink salt (not to be confused with pink Himalayan salt). It's used to prevent bacteria from contaminating the meat when smoking at low temperatures in a low oxygen environment (not its only use but it's primary use). It also gives your cured product the pink color and firm texture people are accustomed to with cured meats. It must be used according to directions because too much can poison you not enough won't give you the safety factor of your meat being fully cured. Don't let this scare you off its totally safe to use if used properly. If you can't find it locally you can order online from a number of places and is cheap to buy. Im curious now about the wet brine recipe you used. If your asking about nitrite I'm assuming you didn't use any.
Could you please post the recipe.
I usually the whole brisket for pastrami but I separate the point from the flat and trim it very lean. Usually cut the flat in half as well to make it easier to bag up for cureing.