Montreal Smoked Meat Step by Step Qview Bomb

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

disco

Epic Pitmaster
Original poster
OTBS Member
SMF Premier Member
Oct 31, 2012
11,135
5,265
Canadian Rockies
Great fortune befell me! Friends gave me a brisket. They raise their own cattle and this was from a smaller animal than we are used to. As such the brisket was a little smaller and quite lean, very nice! As they gave it to me I decided I should make something I could share with them and I decided to make Montreal smoked meat. I have posted this before but my method has evolved over time and this is my current method for making it.

Day 1

I started by cutting the brisket into 2 pieces so it would fit in Ziploc bags. I weighed each piece. One weighed 1.6 kg (3.5 pounds). The other weighed 1.3 kg (2.9) pounds.


Then I mixed up my curing mix. The recipe for each kilogram of meat is:

30 grams of Morton's Tenderquick

9 grams of Kosher salt

30 grams of pepper corns, roughly cracked (I use a coffee grinder)

15 grams sugar

15 grams coriander seeds, roughly cracked (I use a coffee grinder)

5 ml powdered bay leaf (if you can't find powdered, run dried leaves through a coffee grinder)

5 ml ground cloves

If you are using the archaic pound system, you need the following for each pound of meat:

0.5 ounces of Morton's Tenderquick

0.14 ounces of Kosher salt

0.5 ounces of pepper corns, roughly cracked

0.25 ounces of sugar

0.25 ounces of coriander seeds, roughly cracked

1/2 teaspoon powdered bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

It is important that you get the right ratio of spices and cure to each piece of meat. So, multiply the number of kilograms or pounds of meat for one piece. For example, 1.6 kg of meat needs 48 grams of Tenderquick (1.6 times 30). If using pounds the 3.5 pounds of meat needed 1.75 ounces of Tenderquick (3.5 times 0.5).

Do this calculation with all the ingredients and mix them in a bowl. Put the meat in a pan and rub the curing mix over all surfaces. Put the meat in a large resealable bag and put any curing mix that is in the pan into the bag. It is important to get all the mixture in the bag.

Now, move onto the next piece of meat and repeat the process.



Put the bags in the fridge for 10 days, rotating and massaging the spices into the meat daily.

Day 10

Take each piece out and brush the peppercorns and coriander off. Put the meat in cold water for 60 minutes, changing the water once.



Put the meat on racks in the fridge, uncovered to develop pellicle overnight.


 Day 11

Make sure the surface of the meat is dry. Put it in a 210 F smoker over your favourite wood. I used pitmaster blend pellets in my pellet smoker. I cooked it to an internal temperature of 160 F. As the brisket was a tad smaller, that only took 3 hours. A larger brisket would take longer.




Take the meat inside and let it cool.


Unless you are just doing a brisket flat, the meat will have a line of fat through it separating the brisket point from the flat. The grain of these two pieces do not run in the same direction and will be hard to cut against the grain if you do not separate them. I worked a sharp knife between the two pieces by pulling it through the fat streak.




I now had three pieces of meat. When I cut the meat in half orignally, one half had no point on it and all the grain ran in one direction. The other piece was cut in two when I separated the flat and point.

Let all the pieces sit in the fridge for a day to let the smoke even out.

Day 12

I gave the 1/2 piece of flat to the generous donors of the brisket with instructions on how to cook it. I took one of the other pieces, wrapped it and froze it for future use. The third piece was for today!

I put the meat on a rack over (not in) simmering water for 3 hours. You can do this in a stock pot with a colander in it to hold the meat out of the water of in a large electric fry pan with a rack holding the meat out of the water. It just has to be exposed to moist heat for 3 hours without sitting in the water.




Try and slice the meat to about 1/8 inch slices across the grain.





Here it is, a plate of delicious.


We used ours on some marble rye bread with some deli mustard to make an incredible sandwich.



The Verdict

If you have never had Montreal Smoked Meat, you have missed something. This is rich, flavourful, tender, salty, spicy and just so good!

Disco
 
Last edited:
Schwartz's in Montreal are lucky you live on the other side of the country, or they would have to shut down.

Great smoke, colours.
 
Points! Points! Points! Was drooling so bad I forgot to mention that!
So besides my bed, I'll need room for all my smokers, and and equipment that this hobby requires! Clear me out a 5 acre parcel! My wife won't let me leave any of my toys here!
Har! Thanks for the points. I live in the Canadian Rockies outside of the nearest town. Five acres is a small lot. As for your smokers and equipment, you could store them at my place and smoke here.
 
Great colors! Looks delicious. Nice job.
You're very kind! Thank you.
Schwartz's in Montreal are lucky you live on the other side of the country, or they would have to shut down.

Great smoke, colours.
I don't think Schwartz's is too worried but this was very reminiscent of my last trip there. Thanks for the compliment.
 
Thanks, Adam. With your access to good beef, this would be a natural for you. It is really tasty.

Disco
 
Disco, that looks great! I love steaming it to finish it! Just curious. Is there an actual difference between Montreal smoked meat and pastrami? Always heard about Montreal smoked meat but never knew the difference. Awesome step by step! Points!!
 
Well Mister Disco;  You've managed to raise the bar once again. 

I got up out of my chair and bowed to the computer screen. 
biggrin.gif


POINT!!
 
 
Wow, the looks wonderful!     I hope to try this one day.
Thanks so much. I can recommend it as a nice smoked meat.
Disco, that looks great! I love steaming it to finish it! Just curious. Is there an actual difference between Montreal smoked meat and pastrami? Always heard about Montreal smoked meat but never knew the difference. Awesome step by step! Points!!
Thanks for the point!

Historically, Montreal Smoked Meat was made with brisket and pastrami was made with a fattier belly cut. Also, the seasonings in pastrami were mostly just sugar, pepper, and coriander. Montreal Smoked Meat used less sugar. It had the pepper and coriander but also added aromatic spices like bay leaf, cloves or mustard seed. Pastrami was traditionally cured in a brine while Montreal

Smoked Meat was cured with a dry rub.

The hard part is that variations have blurred the lines with people modifying the recipes to their own tastes or to save money. For example, these days some restaurants make their pastrami from eye of the round to save money.

So the short answer is there are a few differences but they are also very similar. From my tastes, Montreal smoked meat is softer, has a more complex seasoning and comes out redder than pastrami.
 
Well Mister Disco;  You've managed to raise the bar once again. 

I got up out of my chair and bowed to the computer screen. 
biggrin.gif


POINT!!
Har! When most people bow around me they face away and tell me to kiss something. Thanks for the point.
 
Disco I know some of that meat says Richies' Rueben on it,That looks great thanks for sharing

Richie

points.gif
 
 
Thanks so much. I can recommend it as a nice smoked meat.

Thanks for the point!

Historically, Montreal Smoked Meat was made with brisket and pastrami was made with a fattier belly cut. Also, the seasonings in pastrami were mostly just sugar, pepper, and coriander. Montreal Smoked Meat used less sugar. It had the pepper and coriander but also added aromatic spices like bay leaf, cloves or mustard seed. Pastrami was traditionally cured in a brine while Montreal

Smoked Meat was cured with a dry rub.

The hard part is that variations have blurred the lines with people modifying the recipes to their own tastes or to save money. For example, these days some restaurants make their pastrami from eye of the round to save money.

So the short answer is there are a few differences but they are also very similar. From my tastes, Montreal smoked meat is softer, has a more complex seasoning and comes out redder than pastrami.

Har! When most people bow around me they face away and tell me to kiss something. Thanks for the point.
Thanks so much for the info.  I was always wondering about that.  I will definitely put this on my list to try!
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Hot Threads

Clicky