Need ideas to save a very salty smoked beef brisket

[EaOutlaw1969]

Yesterday was a bit of a learning smoke session for me, where I learned the limits of my pit and propane conversion. I also learned that smoking two large pieces of meat in a vertical upright can have negative side effects.
I smoked a Pork Shoulder on the top rack and a beef brisket on the rack below. during the stall the pork did what I thought I wanted and dripped on the beef brisket.
The pork came out delicious but the Brisket came out very salty even for me and I add salt to everything I eat.
I am not sure if the problem was the salt in the rub or the beef broth my Wife injected the brisket with.
The rub was basically the same for the pork but had nothing sweet in it. ( I think she did not use brown sugar for the brisket ) I am thinking the pork dripping on it for a long time added the extra salt flavor. you can even see in the pictures below where juices had puddled up in one spot wrecking the bark.
Anyways The brisket has a great flavor with nice smoke it was juicy tender but way too salty where you can eat one small bite and say hey that is good but then the salt takes over.

My thought was to warm a slice up and try it with some BBQ sauce to see if that helps, But ultimately i am thinking I will have to cut off some or all of the bark to lessen the salt flavor which would be a shame.
I am all ears for suggestions from how to fix it and reasons I should just toss it and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

 

[gmc2003]

I would go with a chili or hash. Just leave out any salt in your recipe.

Chris

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

I would go with a chili or hash. Just leave out any salt in your recipe.

Chris

great ideas, thank you.

 

[texomakid]

The times I've over salted or over rubbed we did several things that just seemed to work out great. Serve with a nice coleslaw and other items with less seasoning. Then we cut and packaged up for the freezer - As already mentioned Chili is a great choice for heavy salt brisket and we just cooked a pot of beans with some brisket that had been vacuum packed and frozen for about 3 months that was off the chain. Might have been some of the best beans I've ever had (with cornbread of course). A big chunk of meat can really take a lot of salt or rub. Of all my screw ups while smoking over the years I've had to toss pork spare ribs twice (many years ago) but we've always been able to salvage the briskets. Thank goodness that hasn't happened on any of my cooks in many years. Live and learn!
I bet you can salvage this one too.

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

well we tested another piece from the center and it was good not too salty, The piece we tested last night was on the left side where the pork was dripping on it
So our thought is on the pieces near the puddle will be very salty. I guess we will just cut off the top bark on those pieces and use it in other recipes.
I was too tired last night to notice but my wife prepped the brisket but never trimmed the fat off, fully smoked it still has a 1/4 inch of fat left on it. next time I will have to prep it myself.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

If you inject again in the future try using a low sodium beef broth. Not as salty and still tasty. Also use a foil pan under the butt to catch the drippings. Chili and beans are a great re-use for brisket as mentioned above.

 

[chilerelleno]

Agree, low-sodium beef broth is the way to go for injecting beef.

 

[Backyard Bubba]

Brisket Stroganoff .... the cream sauce will mitigate the salt, and mushrooms need it as well. Serve over "Texas toast" and you're all set.

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

Thank you guys so much for the great ideas, I separated the beef brisket into 3 vacuum baggies two are in the freezer one of which is the salty side of the brisket. the others were sampled and tasted great and will be served as brisket.
The salty batch we will add in other recipes that were mentioned here. I will add a post one day when we use it and let you know the results.
Thanks again

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

So you have pulled pork and brisket all you need to do is quickly smoke up a few chicken thighs and you got the base for some Brunswick Stew.

My Wife brought that up as her first suggestion, but then someone here mentioned chili now that is all she can think about LOL.

 

[MarkM]

Chunk it up and make a beef stew out of it. I do a tomato based stew, and the liquid will use all that salt and create a delicious base. And you can throw in some vegetables that will further dilute the saltiness. But it looks fantastic!

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

Chunk it up and make a beef stew out of it. I do a tomato based stew, and the liquid will use all that salt and create a delicious base. And you can throw in some vegetables that will further dilute the saltiness. But it looks fantastic!

We have not done anything with this meat yet your idea sounds great thank you

 

[EaOutlaw1969]

My Wife decided to make chili using some of the salty beef brisket.
I cut up two slices of our left over brisket into very thin pieces ad we added it to our Chili and let it simmer before adding any other spices that contain salt.
we are pleased to announce that the brisket added a smoky flavor and our chili came out delicious.
We have a lot of the brisket still left that we will be using in various recipes many of which have been recommended in this thread. so thank you for all your suggestions. BTW I use scoops as a edible spoon for my chili.