Smoked Corned Brisket
My corned brisket is a little different in the spice arena because, like brisket, it doesn’t require a myriad of spices. This corned brisket is smoked right, and there is no need to devalue the meat. The bark? I understand, it brings in extra flavors, but it also kicks the brisket north of the Red River (it ain't Texas). Keep reading
St. Patrick’s Day isn’t a “corned beef brisket day” from my Irish forefathers, St Patty and corned beef craze or trend was an American born half breed Irish idea. In Ireland, beef was scarce, expensive, and only the rich could afford to import corned beef from the Brits. When the Irish immigrated to America, they began to buy the corned brisket from the Jewish community (kosher) because it was cheap and plentiful in America. Corned beef is from the days before refrigeration as a way to keep from spoilage. Multiple cultures utilized corned beef before the Irish. Salt cured, “corn” comes from the larger salt grind. Coase salt and up to “corn” sized salt. Finding corn sized salt isn’t always at your fingertips so coarse will do. Besides, we will melt it all into a liquid. You are encouraged to add juniper berries and whatnot to the brine if you want.
Servings 6
Calories 1260kcal
Ingredients
Brine Ingredients
- 2 qt water
- 1 cup salt (coarse kosher)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbs saltpeter
- 1 gal ice
- 5 lb brisket (trimmed to 1/4" fat left)
Brisket Ingredients
- 5 lb brisket (trimmed to 1/4" fat left, flat or point or both)
- 3 tbs Dawgs Bark
Instructions
Brine Construction
- In a large pot add all the brine ingredients.
- Bring to a boil and turn off heat.
- Stir all the dry ingredients until dissolved
- Let cool for a few minutes and add the ice to the brine.
- The brine needs to be 40 to 45 degrees before we can add the brisket. Refrigerate if you need to.
- Put your brisket in a durable 2-gallon zip-locking bag.
- Pour the brine in the bag to cover brisket, remove as much air as possible, and seal.
- Set in flat pyrex type dish and place in the refrigerator.
- Soak for 10 days. Yup, 10 days. This amount of time is the cure part or as I call it pickling...
Smoke Corned Brisket
- In clean sink pull brisket from bag and brine.
- Lightly wash the outside of brisket with cold water and pat dry. It feels slimy get that off.
- Place brisket in the pyrex and cover in Dawgs Bark.
- Let sit on the counter for at least 1 hour lightly covered in plastic wrap.
- Get your smoker going to 190-200 degrees with whatever wood you like. I used mesquite, but pecan would also be excellent. Any smoking woods.
- Place brisket off to the side of heat and smoke 3 hours at 190 to 200 degrees. I pinpoint 195 and let it walk up or down.
- At 3 hours insert your thermometer in center of the flat and one in point if you have one.
- Close it up and get your smoker up to 220 to 230 degrees pinpointed at @ 225.
- It’s a long agonizing wait if your only looking at temperature, so I’ll let you know you are looking at another 5 to 7 hours.
- We are waiting for a temperature in the center of the meat to reach 175 in the flat and 170 at the point. Your point will likely have more fat and climb quicker.
- If you are making flat and point, you can pull if both hit 170 degrees.
- If you are doing just flat pull at 175 degrees. Just point 170. Once the temp hits 150 it should speed up the process.
- When you get internal meat at right temperature rest safely on the counter for 1 to 2 hours. I usually wait until internal meat goes down around 145 degrees before I start slicing.
- Just a little patience and do some hunny-do’s to bide the time. It’s worth it!
Notes
Smoke brisket to 190+ will make it more tender. Personally, I think not all that great for slicing but tenderer than hell. Hand crumble
➕ Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Smoked Corned Brisket
Amount Per Serving (355 g)
Calories 1260
Calories from Fat 495
% Daily Value*
Fat 55g85%
Saturated Fat 19g119%
Cholesterol 468mg156%
Sodium 21802mg948%
Potassium 2566mg73%
Carbohydrates 22g7%
Sugar 19g21%
Protein 156g312%
Vitamin A 15IU0%
Calcium 106mg11%
Iron 15.1mg84%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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If you don’t have any Texas Butter I guess we’ll overlook it if you use what’s in your pantry. Be sure to ask how something turned out or you have questions. Expect grammar errors, these are not checked much other than what my browser flags. Well, in general I can’t spell worth a crap. Thanks – Shawn