Corned Beef: a query

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a standard American plastic pack of corned beef in liquid packed for St. Patrick's Day, and on sale bcz it was a few weeks later. What I want to do is smoke the sucker. But I bet that, if I smoke it w/o soaking or doing something to it, it'll be salty as all get out. What is the wisdom of the group on this point? Should I soak it? If so, using how much water and for how long? If not, then what?

Eagerly awaiting your info--

Geo

The one time that I picked up a precorned beef and made it into pastrami, I soaked it for about 4 hours before smoking (I am assuming you are making pastrami). Make sure to change the water about every hour or so. It rated as much better than restaurant pastrami.

Good luck.

Geo,

First step in smoking a corned beef is finding the proper size rolling papers......

Smoked corned beef is wonderful, done properly the process mimics smokey, fatty, spicy juicy delicious old fashioned pastrami, improperly yields a dried out salty brick o beef. Key, as you surmised, is soaking the corned beef to leach out some of the salt.

Past Smoked Corned beef thread, method/recipe to follow.

Smoked Corned Beef
Gary Wiviott

To make a reasonable facsimile of pastrami first soak fresh corned beef in water* for 36-48 hours to rid it of some of the salt. You then coarse grind, in a 3/1 ratio, black pepper/coriander seed, add powdered garlic, onion powder and freshly ground pan toasted Mexican pepper**, liberally coat corned beef with the mixture.

Smoke the corned beef as you would a brisket, though due to the corning process it will only take about three quarters as long, and you will be quite pleased with the results. I use full packer cut corned beef, point and flat, with the fat cap still attached. If you use a small corned beef flat without a fat cap make sure to smoke it under something fatty, like pork shoulder or baste often.

Some wrap the smoked corned beef in foil while still hot and let it stew in its own juices overnight, allowing it to reabsorb the juice and become tender. I find this step unnecessary using a full packer cut corned beef, plus I prefer my pastrami sliceable.

Enjoy,,
Gary

*Do not skip soak step or the finished smoked corned beef will be so salty as to be completely inedible. If you use a commercial, grocery store corned beef, I suggest 48-72 soak.

** Toasted Mexican Pepper Blend
"Low and Slow: Master the Art of Barbecue in 5 Easy Lessons"

This is the blend I use on a regular basis and reference throughout the book. Feel free to customize it, using more or less of the same chiles, to suit your taste. I recommend making a double or triple batch so you have a supply on hand.

MAKES ABOUT 1/2 CUP

4 or 5 dried guajillo chiles
2 dried ancho chiles
2 dried pasilla chiles
2 driedmorita chiles
10 dried pequín chiles

Stem, seed, and roughly tear the dried chiles.
Toast the chiles in a preheated skillet until they’re fragrant.
Pour the toasted chile pieces into a spice grinder and grind to a coarse powder.

I should have been more specific. I was working with a point cut only. If you are working with something bigger, soak much longer. Thanks for the reminder, Gary.

HI,

I once went ahead and smoked a few commercially brined corned beef points. I followed it up by steaming it for a few hours. Nobody in my family complained it was too salty, though I admit they are not too fussy, either.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I once went ahead and smoked a few commercially brined corned beef points. I followed it up by steaming it for a few hours. Nobody in my family complained it was too salty, though I admit they are not too fussy, either.

You mean without soaking the point in water to leach out the salt first? If so I'd venture the subsequent steaming extracted enough salt to make it edible.

I smoke points on a regular basis, in fact I prefer the fattier point to leaner flat. I soak for a minimum of 24 hours, full packer cut 48-hours.

Smoked soaked corned beef is a real treat, I encourage all to try.

Enjoy,
Gary

Tnx All! I'm going to smoke it this weekend, with the soak beginning this morning. Gary tnx for the recipes, esp. for the chili blend. I'll be in KC in two weeks, where I can get all those varieties (not a chance of finding them here in Montréal) and will blend them up.

As always, the collective intelligence of LTH comes through!

Geo

Ooops, sorry so late on the report, and, sorry no pix!

Did a 48-hour soak, half in the fridge, half on the counter, with perhaps ten water changes total. Rubbed it with an interesting Montréal Smoked Meat spice rub [which I can't seem to access from my KC ISP—if you'd like it, please ask me next week and I'll post it] and held in fridge for 48 hours. Then 6 hours of cold smoke.

After a day's rest in the fridge, I put it into a slow cooker on low, and went away for 8 hours.

It was the best corned beef I'd ever had in my life. Really! I'll post a pic or two when I get back to Montréal.

Tnx to everyone for the fine advice you gave me!

Geo