brining msm

[Bobdelasmoke]

Hey guys, got some questions about brining with a Montreal smoked meat recipe I found.
The brine is quite simple
-1.25gal of water
-200g of salt
-80g of cure #1
-spices
Is the ratio water/salt/cure ok? The recipe suggested 4 days of brining for a 12lbs brisket. I'll probably won't be doing a 12pounders so is there a rule like Xpounds=Ytime of brining? Also if the brisket is smaller do I need to use less salt/cure?
Kinda lost with this brining stuff your opinions would be very appreciated.

[Habanero Smoker]

With this recipe you are first making corned beef.

The cure amount is alright, it will not give you much of the traditional cure flavor. If you prefer more flavor the cure brings then you can go up to 100g. With the cure you will have about 10 ounces of salt, and that is a good ratio for 1.25 gallons.

With wet cures you use the same ratios whether you are curing 1 pound or a hundred pounds. The only thing you need to adjust is the amount of brine you want to make. For example, the recipe you posted will cure 1 pound or up to 20 pounds of meat.

For wet cures, brining times depend on the thickness or weight of the meat, and the salinity of the brine. If you are using a smaller cut, I would go the full 4 days as the recipe suggests. Or you can provide more information about the size and thickness and I can suggest what times I would use.

[porterdriver]

Hey Bod, thanks for asking the brining question.  I have a similar question and (I think) Habs just answered it but I'm gonna ask anyway to make sure that I have it correct.

I have a set of 3.5 gallon food lugs (with lids) that I do my a lot of my corned beef/pastrami brining in.  When I put a ~5lb. brisket in them, it takes about 2 gallons of brine to cover the meat.  The brine recipe that I use calls for (and makes) 1 gallon for a brisket of that size.  What I have been doing is just making two batches of brine and putting that over the meat.

Is that correct?  I don't want the expense of getting a whole new set of containers to brine in but I want the meat covered as well.

[Habanero Smoker]

Porterdriver;

You are absolutely correct. If the container requires more brine to ensure the meat is covered, then 2 gallon batch (doubling the recipe) of the brine is perfectly alright. The cost of salt and cure is much less expensive than buying a new set of containers.

[Bobdelasmoke]

Thanks for the info!  :)

[Bobdelasmoke]

here's the small piece I got


edit: oh sideway meat  :o

It's only a 3 pounders, didn't wanna go too big for the first try. Thickness is ~2". I got the meat tuesday and was planning to smoke it friday. Is 3 days of brine too short? Recipe called for 4 days.

For the smoke, smoker at 225, 3 hours of oak should be decent (I guess) and cook till IT at ~160. What you guys think?

[Habanero Smoker]

I generally go by thickness, and would wet cure a piece like that for 4 days. Three days may cure it fully, because it looks pretty small. If not you may have a little grayish color in the center of the meat, after it has been smoked/cooked. If so just treat it as fresh cooked brisket.

When you take it out of the cure, you should slice a piece off, pan fry and taste. If it is too salty you can soak it for about 30 minutes in about 3 gallons of cold water. I always allow the meat to rest about 12 - 24 hours in the refrigerator prior to smoking/cooking to allow the brining process to equalize throughout the meat. After the meat is removed from the cure, the concentration of salt an cure will be higher towards the surface of the meat, but this is optional. It also allows time for a pellicle to form; if part of that time the meat is left uncovered. If you don't have time to let it develop a pellicle, make sure you pat it dry.

[Bobdelasmoke]

First of all, thank you very much Hab for all the good infos.

Here's some pics of how it turned out.

Just out of the brine, tested it and it was a lil bit too salty for me so I let it soak in water for 30mins. 2nd test was ok.



4 hours of oak at 225 and a 2h FTC with beef broth



After the 4 hours I changed the water in the pan, IT was at 145 and the meat looked like the pic above, I chickened out and pulled it and decided to FTC. We're not really used to cut like brisket here. I was afraid the meat would dry out but after some reading here I found a good IT to pull is 185ish. I guess that'd explain why the texture was a lil bit chewy.

First slice



And Hab you were right, 3 days didnt fully cure the meat. Better planning next time I guess.

Middle of the middle

meat cake anyone^?

The money shot


Yesterday, saltiness and smokiness was a lil bit too strong but not that much. Today both taste kinda mellowed out and It was perfect.

[mikecorn.1]

Nice Sammie. Beats the heck out of the pb&j I just had :D


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- Mike.
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[Habanero Smoker]

Seems like a couple of minutes more of curing would have done the job.  ;)

Smoked food always seems to tastes better the following day. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like you are cutting with the grain of the meat. Your slices are nicely cut and thin enough, but if you cut in the opposite direction (across the grain) the brisket will be more tender.