What to do with a small, fully trimmed (retail) brisket

[duncanshannon]

 I was all excited to smoke my first brisket this weekend... and my regular meat market only had frozen brisket and was closing soon... so I stopped by a grocery store and they had some brikset.

Rookie Me bought their brisket, which was not Packer cut and has no fat cap.  its prob. 5-6 lbs.

Now that i've read Pachangas brisket stuff and others, i'm reading that a brisket this small and w/o any fat cap is about worthless to try and smoke.  I even pulled out my 'cheaters bbq' book (lots of crock pot/oven, liquid smoke recipies) and they even said don't bother.

So my question is... what should I do with this $32 hunk of brisket with no fat cap??

Thanks!
Duncan
:-\

[squirtthecat]

Would be good for pastrami..

[MPTubbs]

Maybe inject it and place bacon over the top.

From what I have read here bacon fixes everything!

                                    ;)

[FLBentRider]

$32? Ouch!

I would second the pastrami.

This is the recipe I use http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=185#post185

[duncanshannon]

i know... expensive.


thx for the pastrami idea... thats great!

[Habanero Smoker]

If you don't have the ingredients to make pastrami. Smoke the brisket in the Bradley, if it comes out dry you can braise it in this sauce. You have a nice Smoked Onion Braised Brisket.

Onion Sauce for Brisket

To use the sauce to braise, preheat the oven to 350°F.

About an hour prior to serving, slice the brisket 1/4" thick - if you want you can trim off any remaining fat.

Line 13 by 9-inch baking dish with two 24-inch-long sheets of 18-inch-wide heavy-duty foil, positioning sheets perpendicular to each other and allowing excess foil to extend beyond edges of pan. The foil is to make for easy clean up. You don't have to line the dish, but do cover the meat with foil while it is in the oven.

Place slices in the baking dish and pour sauce over brisket slices, cover baking dish with foil, and bake until heated through, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

[wally22]

I raised some jersey cattle from babies and I decided to have one butchered for myself, due to they say these cattle are the best eating because of the marbling. I had the butcher save me the briskets thinking I was going to get a big brisket like in the store NOT. Was not happy what I got looked like the point end and was about 6 inches by 10 inches and about 1 inch thick and all the fat trimmed off. Well I had to do 2 butts for friends daughter's birthday party, so what I did was I took that little brisket and put on the CT and Bad Bryan's Butt Rub and put it on the top shelf. After 20 hours   I FTC for 2 hours and let me tell you that was the best brisket I ever had. Can't get another one to turn out like that.
   

[GusRobin]

I would go with the pastrami recommendation. I made some using Habanero's recipe for dry cure and made the mistake of taking some to work. Now I am constantly harassed as to when I am going to bring more. Spoiled me from ever buying store bought pastrami again. The second and third time I made it, same results (but kept it all for myself :)

[duncanshannon]

ok... meat is in the fridge (as of 1PM).

I'm getting the impression that curing meat can be tricky (and perhaps dangerous?). I made the dry cure, for 4lbs. It seems to be covered pretty well. How will I know when its done? The directions say 4 days.. I also read around and some things talk about a couple weeks. How do you know when its done?

I'll write up something as I go, and share it when i'm done... with photos and stuff.

For what its worth, I have one pretty nice pic. of the cure spices sitting on top of the brisket (along with a pic of my first spare ribs, and a lot of walnut raisin bread).

http://www.unfoodie.com/2010/02/busy-weekend-in-the-kitchen/

I'll put something together that focuses just on the pastrami when its done.  It will be traveling with me to Florida on thrusday... Dad loves pastrami :)

[Habanero Smoker]

If you follow the directions in a reliable recipe, curing meat is rewarding. If you are reading other recipes with longer times there could be several factors involved, its hard to give you an answer without seeing the exact recipes you are referring to. So it is important to choose one recipe and follow it closely - of course you can adjust some spices, but don't adjust the cure, salt or the recommended curing times.

Four days is more then enough time for the small flat you have, as long as you cure it between 36°F - 40°F (the closer to 40°F the better). To tell if the meat is fully cured; other then slicing it open is to press down on it. It should be firm to the touch in all areas, with no soft spots. If there are any uncured areas they tend to be towards the middle, or areas where the cure was not evenly distributed.

Looking at your photo, I generally crack the coriander and peppercorns more, to get more flavor out of them. I know you did it for show, but the cure should never be piled on the meat like that. Piling like that for even a short time the bottom layer will get moist and it is difficult to distribute. It is important to distribute the cure evenly.

Can wait to see your finished product.

[duncanshannon]

It seemed to distribute pretty evenly, the meat was not dripping wet when i piled the rub on. its been in the fridge since sunday and is mostly firm. Its noticeably softer in an area near where its thicker... hoping it firms up some more by tomorrow 10AM (when i head out of town).  Plan is to pack it up and fly it with me to florida.. and then hopefully smoking it friday on my dads gas grill.

What happens if the meat is not fullly cured? is it just not tasty or is there any 'hazard' to having it partially cured?

also... i just received my spice grinder in the mail today... next time the seeds will be ground more...  I was just lazy here and the baggie was about to break so i stopped.

duncan

[Habanero Smoker]

If it is not fully cured you need to treat it like fresh cooked meat. The area not cured will have a brown to grayish-brown color when cooked. It is also possible that it can be reddish but less in color of the surrounding area, which means not enough cure reached that area. It is perfectly safe to eat, it just doesn't look as appetizing. Also because the cure did not reach those area's will will be a lack of flavor.