Montreal Smoked Meat

[Smokeville]

Hello all;

I've been tempted to try Montreal Smoked Meat ever since my wife and I spent 4 days in Montreal and went to both Schwartzs and Lesters. We also went to Martin Picard's Au Pied de Cochon restaurant. Several weeks ago I discovered Martin's recipe for Montreal Smoked Meat.

http://cabanepdc.tumblr.com/post/43562487632/smoked-meat

I'm convinced the recipe has a typo and the smoking temperature should be 250F and not 150F. And I don't quite understand why he wraps it totally 3 times in foil for the entire smoke, so I am going to use a more "normal" approach for the smoking phase.

I did follow the brine recipe with leeks and maple syrup (everything Martin does has maple syrup) and also the rub...



I had to cut the brisket in two because I didn't have a pot large enough to hold the whole thing for the wet brine.

They will go into the smoker in about 10 minutes and I'll post photos later today.

Regards, Rich

[beefmann]

sounds  good and  looking great

[squirtthecat]

Watching this..........

[Saber 4]

Can't wait to see the results, Happy Smoking

[Smokeville]

After the 5 hour smoke and 4 hours wrapped in foil in the oven....



Nice red colour. The taste test of the flat was promising. It's still tough, but needs to be steamed for 3-4 hours tomorrow...

[Saber 4]

looks mighty tasty, I bet it steams up good.

[Smokeville]

I hope so...

I was very happy to see the nice pink colour. This was the first time in years I have used prague powder and I was a bit worried.

[pz]

Does look tasty - even if it doesn't tender-up as much as you'd like, it looks like it would make great tasty Reubens if thinly sliced

[Habanero Smoker]

It looks good. Steaming should tenderize it some more.

How much salt and cure taste did it have?  What brand of kosher salt did you use? 

[rajzer]

Looks very tasty.  Slice it thinly and it should solve some of the issues with tenderness.  If you tasted the meat at Schwartz's then you know that the fatter the beef, it's tastier and tender.  They give you the option of eating the lean, medium and fat brisket, and I always chhose the medium fat one.  Yours looks quite lean, so next time find a fatter piece.  There will be some trimming and waste, but it will be worth it.

[Smokeville]

Ok, folks, here is the finished product.... I over-steamed it, unfortunately, so it will not slice cleanly, but the taste is amazing! (the pieces in the photo were cut with the grain instead of across it). Next time I will be sure to continually monitor the temp. I know better than that.



It tastes, well, like Montreal Smoked Meat. Really good Montreal Smoked Meat. I used Morton's Kosher salt, and followed the brine ingredients and rub ingedients just as in the recipe, but factored them up for the size of the brisket.

The flat was a bit lean, but the point had a nice layer of fat.



I think next time I would use less peppercorns and less of the crushed chili, but that's just my taste.

All in all, I'm happy, except that the darn thing falls apart -- it could be Pulled Montreal Smoked Meat......

Rich

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Rich;

From what I see of that recipe, one gallon would be enough to cure up to 25 pounds of meats, just try to prevent crowding the meat in the container while curing. You can try cutting it against the grain. If it still falls apart you may have to cut it thicker.

Oh! Thanks for letting me know what salt you used. That way I can convert it to U.S. standard pickling salt. Pickling salt (pure salt) dissolves faster.

[Smokeville]

I just checked to be sure and it was Morton's. Here in Canada we get Windsor, but I bought the Morton's in the US last month because it is so much cheaper than Kosher salt here.

[Habanero Smoker]

I just checked to be sure and it was Morton's. Here in Canada we get Windsor, but I bought the Morton's in the US last month because it is so much cheaper than Kosher salt here.

Thanks again. I'm going to try this recipe to see if it is any different then pastrami. I generally will use a dry cure, but will wet cure the brisket when I make this recipe.

[Saber 4]

Looks really good, get you some flour or corn tortillas, some salsa and you've got yourself some montreal smoked meat taco's. Can't help myself we put everything on tortillas in Texas.