Pork Pressure or Not?

[Shedd]

Has anyone used a marinade called Chiavetta’s BBQ Marinade ? A friend was telling me about how good it is so I figured I get some opinions before I order it. Being from upstate South Carolina I use a lot of apple cider vinegar in my marinades I make. So just curious, thanks!

 

[hickoryrokcih]

You can cook it like you would a brisket. Usually the corned beef is boiled.
Smoking it will take you into Pastrami
If you want, you can use a Pastrami rub. IF you do, and you are looking at buying commercial rubs, try and find one without salt, or as little salt as possible. The corned beef you have is already salted, no more required
Any rub you use should have minimal salt, and preferably no salt.
Here's the Pastrami rub I use
Pastrami Rub Recipe - Meathead's AmazingRibs.com https://share.google/iCLDLQymrACp0iWL2

If you wrapped in butcher paper on your previous brisket, this time you'll probably want a foil wrap for the meat. You could even opt for a metal or foil pan as well. You will want to add a bit of liquid to the wrap so you braise/steam the meat to finish it.

Hello Rusty,

I finally received all my ingredients for this project. The last one being the "cure #1". You may get a chuckle out of this. When you said "boil" in your reply, my skin crawled. lol. The reason I say that is that the woman that I live with nearly "boils" everything! Bless her heart she means good but. Some things just have to be Fried! Seared etc... Anyway I am going to dry cure this piece of brisket as per your instructions for equilibrium cure and am going to put the meat in the fridge as instructed. Anything else I should do, give me a hollar. The pastrami looks good but I am not sure about how the flavor will be, I am having a few second thoughts about preparing the corned beef and am almost thinking of just making it a smoked brisket.

DK

 

[RustyJake]

You have to do what you are comfortable with. But we learn more by experimenting. Brining isn't that difficult at all. Once it is in the ziploc or vacuum bag in the fridge, just remember to massage/roll the meat every day and turn it over. This just helps work the cure to the center so you don't have any brown spots in the middle.
If you haven't tried pastrami, you should. Just go buy yourself a couple of slices from a deli. I don't think you will be disappointed in the taste, especially if you like corned beef.
Keep notes of what you did to prepare it as well as your cooking notes. That way you can always tweak things the next time if you feel it needs changing

 

[hickoryrokcih]

You have to do what you are comfortable with. But we learn more by experimenting. Brining isn't that difficult at all. Once it is in the ziploc or vacuum bag in the fridge, just remember to massage/roll the meat every day and turn it over. This just helps work the cure to the center so you don't have any brown spots in the middle.
If you haven't tried pastrami, you should. Just go buy yourself a couple of slices from a deli. I don't think you will be disappointed in the taste, especially if you like corned beef.
Keep notes of what you did to prepare it as well as your cooking notes. That way you can always tweak things the next time if you feel it needs changing

I'm going for it. I found a simple recipe to finish it out with potatoes, carrots and onion after the smoke. Here are a couple of photos if I can attach them. I did not toast any of the herbs. When ready to smoke should i add a rub? If so can i use mustard as a glue?

 

[RustyJake]

You can use mustard, mayonnaise or whatever you want as a binder if you are spicing it for smoking. You don't need a binder for the curing stage.
Personally, I would use the pastrami rub recipe from meathead that I gave in a link earlier. If you opt for another rub, just make sure it has little to no salt (no salt preferably).
As for toasting the herbs. It isn't necessary, it just imparts a more robust flavor profile from them.
Once you calculate the gms/kg of meat you will have your rub. The base amounts in the recipe are for one kg of meat. Make sure when you bag it, you add all of the remaining spice, that didn't stick to the meat, into the bag.

 

[hickoryrokcih]

You can use mustard, mayonnaise or whatever you want as a binder if you are spicing it for smoking. You don't need a binder for the curing stage.
Personally, I would use the pastrami rub recipe from meathead that I gave in a link earlier. If you opt for another rub, just make sure it has little to no salt (no salt preferably).
As for toasting the herbs. It isn't necessary, it just imparts a more robust flavor profile from them.
Once you calculate the gms/kg of meat you will have your rub. The base amounts in the recipe are for one kg of meat. Make sure when you bag it, you add all of the remaining spice, that didn't stick to the meat, into the bag.

It's ready and going in the fridge. I am going to use the meathead rub you suggested.

 

[hickoryrokcih]

Day 11:
I've gotten all the spices together.
The kneading and cure sure has loosened this piece of beef up. It should be really tender. Going into town to get a head of cabbage or two to add into the roasting pan after it smokes. Already have carrots and red potatoes. I'll post some more photos later.

 

[hickoryrokcih]

@RustyJake
I need a little advice. The recipes that I find would like this beef cooked at 250-275 degrees F. Do you have any advise on temps in the cooker and internal temps on the beef? That is too high for me to use "super smoke". Is it necessary to use "super smoke"? On this pit they will not let super smoke engage above 225 degrees.

DK

 

[RayClem]

@RustyJake
I need a little advice. The recipes that I find would like this beef cooked at 250-275 degrees F. Do you have any advise on temps in the cooker and internal temps on the beef? That is too high for me to use "super smoke". Is it necessary to use "super smoke"? On this pit they will not let super smoke engage above 225 degrees.

DK

The recommendation for 250-275 is simply what that recipe calls for. Your hunk of meat will take a while to cook. You could easily reduce the cook temp to 225F and just let it cook a little longer. Since the meat will be in the smoker for a long time, I am not sure whether SuperSmoke will make much of a difference in the final result.

If you like lots of smoke flavor, you might try using a smoke tube or two.

 

[hickoryrokcih]

The recommendation for 250-275 is simply what that recipe calls for. Your hunk of meat will take a while to cook. You could easily reduce the cook temp to 225F and just let it cook a little longer. Since the meat will be in the smoker for a long time, I am not sure whether SuperSmoke will make much of a difference in the final result.

If you like lots of smoke flavor, you might try using a smoke tube or two.

Thanks @RayClem
I put it on 225 degrees. Turned on the super smoke and it's cooking away.
It will just have to cook a little longer, I want/like more smoke flavor. I went with my favorite hickory. I am going to look into those smoke tubes. So far the super smoke has done what I wanted and tasted great. If you don't mind me asking what temp do I wrap if at all. I am planning on when it gets to that point to put it in a foil roaster pan and add some water/apple juice and my veggies. I was planning on adding a head of cabbage 1/8'd, carrots and onion and some red potatoes. Let me know what you think on that.

DK

 

[RustyJake]

You can cook at whatever temp you want, it will just take longer to cook with lower temps. You an run at 225° (super smoke) till the stall if you want. Like Ray said, a smoke tube would help with more smoke flavor because you can add real wood pieces to it as well as pellets if you want.
You asked about the wrap, and the standard answer is at the stall. When the temperature of the meat just seems to hang and doesn't increase. This can happen anywhere from around 150 to 180 internal, depending on the meat itself. You would want your bark set, so you should be able to touch the surface without removing the rub. I tend to wrap later (around 170-180) because i prefer a darker bark.
Once you wrap, you can finish it inside in an oven if you want it won't be taking on anymore smoke with the steam bath wrap.

 

[RayClem]

On pieces of meat with a lot of fat and connective tissue like beef brisket and pork butt, it is common to cook the meat to around 203F, at least at sea level. When doing so, the cook will reach a point at which the rise in temperature seems to "stall". This normally occurs somewhere between 160-170F. During this period, the heat from the fire is sufficient only to evaporate water from the meat. Once the water is evaporated, the temperature rise resumes. Howeverf, that can leave the meat somewhat dry. That is one reason why cooks tend to wrap the meat once it reaches the "stall". The trapped humidity cooks the meat more rapidly and leaves it moist. Just to be fair, some cooks think wrapping destroys the bark and they refuse to do so.

On more tender cuts of meat llike a beef sirloin or a pork loin or tenderloin, there is little connective tissue. In that case, you might want to cook your beef from 125F (rare) to 160F (well done). I like medium and target 141F. For pork, the recommendation of the FDA is 145F (medium well). Fish should be cooked to 165F for safety. None of these cooks will every reach the stall temperatrure, so no wrapping is needed.

 

[covryo888]

Ok, here is my question. I would like to know thoughts on pressure cooking baby back ribs before smoking them. I hear some turn out chewy, I like my ribs fall off the bone tender. Thoughts? Suggestions? Opinions? I'm listening.

pressure cooking definitely saves time, but you might lose some of that authentic smoke ring.