After reading a bunch of reports from those who have roasted a corned beef
brisket, I decided to have a go at it on my recently acquired Weber Smokey
Mountain. First, I soaked the brisket in water for six hours, changing the
water halfway through the soak. Then onto the top grate of the WSM. The
water pan was not used. To have indirect heat a pizza stone on top of a
foiled pizza pan fit relatively snugly onto the water pan receptacle. Using
the Minion mode, the temp. held stable between 250-275F throughout the seven
hour cook. At this point the internal temp of the brisket was 180F.

The brisket turned out much drier and saltier than we had hoped for,
compared to the traditional simmering method of preparing corned beef. One
could argue that it could/should have been roasted to 195F. I'd be
concerned that it would be drier and saltier than ever. A bit of a letdown,
to see the least. I'm going to simmer the remaining corned beef for a couple
of hours to see if the usual texture and moistness of braised corned beef
reappears. We'll see.

Smoking the corned beef over a water pan might have helped the dryness. I
don't think anything would have helped the saltiness. I think you need to
simmer the salt away as most recipes call for. It's somewhat like braising a
dry cured Smithfield ham.

Next time: I'm going to roast the corned beef after brief soaking in the WSM
on the top grate at 350F over wood, browning all sides, and catching the
drippings on a drip pan below the meat. Then I'm going to deglaze the drip
pan, combine that with beer, and simmer it on the stsove for the usual three
hours to the fall apart stage. I'm hoping the smoke flavor won't dissolve
away, but will be retained in the meat.

I'd appreciate and be thankful for any thoughts from u-pros.

Kent
--
,constantly struggling with my level of ignorance

Kent wrote:
> After reading a bunch of reports from those who have roasted a corned
> beef brisket, I decided to have a go at it on my recently acquired
> Weber Smokey Mountain. First, I soaked the brisket in water for six
> hours, changing the water halfway through the soak. Then onto the top
> grate of the WSM. The water pan was not used. To have indirect heat a
> pizza stone on top of a foiled pizza pan fit relatively snugly onto
> the water pan receptacle. Using the Minion mode, the temp. held
> stable between 250-275F throughout the seven hour cook. At this point
> the internal temp of the brisket was 180F.

OK, now I see what the first post I received was talking about. Was the
corned beef a point or a flat? A flat will cook out a whole lot drier. I
hate flats by themselves, they are a bit trickier to cook. Corned beef
should not be talked about as being the same as a non-corned brisket. In my
experience they are different animals in the pit. For all any of us knows,
the cut of corned beef you had would have dried out with the merest of a
hard glare applied to it. When I bbq a corned beef, I am VERY picky about
what goes into the pit, and I can rarely count on the grocer to come up with
a good cut..... too small, too thin a fat cap, too lean a cut, etc. If I
soak the corned beef, I also change the water at least every hour.

The moisture in meat cannot be conserved by the medium it is cooked in or
surrounded by. The intra and extra-cellular moisture will be driven out of
the meat, under pressure, when it is cooking. The driest meat I have ever
experienced is found in my mom's beef and gravy dish. She boils the cut-up
beef chunks to cook them. God help you if you were to take a bite of the
meat right out of the pot; it would proceed to suck the saliva and other
body fluids from your body like some evil, mutant sponge, in its failed
attempt to regain the moisture that the boiling in water removed. <shudder>

I'd say the best advice I can give is for you to get your chops doing big
packer briskets (IMPS, Beef Brisket 120). Once you feel like you've got that
under control (ie, you get the feel of how brisket responds to time and temp
with the flats and points), do the more advanced stuff. I know that it seems
silly, but it's a bit like wanting to run before you know how to crawl.

--
Dave
What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

"Dave Bugg" > wrote in message
...
> Kent wrote:
>> After reading a bunch of reports from those who have roasted a corned
>> beef brisket, I decided to have a go at it on my recently acquired
>> Weber Smokey Mountain. First, I soaked the brisket in water for six
>> hours, changing the water halfway through the soak. Then onto the top
>> grate of the WSM. The water pan was not used. To have indirect heat a
>> pizza stone on top of a foiled pizza pan fit relatively snugly onto
>> the water pan receptacle. Using the Minion mode, the temp. held
>> stable between 250-275F throughout the seven hour cook. At this point
>> the internal temp of the brisket was 180F.
>
> OK, now I see what the first post I received was talking about. Was the
> corned beef a point or a flat? A flat will cook out a whole lot drier. I
> hate flats by themselves, they are a bit trickier to cook. Corned beef
> should not be talked about as being the same as a non-corned brisket. In
> my experience they are different animals in the pit. For all any of us
> knows, the cut of corned beef you had would have dried out with the merest
> of a hard glare applied to it. When I bbq a corned beef, I am VERY picky
> about what goes into the pit, and I can rarely count on the grocer to come
> up with a good cut..... too small, too thin a fat cap, too lean a cut,
> etc. If I soak the corned beef, I also change the water at least every
> hour.
>
> The moisture in meat cannot be conserved by the medium it is cooked in or
> surrounded by. The intra and extra-cellular moisture will be driven out of
> the meat, under pressure, when it is cooking. The driest meat I have ever
> experienced is found in my mom's beef and gravy dish. She boils the cut-up
> beef chunks to cook them. God help you if you were to take a bite of the
> meat right out of the pot; it would proceed to suck the saliva and other
> body fluids from your body like some evil, mutant sponge, in its failed
> attempt to regain the moisture that the boiling in water removed.
> <shudder>
>
> I'd say the best advice I can give is for you to get your chops doing big
> packer briskets (IMPS, Beef Brisket 120). Once you feel like you've got
> that under control (ie, you get the feel of how brisket responds to time
> and temp with the flats and points), do the more advanced stuff. I know
> that it seems silly, but it's a bit like wanting to run before you know
> how to crawl.
>
> --
> Dave
> What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
> you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan
>
Dave, thanks for your reply. It was a point, though probably a bit on the
lean side. I think as well that corned beef must be treated is a different
meat than plain beef. I'm wondering if commercially corned beef can be
cooked successfully "low and slow". I wondered throughout this how you would
or could barbecue dry cured ham in this same fashion. Have you ever tried
that?

Kent