Brined Beef

Can beef be brined prior to cooking like pork or poultry?

Sort of like corned beef?

Dave, read this page. Beef does not benefit from a brine.

Here's more information on brining.

Erik

Beef can be brined. Most food people--when they write about it--assume that since most people cook beef to a lower internal than the measts we usually associte with brining, brining will be of no benefit. Brining also discolors the meat making, say, a roast cooked to medium-rare look unappealing grey throughout.

Obviously, the color issue isn't an issue when cooking beef to high internals and there are those that brine beef for barbecue. That said, I find that a marinade-brine (a marinade with an increased salt level) tends to work better, imo, as the finish texture is less affected.

If you want to try a brine, I suggest upping the salt and reducing the time in the brine. Smoke immediately after brining.

Dave
You will find different thoghts and reasons for brining and not brining beef or some other meats. My feet are firmly placed in both camps. No-one is wrong in their thinking. Many people like their beef cooked medium well to well done this means that we need to maintain some moisture in the beef, this can be acheived by brinning, yes there is a greying/browning in the centre however it is from cooking.
Marinating is a form of brining, it is the osmosis effect that "bleeds" the flavours into the meat. With brining the salt replaces some of the water in the cells of the meat, while cooking the salt retains the water in the meat thus keeping the meat moist.
My advice is to experiment, think about what you want to acheive and then give it a try. From those results you can either build on it or discard the idea.

Regards

Dave, is there a specific cut of beef that you
would want to brine, and a specific result that
you hope to achieve by brining?

Thanks for the advice everyone. My wife came home with a boneless eye round (whatever that is) and I thought brinning would make it more tender because it looks pretty lean.