Brining Too Long?


 
P

Patrick Kennedy

New member
I put two thick 4 lb cuts of brisket in brine on Saturday night. My plan was to rinse off tonight, Tuesday night, season and smoke tomorrow. Cold smoke then hot smoke.

My new smoker got delayed, won't be here until Friday afternoon. Can the brisket sit in the brine, or out of the brine, until Saturday morning? My current smoker can't cold smoke, and isn't that great anyway..but i don't want the meat too salty...thoughts?
 
Welcome Patrick.
Depending on the strength of the brine I'd let it go another day in the brine. Then give them a good rinse, place on a rack, and loosely cover with a towel, and let them hangout until your ready to smoke.
Curious; if your going to hot smoke why do you feel the need to cold smoke first?
 
A week in brine might be too long. To determine if the meat is too salty before smoking; rinse and soak in cold water, then slice a small piece off and pan fry it. Taste this sample and rinse/soak again if it's still salty. This way you are not smoking an unknown which is then too late.

Paul
 
Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

1. Why cold smoke first? Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie:.... said "traditionally pastrami is first cold smoked, then hot smoked, so get as much smoke on it as possible for as long a cooking time as possible". Since I can cold smoke, I'd thought i'd do both. No other reason, as I have little knowledge about this so far....

2. Thanks, thought it might be a bit long. M. Ruhlman actually emailed me this morning saying "take the brisket out when it's done brining and refrigerate till you get your stuff. gives time for brine to equalize.".

So, I guess i'll rinse it on Wed morning (84 hours), and smoke it Friday afternoon.

Thanks again for the responses, i'm really looking forward to learning and sharing on this board.

--pk
 
Ah, your making Pastrami...
Since I can cold smoke, I'd thought i'd do both. No other reason,
Click to expand...
That's a good reason. Was going to ask if you had any cure in the brine but if your following Ruhlman's recipe you do. Can't wait to hear about and maybe see the results!
 
My question too. My experience has been that brining that long changes the texture of the meat.

Originally posted by Marc:
Ah, your making Pastrami...
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Since I can cold smoke, I'd thought i'd do both. No other reason,
Click to expand...
That's a good reason. Was going to ask if you had any cure in the brine but if your following Ruhlman's recipe you do. Can't wait to hear about and maybe see the results! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
So I ended up 3.5 days in the brining solution then about 36 hours resting in fridge rinsed. I cold smoked in my new smoker and I bought a Redi Chek Dual Probe Remote Smoker Thermometer that worked great. About 90 mins of cold smoke and 5 hours of hot, then three hours on a rack in a broiling pan with some water at 200 degrees. Looks and smells awesome. A tiny bit on the tough site...just slightly, but so much better than the deli.

After The Smoker

After the oven

Sliced. (nice and red, not a great picture)
 
Nice looking! I think you could slice it a little thinner. The more exposed surface, the more flavour. Think about deli slicing. Beautiful trimming too;just right in the lean/fat ratio.
 
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