Can you brine brisket?


 
T

Tom L

TVWBB Fan
Watched Pitmasters 3 and Aaron Frnaklin denies any injection for his brisket which makes sense if you are doing 80 a day but maybe he is brining them?

The real reason I ask is that people say to brine chicken, maybe pork but not beef. They also say that leaving chicken in oil / vinegar for too long will make chicken mushy and that is just flat wrong so maybe conventional wisdom is wrong here as well?

Any ideas?

Thanks

Tom
 
Tom-

I've marinated Chicken Thighs for up too 24hrs in Apple Juice brown sugar and a few other things Also done it with Italian dressing and have not had a problem with them going MUSHY..... anything longer than 24 hrs I can't provide you with any info......Same with Pork....24-48 in brine is fine.....beef....I would just inject and rub.....
 
You can brine anything but I would inject, let it sit in the fridge for about 24 hours, rub it down, and put it on the cooker.
 
an acidic marinade WILL turn your food into mush.

vinegar is an acid. marinading in it for too long will make your food mushy. The 'how long' part varies depending on the food and on the marinade.
 
We brine briskets and smoke them in Canada all the time. The best examples are in Montreal, especially at Schwartz's Deli. We call it Montreal Smoked Meat. It's a cross between pastrami and corned beef.

448px-Schwartzs_Montreal_Hebrew_Deli_2010.jpg

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/intrepidblue/ (creative commons attribution).
 
... but maybe he is brining them?
Click to expand...
I don't think so. I've eaten at Franklin a number of times and had the opportunity to talk with Aaron after the lunch crowd died down. He swears that he's strictly a salt and pepper man. His brisket is fantastic; the best I've ever had. He did admit to buying a higher grade of meat from a neighboring butcher in Elgin, TX so maybe that's part of his success. He smokes exclusively with local oak (which most likely means 'live oak'). I don't know the value of brining a cut like brisket if you intend to serve a traditionally smoked brisket as opposed to pastrami. If one doesn't over-cook the meat, then it won't dry out which brining is intended to prevent.

Paul
 
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