Al G-NJ
TVWBB Member
I decided it was high time to take a crack at Montreal smoked meat, after taking some inspiration from:
(a) @Ken I and his MSM cook posted here last summer
(b) a good-looking recipe from Serious Eats
(c) the need to use maple smoking wood in something and
(d) my general homesickness for Canada.
Instead of a full packer, I decided to experiment with a small flat from the grocery store (around 2.5 lbs.). I scaled down the proportions of cure and rub accordingly. I cured for longer than planned (recipe says four, I've seen more elsewhere), purely out of convenience: I started on Monday night, and didn't have time to smoke it until the following Sunday morning. I used the cure as per the recipe, rinsed/soaked the flat, dried and rested overnight, rubbed and smoked. I used KBB and the aforementioned maple wood on my WSM 18.5".
I let it smoke around 225-250 until internal temp hit 165, and pulled it. Now, the recipe said to steam it until 180, but that didn't seem quite right to me. Instead, I steamed it in the Instant Pot for 30 minutes, and when it was done, internal temp was 205. I let it rest, and was thrilled with the result.
I think the only tweak I would make is to lighten up on the pink and kosher salts in the cure - internal meat was a darker red than I expected, and the salt was a bit much on the palate. That being said, it didn't last very long in the house, so that's a plus! Can't wait to try it again with a more substantial flat. It was plenty tender, and so I wouldn't attempt this with a full packer unless I was feeding a major crowd.
(a) @Ken I and his MSM cook posted here last summer
(b) a good-looking recipe from Serious Eats
(c) the need to use maple smoking wood in something and
(d) my general homesickness for Canada.
Instead of a full packer, I decided to experiment with a small flat from the grocery store (around 2.5 lbs.). I scaled down the proportions of cure and rub accordingly. I cured for longer than planned (recipe says four, I've seen more elsewhere), purely out of convenience: I started on Monday night, and didn't have time to smoke it until the following Sunday morning. I used the cure as per the recipe, rinsed/soaked the flat, dried and rested overnight, rubbed and smoked. I used KBB and the aforementioned maple wood on my WSM 18.5".
I let it smoke around 225-250 until internal temp hit 165, and pulled it. Now, the recipe said to steam it until 180, but that didn't seem quite right to me. Instead, I steamed it in the Instant Pot for 30 minutes, and when it was done, internal temp was 205. I let it rest, and was thrilled with the result.
I think the only tweak I would make is to lighten up on the pink and kosher salts in the cure - internal meat was a darker red than I expected, and the salt was a bit much on the palate. That being said, it didn't last very long in the house, so that's a plus! Can't wait to try it again with a more substantial flat. It was plenty tender, and so I wouldn't attempt this with a full packer unless I was feeding a major crowd.