Brining serves the dual purpose of keeping meats moist and imparting deep flavors. Most beef cuts have sufficient fat to stay tender. Beef brisket is a leaner beef cut that does tend to dry out when smoked. Cold smoked brisket is often held in the bacterial danger zone below 140 degrees F for several hours. A curing agent in the brine can preserve the beef brisket and prevent dangerous bacterial growth during the smoking process.
Heat the water to a full boil in a large stockpot. Remove the stockpot from the heat. Stir in the kosher salt until it is all dissolved.
Add curing salts to the brine if the meat is slow smoking at cold temperatures. Smoking above 180 degrees F usually brings beef brisket to temperature fast enough to make the curing salts unnecessary. Curing salts add a flavor to the beef that many associate with cured ham.
Cover the stockpot with a lid and wait for the salty water to cool to room temperature. Add any seasonings you want to flavor the interior meat of the smoked brisket with to the cooled brine. Common choices for beef brines include juniper berries, cloves, peppercorns, coriander and garlic.
Lower the beef brisket into a large food-safe container. Pour cooled brine into the container until the beef is completely covered. Seal the container.
Place the sealed brine container in the refrigerator for seven days. Open the container and turn the beef brisket over in the brine with a clean fork. Reseal the container and allow the meat to soak for another three to 14 days, depending on the level of seasoning intensity you desire.
Related Articles
How to Convection Roast a Brisket
How to Soak Deer Meat in Baking Soda
How to Brine Pork Roast
How to Cook a Large Amount of Corned ...
How to Smoke a Brisket & Finish it in ...
How to Cook Dominican-Style Steak
The Best Way to Smoke Yellowtail
How to Cook Corned Beef Without Being ...
How to Slow Cook a Pot Roast With Beef ...
How to Pickle Beef Brisket
How to Make a Juicy Pork Tenderloin
How to Can Beef Meat With a Pressure ...
How to BBQ Ribs on a Smoker
How to Cook a Beef Spleen
How to Cook the Neck of a Deer
How to Make Venison Bratwurst
How to Cook Pork Hamonado
Can You Marinate a Pork Shoulder ...
Shank Ham Cooking Directions
How to Cook With Pork Jowl
References
Tips
- Cut the water in half and replace it with ice after the salt has been stirred in. This rapidly cools the brine to reduce the cooling time before the brisket can be added.
Warnings
- Discard a beef brisket if the container smells rotten or rancid when opened.
- It is not safe to reuse brine.
Writer Bio
Jeffrey Brian Airman is a writer, musician and food blogger. A 15-year veteran of the restaurant industry, Airman has used his experience to cover food, restaurants, cooking and do-it-yourself projects. Airman also studied nursing at San Diego State University.
Photo Credits
salt image by Andrey Rakhmatullin from Fotolia.com