5 years ago, I started a tradition for the Friday of March Madness... I call it a 'March Madness Remote Work Day' and it's simply a reason to gather guys from around the neighborhood, watch basketball and enjoy great food and beer...
So, with tomorrow being St. Patrick's Day, I figured, let's go big... so, here we go and I'll let the pictures do the talking!
What I started with...
A 7# Sy Ginsberg's Corned Beef from Costco and a 9.5# Brisket flat also from Costco... The corned beef had a pretty thin fat layer so I left that one alone, but I trimmed about a half pound of fat from the flat just to not have too much.... so I thought!
Rubbed them both liberally... The local BBQ store stocks all the John Henry's rubs so I'm a pretty big fan of the variety... The traditional got the Red River Rub and the corned beef, since it's pretty salty, I went sweet and used the Sugar Maple Rub
Onto the WSM 18.5" they go with the grill heated up to 220
The traditional went on the bottom and the corned beef on the top... figured I'd let the salty one drip on the traditional for a bit of natural tenderizing as it cooked. On they went at just after 8 am.
It was about 25 to 30 degrees most of the day on my patio (not getting sun on it yet), so it was a bit tough to keep the temp steady, but it averaged between 220 and 240 most of the day...
6.5 hours later, they were both right at 150/155 so I dropped them in pans with liquid and wrapped them... Liquid consisted of a base of Apple Juice and BBQ sauce. I added Franks Red Hot Sauce and Wing Sauce to the juice for the corned beef since I was looking for a spicy flare to it... The traditional got a couple ounces of honey added to give it a little sweetness.
Sealed 'em up and back onto the grill at 230 for a couple more hours and by 5:00, they were both right at 200 and I took 'em off and put them in the warming drawer on the oven (low) as they finished up.... Needless to say, they were pretty good looking when they were almost ready to be slayed a half hour later
Here they are pre-cutting... the corned beef on the left and the traditional on the right... nice bark on both of them!
The juice left over from each of them is going to make a great au jus tomorrow when I put them out for the guys...
The corned beef juice on the left and the traditional on the right... definitely a lot more grease settled on the traditional one, but I was left with about 8 or 9 ounces of juice for each
And it was time to slice it!
I was very happy with the corned beef... the spiciness in the juice came through just like I wanted and the cut seemed pretty nicely done with a nice bend.
As for the traditional, just as happy with it, but as you can see, I probably could have trimmed a bit more fat off it.
I must say, there's one drawback to doing the cooking the day before... needing to not eat it all so the boys will have some tomorrow.
All in all, a successful smoke... and I'll add some Buffalo Chicken Bites tomorrow if it's not too rainy.
Good luck with your smokes and enjoy the company great food inspires you to bring together!
Cheers!
So, with tomorrow being St. Patrick's Day, I figured, let's go big... so, here we go and I'll let the pictures do the talking!
What I started with...
A 7# Sy Ginsberg's Corned Beef from Costco and a 9.5# Brisket flat also from Costco... The corned beef had a pretty thin fat layer so I left that one alone, but I trimmed about a half pound of fat from the flat just to not have too much.... so I thought!
Rubbed them both liberally... The local BBQ store stocks all the John Henry's rubs so I'm a pretty big fan of the variety... The traditional got the Red River Rub and the corned beef, since it's pretty salty, I went sweet and used the Sugar Maple Rub
Onto the WSM 18.5" they go with the grill heated up to 220
The traditional went on the bottom and the corned beef on the top... figured I'd let the salty one drip on the traditional for a bit of natural tenderizing as it cooked. On they went at just after 8 am.
It was about 25 to 30 degrees most of the day on my patio (not getting sun on it yet), so it was a bit tough to keep the temp steady, but it averaged between 220 and 240 most of the day...
6.5 hours later, they were both right at 150/155 so I dropped them in pans with liquid and wrapped them... Liquid consisted of a base of Apple Juice and BBQ sauce. I added Franks Red Hot Sauce and Wing Sauce to the juice for the corned beef since I was looking for a spicy flare to it... The traditional got a couple ounces of honey added to give it a little sweetness.
Sealed 'em up and back onto the grill at 230 for a couple more hours and by 5:00, they were both right at 200 and I took 'em off and put them in the warming drawer on the oven (low) as they finished up.... Needless to say, they were pretty good looking when they were almost ready to be slayed a half hour later
Here they are pre-cutting... the corned beef on the left and the traditional on the right... nice bark on both of them!
The juice left over from each of them is going to make a great au jus tomorrow when I put them out for the guys...
The corned beef juice on the left and the traditional on the right... definitely a lot more grease settled on the traditional one, but I was left with about 8 or 9 ounces of juice for each
And it was time to slice it!
I was very happy with the corned beef... the spiciness in the juice came through just like I wanted and the cut seemed pretty nicely done with a nice bend.
As for the traditional, just as happy with it, but as you can see, I probably could have trimmed a bit more fat off it.
I must say, there's one drawback to doing the cooking the day before... needing to not eat it all so the boys will have some tomorrow.
All in all, a successful smoke... and I'll add some Buffalo Chicken Bites tomorrow if it's not too rainy.
Good luck with your smokes and enjoy the company great food inspires you to bring together!
Cheers!
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