Content
Many people smoke meat at home, preferring self-prepared delicacies to those bought in stores. In this case, you can be sure of the quality of the feedstock and the finished product. Original flavoring notes can be added to it by marinating the brisket for smoking. There are many different recipes, it is easy to find the right combination of seasonings and spices yourself.
Choosing the main ingredient
The most suitable option for those who want to cook a brisket for smoking is pork on the skin with a fat content of no more than 40%. It can be boneless or bone.
Low-quality pork, even if marinated well, will not make a delicacy
What else you need to pay attention to when choosing a piece of meat:
- a uniform pink-red color of the meat itself and white (in no case yellow) - lard;
- uniformity of fatty layers (the maximum permissible thickness is up to 3 cm);
- the absence of any stains, streaks, mucus, other traces on the surface and damage on the sections (blood clots), the smell of rotten meat;
- elasticity and density (on fresh pork, when pressed, a small depression remains, which disappears after 3-5 seconds without leaving a dent, the fat should not delaminate even with weak pressure);
A suitable brisket after smoking looks like this
How to pickle brisket for smoking
Salting the brisket will completely replace any marinade, but it will take more time. Like any other meat, poultry, fish, you can salt the brisket before smoking in two ways - dry and wet.
A simple recipe
Dry smoked brisket salting is the classic and simplest method. You need to take coarse salt, if desired, mix it with freshly ground black pepper (the proportion is determined by taste) and carefully, without missing even small areas, rub the brisket with the mixture.
It will be more convenient to do this if you first pour a layer of salt on the bottom of the container in which the pork will be salted, creating a "pillow", put the pieces rubbed with it on it and add salt again on top. Then the container is covered with a lid and put into the refrigerator. Sometimes it is recommended to separate the brisket pieces into separate plastic bags or wrap them in plastic wrap. Salting takes at least three days, you can keep the container in the refrigerator for up to 7-10 days.
The longer you wait, the more salty the finished brisket will turn out after smoking.
With spices and garlic
Salting the brisket for smoking in brine takes less time. It will require:
- drinking water - 1 l;
- coarse salt - 2 tbsp. l .;
- garlic - 3-4 cloves;
- bay leaf - 3-4 pieces;
- black peppercorns and allspice - to taste.
To prepare the brisket brine before smoking, boil the water with salt and spices. Garlic can either be added to the brine cooled to room temperature, chopped into a gruel, and pork can be stuffed with it, making shallow transverse cuts in it and stuffing them with pieces.
The brisket is poured with brine so that it is completely covered with liquid
Salt it in the refrigerator, turning the pieces over several times a day. You can start smoking in 2-3 days.
You can add any spices you want to the brisket brine, but no more than 2-3 at a time
How to pickle brisket for smoking
If you marinate the brisket, after smoking both hot and cold, it acquires original flavor notes. The marinating process takes less time, the pork turns out to be very juicy and tender. There are many recipes for marinade, it is quite possible to "invent" your own, ideal for yourself.
With coriander
The ingredients for smoked pork brisket marinade with coriander are as follows:
- water - 1 l;
- salt - 5 tbsp. l .;
- granulated sugar - 2 tbsp. l .;
- garlic - 6-8 large cloves;
- black peppercorns (if desired, you can take a mixture of peppers - black, white, green, pink) - 1 tsp;
- seeds and / or dried coriander greens - 1 tsp.
Heat water with sugar and salt until they are completely dissolved, add finely chopped garlic and spices, mix thoroughly. Pour the pork with the marinade, cooled to room temperature.
It takes 18-20 hours to marinate the brisket with coriander
With barbecue seasoning
Another simple brisket marinade, suitable for both cold smoking and hot smoking. For him you need:
- water - 1 l;
- salt - 7-8 tbsp. l .;
- garlic - 3-5 cloves;
- seasoning for barbecue - 2 tbsp. l .;
- bay leaf - 3-4 pieces;
- black peppercorns - to taste.
All the ingredients are added to the water, after finely chopping the garlic. The liquid is brought to a boil, after 3-4 minutes it is removed from the heat and cooled to room temperature. The brisket should lie in this marinade for 5-6 hours.
When buying a kebab seasoning to marinate pork, you need to carefully study the composition
With tomato paste
Marinade with tomato paste is more suitable if you need to marinate pork belly for hot smoking. Required ingredients (for 1 kg of meat):
- tomato paste - 200 g;
- granulated sugar - 1.5 tbsp. l .;
- apple cider vinegar (can be replaced with dry white wine) - 25-30 ml;
- garlic - 3-4 large cloves;
- salt, ground black pepper, paprika, dry mustard - to taste and as desired.
To prepare the marinade, the ingredients are simply put in one container, after chopping the garlic. Mix everything thoroughly, coat the pieces of brisket with the resulting marinade. It only takes 6-8 hours to marinate the meat.
The marinade recipe uses natural tomato paste, not ketchup.
With citrus
The brisket, if marinated with citruses, acquires a very original sour-spicy aftertaste and pleasant aroma. The marinade contains:
- water - 1 l;
- lemon, orange, grapefruit or lime - half each;
- salt - 2 tbsp. l .;
- granulated sugar - 1 tsp;
- medium-sized onion - 1 piece;
- bay leaf - 3-4 pieces;
- freshly ground black and red pepper - 1/2 tsp each;
- cinnamon - on the tip of a knife;
- spicy herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme) - only 10 g of the mixture.
To prepare the marinade, peel the citruses, white films, cut, cut the onion into rings. All ingredients are mixed, poured with water, brought to a boil, removed from heat after 10 minutes.The marinade is insisted under a closed lid for 15 minutes, filtered, cooled to room temperature, poured over the brisket. It takes 16-24 hours to marinate it for hot or cold smoking.
You can take any citruses for the marinade, the main thing is to approximately keep the overall proportion
With soy sauce
Soy sauce for Russia is a rather specific product, so the brisket, if marinated in this way, will acquire an unusual taste and aroma. Ingredients required for the marinade (per 1 kg of meat):
- soy sauce - 120 ml;
- garlic - one medium head;
- cane sugar - 2 tsp;
- ground dry or grated fresh ginger - 1 tsp;
- ground white pepper - 1 tsp;
- salt to taste;
- curry or dry mustard - optional.
All components are mixed with soy sauce, chopping the garlic into gruel. The resulting liquid is coated on the meat. In a marinade for smoking brisket in a smokehouse in a hot or cold way, it is kept for about two days.
Those who do not like very salty meat can do without salt in this marinade at all.
With lemon juice
The brisket cooked with such a marinade has an unusual sweet taste and a very pleasant aroma. For 1 kg of meat you will need:
- freshly squeezed lemon juice - 150 ml;
- olive oil - 200 ml;
- liquid honey - 100 ml;
- fresh parsley - 80 g;
- salt - 2 tbsp. l .;
- dried coriander, basil, ginger - up to 1/2 tsp.
All ingredients must be mixed thoroughly, finely chopped parsley. The brisket filled with marinade is kept in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Marinade with lemon, honey and olive oil is one of the most versatile
With nitrite salt and spices
Nitrite salt is often used not only in smoked meats produced on an industrial scale, but also in homemade ones. For brisket marinade with nitrite salt you will need:
- nitrite salt - 100 g;
- granulated sugar - 25 g;
- juniper - 15-20 fresh berries;
- dry red wine - 300 ml;
- garlic and any spices - to taste and as desired.
To marinate the brisket, the components are simply mixed, brought to a boil, and kept on fire for another 10 minutes. The marinade cooled down to room temperature is poured over the meat for 3-4 days.
Nitrite salt helps to preserve the natural color of meat during heat treatment, provides a rich taste and aroma
Syringing
The "express method" for marinating the brisket is injecting. It will also help to quickly salt the brisket for smoking. Having resorted to it, you can start processing meat with smoke almost immediately, 2-3 hours after the procedure, therefore it is mainly used in the production of brisket on an industrial scale.
Ready brine or marinade is "pumped" into the meat with a syringe. In principle, an ordinary medical one will do, although there are special culinary ones. "Injections" are done often, with an interval of 2-3 cm, inserting the needle to its full length. Then the brisket is poured with the remnants of the marinade or brine, put into the refrigerator.
If you "inject" along the fibers of the pork, the liquid will simply flow out.
Drying and strapping
Do not start smoking immediately after salting or pickling the brisket. The remaining liquid and salt crystals are washed off the meat in cool running water. Next, the pieces are slightly soaked with a clean kitchen towel or paper napkins (the first option is preferable, since there are no pieces of sticky paper left on the meat) and hung out to dry.
Dried brisket in the open air or just in a draft. Meat in brine or marinade attracts insects en masse, so it is better to wrap it in gauze beforehand. The process takes 1-3 days, during which time a crust forms on the surface of the brisket.
They tie the meat so that it is more convenient to hang it first in the smokehouse, and then for airing:
- Lay out a piece of brisket on the table, tie a double knot with twine at one end so that one part remains short (a loop is made from it), and the other is long.
- Fold a long segment at a distance of 7-10 cm under the first knot in a loop from above, thread the free end into it, pulling the string under the piece of meat from below, and tighten it tightly. The knots are held with your fingers in the process so that they do not bloom.
- Continue braiding until the bottom piece of bacon. Then turn it over to the other side and drag the twine between the formed loops, tightening the knots.
- Tie both ends of the string with a loop at the point where the strapping began.
After the meat is tied, the "excess" twine is cut off.
Conclusion
There are different ways to marinate the brisket for smoking. Most of the recipes are extremely simple; all the ingredients you need can be found at your local store. But you should not be overzealous with spices and seasonings - you can "kill" the natural taste of meat.
