How To Smoke Corned Beef

Learn how to smoke corned beef brisket, make a homemade pastrami-style deli rub, and create juicy thin slices of smoked corned beef (aka pastrami) for sandwiches, hashes, and more!

Course Grilling, Main Course

Cuisine American, Irish

Keyword homemade smoked pastrami recipe, How to smoke corned beef

Prep Time 1 15

Cook Time 6

Resting Time 1

Servings

Calories 452kcal

Author Bon Appeteach

Equipment

Thermoworks Thermometers

Ingredients

1 6 lb. Corned Beef Brisket Flat see notes in the article to brine your own if desired
4 tbsp. Yellow Mustard
8 oz. Homemade Pastrami Dry Rub
Beef Broth for spraying the bark
Beef Tallow optional - for basting

Instructions

Please note that this recipe is for a store bought corned beef brisket. See notes in the article above to brine your own (it will take 5-10 days).
Preheat the smoker to 225-250 degrees F. Set it for indirect heat and add your preferred wood for smoking.
Begin by remove the brisket from the packaging and discard the seasoning packet. Rinse the corned beef brisket off under cold running water. Fill a container or bowl large enough with water and submerge the corned beef brisket in the water for 30 minutes to pull out some of the salt. Discard the water and repeat again for another 30 minutes. If you skip this step you may have very very salty smoked corned beef (pastrami).
While the corned beef brisket is soaking, pre mix your homemade pastrami dry rub and set it aside (a spice grinder is best for this).
Remove the brisket from the water and pat it dry with paper towels. Coat the whole corned beef brisket in a thin layer of yellow mustard for the binder.
Next, evenly coat the beef in the pastrami rub on all sides in a fairly thick layer.
Place the corned beef brisket onto the smoker grill grates and smoke for about and hour. Begin spraying the outside of the bark with beef broth every hour or so to build the bark until the brisket hits about 165 F. internally. This usually is about 3-4 hours.
Remove the corned beef from the grill and baste with beef tallow (or more beef broth) and wrap it tightly in foil and place it back on the smoker. You can increase the grill temperature to 275 F. if preferred at this point to help speed up the cooking process (smoke is no longer penetrating the meat).
Continue to smoke the corned beef until it is tender (around 195-203 F.) Insert a probe to check for tenderness in the meat and then remove from the smoker, keeping it wrapped in the foil.
Place a clean kitchen towel around the foil wrapped smoked corned beef and place it a small cooler or into the oven to rest for at least an hour before slicing. Do not skip the resting process!
Remove the foil after resting and thinly slice against the grain to create thin slices of smoked corned beef. Serve as desired or make homemade Rueben sandwiches and enjoy!

Notes

Need to reheat leftover smoked corned beef brisket? I recommend steaming the meat in a steaming basket on the stove fro best results.

Nutrition