Montreal smoked meat is Canada’s answer to the pastrami sandwich. And it is a seriously great sandwich.
I love sandwiches. And my absolute favourite sandwich is the Montreal smoked meat sandwich. Piled high on rye bread with ballpark yellow mustard and served up with a kosher dill.
Montreal smoked meat is bullet proof BBQ brisket
My second favourite thing to do with a brisket is to smoke it Texas style. BBQ brisket is one of the truly great things in this world. In my opinion anyway.
But it’s hard to nail. Really hard. Overdone or underdone it’s dry. But there’s this point where BBQ brisket just jiggles when you poke it. Where it’s so juicy and flavourful. Magic.
I’ve tried many times. Sometimes it fantastic. Sometimes it’s not. But I can make Montreal smoked meat consistently. And so can you.
Making it is a campaign. Epic really. It takes 10 days start to finish. It takes up a bunch of room in your fridge. You have to tend to it every day. Smoke it then and then steam it. Real work. But it’s so worth it. And it’s pretty much bulletproof.
Montreal smoked meat is different than BBQ
Montreal smoked meat is cured, then smoked, then steamed. Just like pastrami. It’s made with beef brisket though. Pastrami is made with the navel.
You want to find a source for a high quality, untrimmed brisket. If the fat cap is any less than 3/8 inch stay away. Fat is critical. You want it. This isn’t health food. No doubt about that.
Curing salt is key
The first step is to cure the meat. So you need to know what you are doing. There are different formulas for curing salts. It’s important to understand the differences.
This recipe uses pink salt or prague powder number 1. It’s 6.25% sodium nitrite in salt. If you use a different curing salt follow the instructions to make sure you are using the right amount.
More is not better here. You want to use what you need and no more. These are nitrates. Those scary things everyone is always worried about. Pay attention. Maybe don’t eat this everyday. But once in a while probably won’t kill you.
It’s a 8 day cure. Seems like a long time. But it works. Wrap it up. Make room in your fridge. And flip it every day. That’s it. Not hard. Just slow. The ultimate slow food.
Eight hours in the smoker comes next
This is why it’s bullet proof. You aren’t trying to hit perfectly done in the smoker. Just trying to give it some good smoky flavour and a nice bark.
Pull it after eight hours and put it back in the fridge. Don’t worry. You’ll finish it in a steamer. A big steamer.
Montreal smoked meat is finished in a steamer. For 2 to 3 hours. This is where you get that wonderful jiggly texture. That perfectly juicy beef.
Then it’s just a matter of letting it rest. Then all you need to do is slice it thin across the grain. And pile it high on good rye bread. A little ballpark mustard. Heaven.
Try this when you have a bunch of friends coming for a backyard barbecue. Tell them the good old boys from Canada let you in on their secret. Only in Montreal and your backyard…
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montreal smoked meat
Ingredients
- 12-14 lb beef brisket flat and point with fat
The curing mix
- 8 oz black peppercorns cracked
- 4 oz coriander seed cracked
- 4 oz white sugar
- 3/4 cup kosher salt
- 3 Tbsp whole cloves
- 10 dried bay leaves crumbled
- 3 tsp pink salt - prague powder number 1
The rub
- 6 oz black pepper corns, cracked
- 3 oz coriander seed cracked
Instructions
Cure the brisket
- Trim the brisket, removing pockets of hard fat and trim the fat cap (or just don't) to no less than 3/8 inch. Best to google this looking for "trim texas brisket".
- Combine all the cure ingredients and coat the brisket. You want to use all of it because you have included your curing salt in the mix and you need all of that. Wrap the brisket in plastic bags and place on a large cookie sheet. Refrigerate, turning the brisket over 2 times per day for 8 days.
- On the eighth day, soak the brisket in a sink of cool water for 30 minutes. Drain the water and refill, continuing to soak the brisket. Repeat this for 3 hours (6 water changes), dry the brisket and coat it with the pepper corn, coriander seed rub. Back into the fridge it goes.
Smoke the brisket
- On the ninth day smoke the brisket for 8-9 hours at 225-250F with maple if you have it. You may need to separate the brisket into the flat and the point to fit it onto the smoker. You should just be hitting the stall at this point. You are looking for an internal temperature of 155-165F.After 8-9 hours remove the brisket from the smoker, let cool slightly and refrigerate overnight.
Steam the brisket
- On the tenth day, set up a steamer that will fit all this wonderful brisket. Outside is better. This is going to smell. Plan for this step. You are going to need a big steamer. I use a turkey fryer with an inverted strainer and about 3 inches of water to steam my smoked meat.
- Steam the brisket gently for around 3 hours. Don't let it boil dry. You are looking for a couple things. A 195-200F internal temperature will ensure tender Montreal smoked meat every time. Probe tender is the other key indicator. Take the opportunity to figure that out by getting a feel for it when you hit 195F.
- Probe tender means when you insert your probe you don't feel any resistance in the meat. It's like pushing a hot probe through warm butter. It just slides in. This is a good to learn if you are going to do briskets or pulled pork - it's how the pros figure out what's done and what's not.
- Once you hit 195F and probe tender pull the brisket and let it cool to around 160-170F. This can take up to an hour.
- Once it's cool enough to handle slice thinly against the grain with a sharp knife. Serve a mix of the flat and the point in each sandwich. Pile it high on rye bread with yellow mustard and you'll have a sandwich worthy of any of the Montreal smoked meat shrines in Montreal.
Chop up the small pieces and put them in a spaghetti sauce to make ‘Spaghetti Smoke Meat’.
You’ll find this really good.
I used to get this at a Greek restaurant in Montreal. Really special.
can i use montreal steak spice, instead of a rub, and cure the same way
There are two mixes here. The cure and the rub. The rub has no salt (it will be plenty salty enough at this point). The cure has salt. I don’t know the make-up of the steak spice you want to use. I’m guessing it will be OK for the cure but the proportions of ingredients matter so no guarantees.
Started this last week. Just threw it on the bbq for 9 hour smoke.
Question: can I up the temp to 275-285 to cut down on the smoking time, without jeopardizing quality?
Also, I found I had quite a bit of the rub leftover after coating the brisket. I ended up pouring it in the bag while it rested overnight. Is this common?
I would keep it under 275 but I have never tried running it hot like this so I am not sure what will happen. I’ve done Texas style briskets at 275 and that has worked.
The rub recipe is a bit generous. I just pack it on and what falls off falls off.
Made a double recipe this past weekend. It worked out amazingly! Great recipe, thanks from Bermuda.
Two briskets. You are hardcore! Glad you liked it.
Great recipe and we will be making this one again. Just finished our first sandwiches and will use some for poutine later this week.
Montreal smoked meat poutine. I’m going to go way out there and guess you are Canadian:-)
Now I want some smoked meat poutine…
That’s a great idea. Now that I purchased a propane burner for steaming, I can make fresh fries for poutine 🙂
I live an hour east of Toronto. Where does one find pink salt cure?
I get mine at a specialty food store in Ottawa. You could ask your butcher to point you in the right direction? Or there’s Amazon of course. Search for Prague powder.
Thanks for the reply. I look forward to trying this out.
My pleasure. Please do let me know how it works out for you.
Nella Cucina on Bathurst at has Prague Powder #1 (Insta Cure #1) for around $7 for 150g and a larger size for more money. The 150g should be plenty for quite a few cures.
Thanks for the tip. Tricky thing to find…
Butchers and Packers Supplies in Edmonton carries everything you could ever need. Cure is available in many forms. The easiest is is F. S.Cure. a 6.5％ nitrite that uou combine with table salt. You can order online and they will ship it.
Good to know. Thanks for the tip!
I got mine from Amazon but it looks like its not available.Its currently listed as unavailable but may come back in stock.
https://www.amazon.ca/TextureStar-Prague-Powder-Pink-Curing/dp/B071XDPY8G
Check Princess Auto if you have one nearby. I was able to get small, 50g packages of 6.25% curing salt from them on-line.
This recipe turned out great! Bookmarked and will definitely do again.
Awesome to hear!
Just wondering if I make a 5lb brisket would I use the entire cure recipe for a 12 lbs brisket.
I think you could cut it in half and go with that. The cure quantities are quite generous.
No matter what you do, cut the pink salt in half. You don’t want to overdo that.
Meat turned out excellent. Really reminds me of Schwartz. I used cherry wood and added 1 TBSP each of garlic powder, onion powder and paprika and a pinch of celery seed to the rub.
I did find that the meat was slightly salty. Not sure if I should cut back the salt next time or pink salt. Any thoughts.
I wouldn’t roll back on the pink salt. You could roll back on the salt but I think the best thing would be to make sure to fully do the soak step. Smoked meat is really salty stuff. Like any cold cut really. Serving it warm makes the saltiness more apparent of course.
Put my 12.5 lb brisket in the smoker at 225f as noted in the recipe, and has been there for 6 hours reaching an internal high of 186f. Then I saw the first post that internal should be 155-165f is this correct??? Have I just ruined my brisket? I just turned it down to to reach the lower range for the final few hours.
Please ignore my post, keeping it at 225F, internal temp ~180F. Noticed the post wasn’t your comment.
Hmm… if you got to 186F for a full packer in 6 hours I suspect your smoker thermometer or instant read needs calibrating. I can’t imagine you can get there that fast at 225F. I’ve done Texas style brisket (whole packer) using a digiQ on a big green egg (so I know the temp was right). That’s a 14-16 hour smoke…
In any case I think you’ll be OK. Just make sure it doesn’t go above 195-200F when you steam it.
About to make this. How do you store if you don’t intend on eating the whole thing in one sitting? Would you carve a chunk off then steam that or steam the whole thing and store what is not eaten? Is it appropriate to vacuum seal the remainder and freeze?
Thanks.
Nice! I’ve never had leftovers (people go nuts) but I would steam the whole brisket and vacuum seal the rest in good size chunks. You can gently re-steam until warm to serve. Enjoy!
I have a 13lb packer curing and ready for smoking this sat. What are your thoughts on going from the smoker and into the steam phase without cooling over nite?
13lb packer ready to go. That’s music to my ears!
I have never tried skipping the overnight rest period. It’s coming out of the smoker hot. If you are going to try this without the rest maybe cut the steaming time? Or let it come down some before you start steaming? You are going for the brisket probe test in the end.
I’d love to hear how it goes for you. The cooling over night makes this recipe a bit of a hassle for weekend parties. You really need a 3 day weekend to make it work. Let me know please.
Followed these instructions completely. Just finished and it came out perfect. So excited to have the ability to make my own Montreal smoked meat. Thank you for posting.
My pleasure. Best sandwich ever IMO!
How much of pink salt in grams do you use for this recipe??
Google says 1 Tbsp (3 tsp) of table salt equals 17 grams. I imagine pink salt would not be much different. I don’t use grams when I cook though so no guarantees on the precision here. That said, I don’t think a 5-10% difference will make much difference in the final product.
Getting ready to smoke my second one – I wonder exactly what a “gentle” steam is?
Haha. That is a little ambiguous I guess. A moderate boil. Not a simmer but not a raging boil. Somewhere in between. Definitely not third degree burns/trip to Emergency steam…
On my second Montreal smoked beef
First was super!!
Question
I cut brisket in half and am just in the rinse stage and found out my company was delayed by a day and there coming Monday rather than Sunday.
Want to serve one half right off the steamer.
When should I delay a day?
After the rinse or after the smoke?
Thanks
I think you would be OK either way. If you are going to smoke all of it at once it’s probably easier to stop after the rinse.
Leaving the rub on an extra day is ok?
I’m more worried about an extra day of cure. I don’t think an extra day with the rub will make much difference.
Going to try this. As a Montrealer in the military, I miss my smoked meats (live 2 blocks from Ben’s) and my poutine!
Can I cure this for longer than. 9 days? And can I wrap it in saran wrap? I don’t think I can find a Ziploc large enough!
I sometimes use two plastic shopping bags on an insert pan usually. The goal is mostly to keep the meat from coming in contact with anything else in the fridge.
I have never taken the cure past 9 days. 10 is probably OK but I don’t know about longer than that.
I would miss my smoked meat and poutine too!
Do you wrap it for the final day?
For the smoke you mean? I never wrap anything.
Just finished making this today. Outstanding,,.
Awesome! You are hardcore!
I grew up in Montreal, eating smoked meat at Schwartz’s and Smoke Meat Pete many times over the thirty years living there. Having moved to the US, I long craved the fatty richness of Montreal smoked meat. Pastrami is made here, but I find it lacking in flavour and texture when compared to the smoked meat found in Montreal. So, I have been on a quest to reproduce this luscious Canadian masterpiece. I have tried many recipes found online from food bloggers to celebrity grill chefs. Many have come close to being perfect, but each has had its shortcomings. This recipe is a true keeper.
Awesome. Thank you.
I’m an Ottawa boy who makes the trip to Montreal regularly for my fix. You can’t get decent smoked meat outside of Montreal if you don’t make it yourself. I spent a lot of time (and ate a lot of smoked meat) trying to figure this out and now have Montrealer friends who live on the Main telling my mine (and now yours) is better than Schwartz’s.
And I totally agree. Pastrami just doesn’t come close.
Tried the recipe as described and the results were awesome. Cured an extra day due to some unexpected event but no biggie I guess.
Why cracked pepper and coriander rather than Powder or ground? Powder would stick a little better as lots fell off.
I vac sealed for the curing as well.
Great recipe nd must be foolproof as I turned heads when I served it!
Buying another brisket this week and this is my new go to.
Live in Canada and AAA brisket is 6.50 a pound, so going to buy spices in bulk to cut down on cost.
Thank you for sharing g a great recipe!
Cracked is traditional. I didn’t invent Montreal Smoked Meat. Just figured out a good way to make it at home. $6.50 a pound is pretty good. I’m paying more than that in Ottawa. But I hear you about bulk spices. I always do that.
I’m trying your recipe right now and can’t wait. I’m in Ottawa as well, just FYI I was able to get a whole brisket for $13.99 /kg, or $6.36 /lb over at http://www.lavergnewesternbeef.com , great place !
The Superstore ha AAA briskit on sale this week for 3.98lb
Mmmm… Christmas brisket.
This seems like an awful lot of coriander…..is it really a half pound or is this 8 fluid oz…measured in a measuring cup? Thanks!
It’s 4 oz of coriander seed for the cure and 3 oz of coriander for the rub. By weight. Not by volume. A whole brisket is a big chunk of meat.
I’m wondering if by weight it’s too much spice? 8oz of ground pepper was quite a bit … can anyone confirm it is really that much?
It’s not ground pepper – it’s cracked pepper. Think like 3-5 little chunks per peppercorn…
Hi there, sounds like you know what you are doing! I used to live in Montreal during the 50’and 60’s! (I know this really dates me) but I crave for this smoked meat, I always get it when visiting Montreal! I was wondering if there was a formula to cut down the recipe to a small piece of brisket, I live alone and would like to try this first!
I don’t have a smoker, but have a small grill, and am not sure if it would work to steam it on a stove top or inside the oven with water! Can you give me some hints as to what I might do a little differently than your original recipe that calls for a large size? I’d really appreciate it, and I will give it a recipe rating too!
I’ve never tried this so please nobody take this as anything but my musing on the question.
You could scale back the size of brisket some. I don’t think that will change much as long as you keep it to the whole flat or the whole point. Maybe you could cut down the cure to 5-6 days if you want to go smaller.
No smoker is trickier. A small grill is probably more trouble than it’s worth. Maybe 8 hours in a 275 F oven followed by the steam. When you can probe with a carving fork and it gives it’s done.
Good luck. Just about any Montreal smoked meat is better than none!
Just buy a chargriller kamado off amazon. Cheap!
How certain are you of the brinning & rub make up relative to traditional recipes? As a displaced Montrealer now living in California I’m taking a shot at making my own. I’m most familiar with Montreal steak spice and its evolution from Schwartz’s and look to this blend as providing some guidance. What are you referencing for your brine and rub and how close to tradition do you think it is?
Thx for detailing the process!
I have eaten at Schwartz’s many, many times. I’m in Ottawa so it’s not far. Across the street at the Main as well (I like the latkes there).
A buddy of mine who has lived his whole life within walking distances of Schwartz’s brought the rye bread in the picture from a bakery in Montreal. He says my smoked meat is as good or better than anything they are serving in Montreal today.
This is not the crap they serve outside of Montreal and call smoked meat. I do not think you will be disappointed…
Where do you get your curing salts? I’m in Ottawa too.
I got mine Grace in the Kitchen in Kanata but that was a long time ago. Somebody commented that they got it at Cabelas Ottawa more recently. Probably a better bet to check there.
I’m totally pumped to make this, born and raised in Montreal and even worked around the corner from Schwartz’s. Am now in Chelsea QC. I’m going to make this on the Big Green Egg I picked up this morning! Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome. Enjoy your egg!
Lavergne western beef in navan
This Recipe was amazing. I have done (tried+) many and I am an avid stick burner. Used Oak also did a Pork shoulder same time.
I used a 14lb prime packer. cured in fridge for 10 days, as stretched to do a friday steam. Was not salty at all. I am from Montreal and had friends over that are also from Quebec to judge. This recipe is going in my favorites.
Thank You very Much!!!
Awesome to hear. Love oak in my stick burner as well!
What temperature do you cook to when you smoke on 9th day?
I’ve added a target of somewhere around 155-165F for the smoke in the post. It’s not super critical if you are cooking a big packer (full brisket) as ultimately you want to get to around 195F during the steam step but be careful if you are trying this with a smaller brisket.
Thanks for pointing this out. I can see where one might get confused.
If you want to render out that fat and collagen so it is fall apart tender, you need to get it to between 200 and 205 degrees for an hour because that is the temp where the fat melts. However, if you do that, you need a razor sharp Japanese carving knife because anything else will just maul the meat.
This isn’t Texas BBQ brisket. Couple things to consider. A rolling boil steam is a lot hotter than 212F. You are going to get a significant rise in temp as the meat rest. It is going to be extremely difficult to keep a brisket at 200-205F for an hour during the roiling boil steam.
I am at the smoking part of the process and want to take my MSM for my brunch on day 1 of the trip which is 2 weeks from now. I will freeze the brisket but don’t know what is the best point to freeze; after the smoking and do the steaming before I serve, or should I steam it now, freeze it and carefully thaw and re-steam before serving?
Thanks for your suggestions!
I once cryovaced and froze a chunk of smoked meat from Schwartz’s (so after it was steamed). I thawed it in the fridge and re-steamed it just to warm it through. It worked pretty well. I think cryovac (foodsaver) was was made it work so maybe cut your brisket into chunks if you don’t have the ability to cryovac the whole thing?
Hello, I am doing a 3lb brisket to try. I reduced the amount to suit the weight. When I go to smoke, will it have to be as long or do i just reach the internal (165) temperature? As for steaming,once again reach the 195 degree when it is ready to remove?
You are going for temperatures. I don’t know how long a 3lb brisket will take.
You want it to be at that temp for an hour with a 3 pound brisket. Remember, it is already cooked. You are just slowly rendering out the fat. If you do not mind the fat, you can probably go with 30 minutes. If you have a whole packer, which is what I use for uncured smoked brisket, I leave it wrapped in foil at temp for 3 hours. I know I’m done when I poke a hole in the bottom of the foil and clear fat runs out. But do it on a rack. You do not want to lay the solid brisket on the pan. It will overcook and stick.
This isn’t BBQ. I love brisket but this isn’t the same thing at all.