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.
I’ve never made MSM before. This turned out amazing! Perfect amount of smoke, spice and salt.
I split my packer so I could fit in the fridge better, it also made steaming easier.
I used the Traeger with Pitmaster Competition blend. I did one on the stove in a large roasting pan, the other using my old BBQ single burner, both worked equally well.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, I’ll be making this again!
I am always super happy to hear that. The world needs more MSM!
Hi Romain,
Thank you so much for this recipe. I started curing a 6 pound section of flat on Thursday so that I will be ready to smoke it next Friday, and steam and eat on Saturday. Since I cannot travel to Montreal to get my fix I’m really excited! My wife and I normally visit Montreal in late May every year and I pile through a LOT of smoked meat. I have the brisket wrapped loosely in saran wrap and then in a ziploc bag. Is this OK or should I have some air flow while curing in the fridge?
For the steaming, I am planning to use a covered roasting pan with a rack in it. I’d be doing this in the oven…any thoughts for an oven temp for the steaming?
Thanks again!
The words “Large plate, fat” have come out of my mouth too many times:-)
Some airflow is not a bad thing. I usually use grocery bags to wrap mine. I have no idea how to steam in the oven and I’m not sure that’s a great idea for the brisket or for your oven. Thermostats are apparently sensitive to high levels of moisture and you really want your brisket to steam. I’d think about doing it the conventional way if I were you. I’m not even sure you could get enough steam in an oven even if you wanted to.
Oh…I would be steaming in a COVERED roasting pan in the oven, not trying to simulate a steam oven. One site I read suggests you can pour boiling water into your steamer and then run the oven at 200 F.
I have unzipped the ziploc bag to allow some air flow in the fridge.
Let me know if it works. I’m sure there are other people interested! You will have to adjust the steaming time I expect so be careful. I’d be sad if you went 10 days and didn’t get a brisket at least as good as what they are serving at Schwartz’s.
Hahaha…now you have me worried. I think I might steam stovetop instead. Then again someone above said that they put it covered in foil on a rack in a tray on their smoker to steam and it worked great. Is there any issue with cutting the brisket in a couple of pieces for the steaming phase in order to get it to fit in an available pot/pan?
Well Romain, my friend (yes, you will forever be a friend to me after this experience), I don’t know how you came up with this recipe but my wife and I are absolutely blown away! This is as good or better than anything I can recall having at Schwartz’s or the Main over decades eating MSM. The thin, 6 pound piece of flat I used reached 165F on the smoker at 250F in less than 4 hours…it sometimes goes this way with brisket, as you know. I ended up using a large dutch oven on the stove top with a couple of stacked racks and kept the lid cracked for steaming. It took nearly three and a half hours to get to around 200F and be perfectly probe tender in all sections. It sliced like butter, the fat cap was luscious and beautiful, and I was able to cut our piled-high sandwiches with a butter knife. Today we will be enjoying the leftovers after another steam session to warm it up. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
That is so awesome to hear! I came up with it to get my fix. You really can’t get a decent MSM anywhere but Montreal. Even in Ottawa it isn’t any good and that’s only 200km away.
Enjoy friend!!!!
Just tried this. Yesterday was steaming and eating day. It was amazing.
I had a smaller brisket – point for about 7 pounds. Halved every ingredients and worked beautifully. Not too salty either.
I smoked it for 8 hours on kamado at 225 with maple wood chunks.
I did the steaming on my BBQ with tin foil pans and aluminium foil to seal everything. Took exactly 3 hours.
Thank you very much. I will be doing this again.
Glad you liked it! I sometimes wonder if the people who find this MSM too salty have ever tasted MSM in Montreal…
Agreed. This is a treat and something that will make you drink water for 4 hours after eating. It’s part of the experience lol.
Do you happen to remember what temperature you used on the BBQ for steaming?
I let it heat up for quite some time before I put the brisket on. I didn’t want it too hot. I think I was at around 350 for the most part.
I’m getting everything ready to cure tomorrow and have a 12lb brisket but I’m just confused when it mentions wrapping it in bags. What kind of bags or can you wrap it in saranwrap? I assume you want it air tight correct? I’m really looking forward to this as I am from Mtl and every time I go back it’s the first thing I get bc I can’t find anything even close in Wpg. Thanks for the recipe and help. I’ll definitely write back with results.
I am going to have to find a way to explain that better I think. I just use a couple plastic grocery bags – one from either end. Loose is fine. It’s really to keep it from touching other things in the fridge and to keep your hands relatively clean when you flip it. It gets a bit messy.
I have a 20 lb packer that I’m ready to cure. My pellet smoker can handle the whole thing in one piece, but I was wondering if it would be better to split the point from the flat for curing? Would splitting the two make the flavour be better throughout or would it make much difference either way?
Wow. I’ve never even heard of a 20lb packer before. If the point is a whole lot thicker then it might be a good idea to split them so you can pull the flat before the point to even out the smoking phase. I don’t think it would make a huge difference in the cure except trying to handle a 20 lb packer might be tough.
I have a 19lber that has been curing for 8 days. Trimmed, it’s down to just over 17
This was absolutely outstanding! Unbelievable!
– didn’t have enough room on the smoker for a full packer so I went with the fattier point brisket and I am damn glad I did!
– cut the salt in half after reading a few comments and added mustard seeds to the rub (toasted all of them too)
– I let it get well into the stall on the smoker to get as good a crust as I could
– took about 4 hours on the steamer for whatever reason
I made Reubens out of it for the family but also had it straight up on the sourdough. My wife was literally in tears, bravo, worth every second of those 10 days!
Awesome to hear. It is an epic recipe but at the end you get the world’s greatest sandwich!
What a fantastic recipe. Just completed the steam and WOW ..THIS COULD GIVE CELINE A RUN FOR HER $$$
.. I use a pellet grill and it worked great.
On my next attempt I may decrease the salt level a nod edge back slightly on the cure as it was a little too salty. I soaked for 3 hours with 6 water changes but the salt content is high
. The flavour, the color, mouth feel and tenderness compares to Schwartz or the main..thanks remain..keep posting bro
There is no sandwich anywhere that is better than MSM!
The salt content is high. No doubt about that. I’m super curious to hear what you figure out.
First – can’t thank you enough for sharing this recipe. I grew up having Montreal smoked meat as an annual treat by our relatives who lived there. I’m now on day 6 of curing, looking forward to smoking this weekend. For the smoking phase, do you spray the brisket to keep it moist? I’m using a new pellet grill. Not sure if I can just close the lid and leave it until it hits temp or I need to periodically spritz it…
Thanks!
You are very, very welcome. I don’t spritz personally. Haven’t used a pellet grill myself but I am pretty sure you will be just fine putting it on to smoke until you hit temp.
As an ex-montrealer, this intrigued me, so I decided to give it a shot. I smoked it yesterday with Hickory (all i had on hand) and steamed it this afternoon for dinner….Dude!….this is AWESOME! A slight difference because of the Hickory I think, but my god, I will never by that Dunns stuff at Costco again! Great Job man!
Real Montreal smoked meat is the greatest thing ever to go between sliced bread. Glad to hear you will never have to eat that pseudo pre-fab stuff again!
I wonder if there is a way to vertically steam the brisket? Most pots are large enough in diameter for a 14lb brisket. Ideas anyone?
I did mine tonight in a very large pasta pot….covered the top with Tin Foil, and had about 3″ of water in the bottom. Took about 2.5 to 3 hours to get to temp. It worked like a charm!
Great tip. My pot is big enough to use the lid but if the one you have isn’t tinfoil would do the trick!
How did everyone manage to steam such a big piece of meat? What did you use?
I use a giant pot that came with a turkey fryer. I use the burner too so my whole house doesn’t wind up smelling like a big smoked meat sandwich. I invert a metal colander in the bottom of the pot to keep the brisket out of the water and top up as needed.
Instead of using bags can it just be wrapped in celophane
You want it to dry out a bit at this point so allow for some airflow.
I have a bag of READYCURE curing salt .
Do you know if this is equivalant to Prague powder or pink.
It is not the same. It is a much lower concentration. You would need to do some googling to figure out the conversion as I understand it’s not just linear and I have never tried it myself. As hard as it is to believe I can’t eat an infinite amount of MSM:-).
Or you could try calling up a local European deli to see if they would sell you some Prague powder?
On the 8TH day after the water bath and dry brisket, does it go back into a bag or just the way it is into the fridge, before the 9th day for the smoking, how long in the fridge is 8 hours sufficient
It can go back into clean bags certainly. I’ve never tried it with only 8 hours in the fridge. This step it to dry it out a bit before it hits the smoker so I’ve always gone the full day. It’s probably OK though…
Thank you I will give it the full day before going to the smoker It’s impossible to get prague powder #1 in Ottawa what is a good substitute or keep trying to get it from Amazon
I don’t know of a substitute. You could try reaching out to a local European deli that makes their own sausage to see if they would be willing to sell you some.
I got some at Cabelas in Ottawa by the Hockey Arena
I’m making mine with a 15 lb. brisket. I found the spices very generous, so you can probably cut back 25-30% with no problem (you can always grind a bit more if needed, but I doubt you will). I cut the brisket in two and smoked in a Bradley at 225 F. The meat hit 160 F. after 5 hrs. I dialed back the heat and smoked for the full 8 hrs. with the final internal temp hitting 168 F. It’s now in the fridge before steaming tomorrow a.m. Looks amazing so far!
Finding curing powder in Ottawa? A few years ago I bought some at Nicastro’s Fine Foods on Merivale Rd. Give them a call – maybe they still carry it. I’m in Edmonton, so no problem finding curing supplies out here.
Hope you love it! Sounds like you are on track for some tasty sandwiches today.
Nella Cucina in Toronto sells it. They may ship it to you.
Missed the soaking part of it and went straight on the smoker….
Might be a little salty…
Hi, thanks for sharing this recipe. I live in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and my wife and her family are from Montreal and Ottawa. Each time we go back to visit we have to go to Schwart’s. So good! We get regular cravings and have to miss it for more than a year in-between visits, so this might solve the problem!
I’m not familiar with steaming meat and am not sure what a turkey fryer is. Could you please elaborate a bit more on this step? Perhaps you can share a link to the fryer and inverted strainer that you use?
Would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Jeroen
I have a friend that lives under a kilometre from Schwartz and he says this is better so I don’t think you will be disappointed. I’m in Ottawa and get to Montreal fairly often as well…
Steaming is a key step in this recipe (and for any MSM really) so don’t skip that step.
A turkey fryer is a high output propane burner in a metal frame. Typically they are sold with a large, relatively cheap pot and whole thing can be used to deep fry a turkey. I just use that with a metal colander that I flip over to keep the meat out of the water (this is really a jury rigged set up and not purpose built).
when I make this, I ask the butcher to cut my brisket in two (flat/point). I make half at a time and when I get to the steaming step I use my large cast iron wok and set a rack in it and since it has a large domed lid it works very well as a steamer. Maybe this will help you too.
Makes perfect sense. I’d like to be invited over on point day – that’s my favourite!
Is that a wet cure or a dry cure, I’m following the recipe and currently on the 3rd curing day, with water, and it just occurred to me that you might be referring to dry curing, worried that the salt quantities might not be sufficient for a wet cure.
Oh no. It’s a dry cure. The recipe doesn’t say anything about wet and I’ve added a note saying not to do a wet brine based on this. So sorry to hear this. Good luck!
where do you find bags big enough for a whole briskent
I don’t do the sous vide thing for Montreal smoked meat. I assume people are cutting their briskets up into manageable sizes. My food saver couldn’t handle a bag big enough to hold a whole brisket even if I wanted to try…
Hi, Aaron here…I have a 14lbs brisket water soaking as we speak. Is it possible to skip the fridge drying and go right to the smoking after the soak? Whats the potential harm? I want to get this right as I have many interested in swinging by to grab a sandwich.
Thanks
I’ve never tried it so no guarantees but I think it will work. The smoking period might take a little longer as the initial moisture will take time to evaporate…
Hi, I’m on my way to cure my brisket. I was wondering if instead of steaming the brisket, I could cook it sous vide at 200 for 5 hours. Will it do the trick?
I’ve never tried so I have no idea.It sounds plausible. 5 hours might be short given the size and you’d have no way to actually measure internal temperature along the way. Maybe go with a small piece to start to see how it works the first time.
Amazing ribs has a sous vide and bbq pastrami recipe which is wonderful. The sous vide is post cure and soak and goes for 30 hours at 155. Then chill and retherm on the smoker to an IT of 125. Steaming is then done when you want to serve. I am going to try the same technique with your recipe because the pastrami was near perfect. Now to try and find a brisket during covid!
Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!
So after the water soak, back in the fridge uncovered for 24 hours or covered. I imagine uncovered so the water evaporates? I’m excited for this, btw. I love the sammiches from Montreal. Can’t wait
I would loosely cover it to minimize contact with other things in the fridge. I’m jealous BTW. I need to figure out how to get my hands on a brisket!