Smoking Corned Beef: Step-by-Step Guide for Tender Brisket
How to Smoke Corned Beef
Smoking corned beef is one of the easiest ways to turn a simple brisket into something incredible. With smoke, heat, and time, a cured brisket develops deep flavor and becomes tender enough to slice thin for sandwiches or serve as a BBQ centerpiece.
This method is essentially the first step of making pastrami. The corned beef is smoked until it develops bark and flavor, then finished with steam or gentle heat until the collagen breaks down and the meat becomes tender.
The key to great results is temperature control. Tracking the internal temperature of the meat lets you know exactly when to wrap, steam, and finish the cook.
What Temperature Should You Smoke Corned Beef?
Smoke the corned beef at 225 to 250°F until the internal temperature reaches about 160°F. At that point, wrap the brisket or transfer it to a covered pan to steam or braise, then continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 195 to 205°F for tender, sliceable meat.
To keep track of the cook without opening the smoker, insert your RFX MEAT Wireless Probe into the thickest part of the brisket and monitor the temperature through the RFX Gateway. This allows you to watch the brisket climb to 160°F during the smoking phase and follow it all the way to its final finishing temperature.
This two-stage cooking method gives the brisket time to break down its tough connective tissue. As the meat approaches the 195 to 205°F range, the collagen melts into gelatin, creating the rich flavor and tender texture that make smoked corned beef so satisfying.
We love corned beef, whether for St. Patrick’s Day or just for a great sandwich any time of year. And you’ve hopefully read about our process for curing your own corned beef. If not, you should give it a try! But even if you don’t cure your own brisket, instead opting for a pre-pickled uncooked beef, you may want to try this somewhat unorthodox method for cooking it. Whether you cure it yourself or not, smoking corned beef is sure to make a good impression. Let’s take a look, especially at the key temperatures and tools to do it right.
How Long Does It Take to Smoke Corned Beef?
| Step | Temperature | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke phase | 225–250°F smoker | 3–4 hours |
| Wrapped/steamed finish | until 195–205°F internal | 2–4 hours |
| Total cook time | 6–8 hours |
Smoking the corned beef
Smoking corned beef is not the traditional preparation, but it is an incredibly flavorful one. The smoker builds a rich bark and layers the brisket with deep smoke flavor before the meat finishes cooking.
Even though corned beef comes from brisket, the goal is not to cook it all the way to tenderness in the smoker. Instead, the smoker is used to develop flavor first. The meat is then finished with a braise or steamed to fully tenderize the brisket.
This process is similar to the first steps of making pastrami.
Start by placing the corned beef in a smoker set to 225 to 250°F. Smoke the brisket until the internal temperature reaches about 160°F, which is typically when the brisket begins approaching the stall and has absorbed plenty of smoke.
At that point, transfer the corned beef to a pan and add Guinness stout for a rich braising liquid. Cover the pan tightly with foil and return it to the smoker, or move it to a conventional oven to finish cooking. Since the meat has already taken on most of the smoke flavor by this stage, finishing in the oven works just as well.
Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 195 to 203°F and the brisket feels tender when probed. The stout braise adds depth and helps the brisket finish soft and sliceable.
Smoked Corned Beef recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Corned beef, raw Purchased or home-cured
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 275°F (135°C). If you're using the Billows™ BBQ control fan with your RFX GATEWAY, set the fan temp for 275°F (135°C), otherwise, set your high-temp alarm for 300°F (149°C) your low-temp alarm for 250°F (121°C) and monitor your smoker with the included air probe to make sure it stays in the proper range.
- Rinse your corned beef and pat it dry.
- Insert your RFX MEAT probe into the corned beef and place it in the smoker. Set the high-temp alarm for 160°F (71°C).
- When the alarm sounds, place your beef in a pan and add boiling water to come 1/3 of the way up the side of the meat.
- Wrap the pan tightly in foil, insert the probe through the foil into the meat, and reset your high-temp alarm for the meat to 203°F (95°C).
- Cook the corned beef in the pan until the alarm sounds. Verify that the meat has reached 203°F (95°C) throughout by spot-checking with your Thermapen ONE.
- Remove the corned beef from the water pan and, if it needs further tenderizing, wrap it tightly in two layers of foil, then wrap it in a few towels and stash it to rest in a cooler for an hour or two. But if the tenderness feels right, it's time to eat.
- Slice thinly and serve!
I know this is probably an old blog but doesn’t a smoked corned beef by definition become a pastrami?
Almost, but not quite! To become pastrami, it also needs the full coating of pepper, coriander, and other spices.
I’ve been making pastrami from corned beef for a while and I’m trying to get it moister / more tender. Has anyone tried cooking the meat then giving it a pastrami rub and smoking it? What was the result and how long did it need to smoke?
Since I’m sodium intolerant, I’ve started curing my own corned beef in a vinegar mixture with a small amount of curing salt and other spices. But sous vide is my go to these days and cooking all comes down to heat and time= super juicy and tender. After curing, I smoke at 225* until stall or about 160*. Next, vacuum seal and place in sous vide bath at 150* for about 3 days, I converted an ice chest and use a sous vide circulator. Since it’s sealed, it comes out super tender with no moisture loss. At this point, I leave it in the bag and let it rest or place it in the fridge until ready to finish within 2 to 3 days. If finishing right away, I like the temperature of the brisket to drop to about 120* before sprinkling with more seasoning and giving it a couple of flips over the sear station on my pellet grill set to about 375*- of course the surface of the sear station is way hotter than what the pellet controller is sensing. The benefit is that the brisket never gets over 150-160* and it cooks in its own juices for most of the time- never a dry brisket again!
What is a good wood to use for smoking a corned beef?
I like oak or, if you can get it, beech.
Since the RFX probe was inserted for smoking, why not just leave it in place for the braise/steam step?
We do! but we also pot-check for tenderness and temp with Thermapen ONE. If we take it out, it’s so we can wrap the pan in foil, then we re-insert it into the meat through the foil.
About how long do you steam it? Of course I know to go by temp. Just trying to pit a timeline together
It depends on the size, but I’d plan on another 4-6 hours after the smoking.