As we get closer to St. Patrick’s day I thought you would like a recipe for corned beef and cabbage done on the smoker. Making it even better, the cabbage is wrapped in a bacon weave, because bacon just makes everything better!
- Prep time: 1 1/2 hours
- Smoke time: 7 1/2 hours for the corned beef or until internal temperature reaches 200 degrees
- Smoke time: 3 1/2 hours for the bacon wrapped cabbage
- Rest time: 1 hour
In my opinion, this is a great alternative to the classic boiled corned beef and cabbage, you get the the subtle hint of smoke, a fantastic cook on the corned beef, and a crunchy flavorful cabbage to go with it!
Since we are doing 2 cooks on the same smoker, the cabbage can be smoked towards the last few hours of the smoke for the corned beef, or in my case I did them starting at the same time and will set it aside after it completes cooking (3 1/2 hours). Then will chop it up, place in a casserole dish and warm up when the corned beef is ready to be served.
Corned beef:
Before we talk recipe and procedures let’s discuss the corned beef. Corned beef usually made by salt curing a brisket cut of beef. Then cooked it in a salt / spice brine until tender. Unless buying the entire brisket, you will find different cuts available. The most common types or cuts of corned beef you will find are:
- Flat Cut: Generally thinner than the point, fairly consistent in thickness and leaner than the point. It is a great choice for slicing to be used in sandwiches.
- Point cut: Shaped like a point when you look at it, usually has more fat running through it, but that helps produce a lot of flavor when cooking. While you can slice the point for sandwiches, it is usually a great choice when looking to serve shredded.
- Round cut: This is essentially the flat cut. Depending upon the brand or the butcher they may label as Round cut.
Prepare the cabbage:
- Rinse and dry a medium to large head of Cabbage
- Using a sharp knife, carefully remove the core (insert knife approximately 2/12 inches around the bottom of the cabbage working your way around the core until you can pull it out)
- Place the cabbage on a large cookie sheet
- Sprinkle the cabbage with 2 tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil
- Sprinkle a light coat of my Sweet and Smoky rub around the cabbage and into the cavity where the core was
- Prepare a bacon weave made from 2 packages of your favorite store bought bacon (see post on building a bacon weave for details)
- Place the bacon weave over the cabbage, secure with toothpicks and set aside until ready to place on your smoker set to 250 degrees
- Check in 3 hours, the bacon should be starting to crisp and the cabbage still firm
- At 3 1/2 hours the bacon should be nice and crispy and you can remove from the smoker (it will have a little crunch when sliced)
- After removing from the smoker, slice into wedges or chop up with the bacon and serve
Prepare the corned beef – It’s simple, but timely so plan ahaed:
- Store bought prepared corned beef has been previously brined in a salt type solution as part of its preparation so first thing I do is remove from package and run under cold water to rinse it off
- Once rinsed leave in a pot of cold water for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes drain the water, and repeat the process 2 more times replacing the water in the pot each time. This will remove a lot of the salt and brine from the meat
- When ready to season take out of pot and pat dry with paper towels
- I like to partially trim the fat cap, leaving most of it on, but removing the hard chunks as they tend to be harder to render down
- Apply the rub (recipe below) and set on smoker set to 250 degrees
- At the 3 hour mark, brush a little bit of beef broth onto the corned beef and continue cooking for another hour or so until internal temperature reaches 165-170 degrees
- When the corned beef reaches initial temperature of 165-170, remove from smoker and place in an aluminum pan with 1 cup of beef broth and 1 cup of water
- Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place back on the smoker for another 3 to 4 hours until internal temperature reaches 200 to 205 degrees and a thermometer can be inserted easily, letting you know the meat is tender
- When ready remove from smoker, wrap tightly in foil, and let rest 45 minutes before slicing and serving
Prepare the rub:
In a small bowl combine:
- 2 tablespoons of garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
Sprinkle over the corned beef, making sure to cover both sides and the edges
Tips:
Save an empty spice bottle or two that has a shaker top (holes) to use for sprinkling on your rubs or look for something like a Tablecraft stainless steel shaker. It will last a lifetime and helps let you get a nice even coat of rub.
When slicing the brisket, slice against the grain otherwise the slices will be tough.
Enjoy!
