Smoked corned beef packer for St. Patrick's Day

[PZ]

I've been doing corned beef packers (commercial) for St. Patrick's day for a few years, and it has become somewhat of a tradition to my family. The packer was kind of a biggie - nearly 23 pounds.

The process was simple - using the Traeger set at 250F, and a tube smoker both using GMG fruitwood pellets, the meat was cooked until an I.T. of about 160F, then the point and flat partially went their separate ways.

I like to separate the point from flat, and trim most of the fat, which is saved for other cooks. (top row, middle pic). I cut about half the point (when raw) to grind for meatloaf, while the rest was smoked to make cubed crisps.

A rough grind on point meat (second row, middle pic), and my wife took over the cook - she makes a great meatloaf using oatmeal as the binder instead of breadcrumbs. The finished meatloaf is just to the right of the ground meat.

Once the flat and remaining point reached 160F, both were wrapped in foil, then into the house oven set at 250F until an I.T. of about 200F or so - the probe test indicated when it was done.

The flat was sliced (bottom row, middle pic)to make classic Reuben sandwiches, and the point was cubed and fried in olive oil (bottom row, first pic) until they were crisp on the outside, and tender and juicy on the inside.

The meatloaf had great flavor - just like smoked corned beef, but with the sweetness of a traditional meatloaf. It was served with oven roasted veggies and cabbage and potatoes (bottom row, third pic).

This year we entertained friends for the first time on St' Patrick's day, and it was a success - people liked everything, but the point crispy cubes vanished from the counter the quickest.

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[Art Blade]

excellent I could have some of that..

[PZ]

Thanks AB; today we're having corned beef meatloaf sandwiches 

[Art Blade]

maybe that's an occasion to test mayonnaise, just a dollop of it to swipe a forkful of corned beef through. Remember, we once talked about mayonnaise with beef steak and you have wanted to try it. This here might be somewhat similar

[PZ]

My wife made something like that - mayonnaise, ketchup, onions, and pickles. It is very tasty and offsets the salt nicely 

[Art Blade]

hmm.. how about using a tad less salt? Then your wife wouldn't have to offset the salt with loads of random extras Man, you made it sound as if you had served a block of lightly smoked salt

[PZ]

Pretty much    We do like it that way though.  I might try soaking one of the pieces overnight in water next time to see how it turns out.

[fragger]

Wow, that all looks wonderful, PZ

[PZ]

Thanks fragger - we had the last of the sliced beef in Reuben sandwiches last night, and I vacuum sealed the rest of the flat and the meatloaf yesterday. Both will serve nicely as dinners for friends in the future. 

[fragger]