Whole Corned Beef in Houston?

[MarkinHouston]

I would like to prepare some smoked corned beef as presented in one of the e-gullet classes. In that presentation, I think it was Colonel Clink who said he got large whole corned brislets at Costco. I don't belong to Costo, and Sam's only has puny little things for a high price. Where in the Houston area might have entire corner briskets suitable for the smoking process? Thanks.

[fifi]

I hate to tell you but I have gone on intense searches for the same and come up empty handed. Granted, I did not go to a high end butcher shop like Pete's on Richmond. If I were going to pursue this again, that is where I would start. I can tell you not to waste your time on the usual groceries. It ain't happening. That Costco in NW Houston is so far away from me that it makes no sense to join just to buy a corned beef. I have never seen a whole one and, actually, the tip end is pretty hard to find as well. Most folks want the flat. I just bought a small flat at HEB for $2.99 a pound. (I intend to braise it coated in Zatarain's crab boil like I do.) A friend of mine is also on the hunt and the cheapest she has seen it is $2.49 a pound.

I also recall that Klink found a supplier whose corned beef wasn't overly salty. I can say that I did smoke some last year around St. Patrick's day. I have a Weber Smoky Mountain. Even though I soaked it in changes of cold water overnight, it was still pretty salty. Made a heck of a sandwich, though.

If you have more success than I have, please post about it.

[dls]

Mark - If time allows, why don't you just buy a brisket and corn it yourself? If you can't easily find a whole brisket in Houston, something has gone terribly wrong. A fairly simple method for doing this can be found here. Also, note the link on smoking a corned beef.

BTW Fifi - I "borrowed" your recipe and method for slow braising a corned beef some time ago. Made a few alterations based upon personal preferences (added ginger, anchos, Chimay Ale, etc), and since then it has been my "go to" recipe. Not traditional, but the some of best corned beef I've ever prepared and eaten.

[fifi]

I am glad you enjoyed it dls. I am also glad you tweaked it a bit. Actually, your tweaking sounds so good and I have all of the parts, (well, I have some Shiner Bock) I am going to do it.

Yeah . . . I wouldn't call it traditional either. It was just one of those moments of insanity that turned out good. It doesn't always turn out that way.

For those of you that didn't see the original, what I did was see the pitiful little pack of seasoning in the corned beef baggy and said to myself "Hey, that looks a lot like crab boil." So, I bought a bag of Zatarain's, the whole spices, and coated the thing. I added a good bit of brown sugar to the top, about 1/2 cup, and braised at 250 degrees F for about 3 hours or until it was butter tender. I knock off most of the seeds before serving.

[FoodMan]

You can defintily buy fresh whole briskets at most major grocery stores like HEB where I buy mine and divide it up for smoking or braising. I've never seen them corned though.

Elie

[dls]

You can defintily buy fresh whole briskets at most major grocery stores like HEB where I buy mine and divide it up for smoking or braising. I've never seen them corned though.

Elie

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Yeah - I think that is what the topic starter, MarkinHouston, was referring to. Corned flats should be plentiful this time of year but a whole brisket corned might be hard to come by. That is why I suggested buying a whole fresh brisket and corning it himself.