3/4 cup Morton's kosher salt ((or 200 grams of any salt))
1/2 cup sugar ((100 grams))
2 tsp pink curing salt ((10 grams))
5 cloves garlic, smashed with the flat side of a knife
2 tbsp pickling spice ((store bought or see below))
1 five-pound beef brisket ((the fattier the better))
1 tbsp black peppercorns, toasted in a skillet and ground in a mill ((ok to use store-bought ground))
1 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground in a mill
Categories
Main Course
Cuisine
American
European
Steps
In pot large enough to hold brisket, combine 1 gallon/4 liters of water with kosher salt, sugar, sodium nitrite (if using), garlic and 2 tablespoons pickling spice. Bring to a simmer, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.
Place brisket in brine, weighted with a plate to keep it submerged; cover. Refrigerate for 2 days if it's thin, a third day if it's thick.
Remove brisket from brine and rinse thoroughly. Refrigerate it for another day uncovered (this is best, to let cure equalize, but if you can't wait, that's ok too).
Combine the pepper and coriander and coat the brisket with it. Smoke and cook the brisket, till tender, as described above. This will keep for a week in the refrigerator. Steam it to reheat or reheat covered in a microwave (gently). Slice thinly to serve.
Reviews
Joseph J. Shutsa III on 2025-07-12 (5 stars): I noticed the same thing but after looking again I see the difference. In the book Charcuterie, the recipe is referring to 11 quarts of brine and an 8 lbs. brisket, but here on the blog it is a 5 lbs. brisket. Both recipe ratios are excellent
Mark on 2025-03-10 (5 stars): I could not agree more! Leaving any meat uncovered in the refrigerator overnight or more is the key to getting it to pick up smoke flavor.
Kendall Ellis on 2025-02-19 (5 stars): Excellent! Thanks for posting!
Todd on 2024-12-20 (5 stars): Great recipe, the brisket I'm smoking tomorrow will be my fourth time using your recipe. The only change I've made was length of brine time, I've gone to 23 days on this one. Last one I went to 20 and it was superb. I use 12-14 lb. packers. Thanks.
Brian on 2024-03-20 (5 stars): This is my go-to recipe for pastrami and all things pastrami flavored - I used the brine and rub on a pork butt to make porkstrami and it came out pretty solid!
Going to do one this weekend but to get a little bit more depth of pastrami flavor, I'm using the rub ingredients as well as some pink peppercorns, mustard seed and a little bit of juniper in the brine in place of half of the pickling spice. Going to be interesting to see how it comes out! Anyone ever tried that?
Hank Michaels on 2024-02-19 (5 stars): I've been cooking from Charcuterie since it came out. I've been knocking the pastrami out of the park. I smoke a point cut on a Weber using the snake method--keeps the temp between 200-215 for 6-7 hours without ever having to open the lid. That combined with this mustard is amazing.
https://leitesculinaria.com/106001/recipes-how-to-make-homemade-whole-grain-mustard.html
