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Schwartz's Smoked Meat


Mrs. B

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I have beautiful new addition to my life. A bouncing 5.5 lb smoked brisket (fatty) from Schwartz's. The directions say to steam like a vegetable for 2 hours or until a fork comes out without resistance. I pretty much understand that except I'm a little unclear about the "steam like a vegetable" part. What apparatus should I use? I don't generally (ever) steam vegetables but I do have a steamer thingy though this doesn't seem up to the 2 hour steaming task. Any hints or help greatly appreciated.

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I have beautiful new addition to my life. A bouncing 5.5 lb smoked brisket (fatty) from Schwartz's.
Congratulations! I'll be over right after work. :lol:
The directions say to steam like a vegetable for 2 hours or until a fork comes out without resistance. I pretty much understand that except I'm a little unclear about the "steam like a vegetable" part. What apparatus should I use? I don't generally (ever) steam vegetables but I do have a steamer thingy though this doesn't seem up to the 2 hour steaming task. Any hints or help greatly appreciated.
I have used one of those to steam pastrami, and it worked fine. I did need to add hot water from time to time.
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Congratulations! I'll be over right after work. :lol:

I have used one of those to steam pastrami, and it worked fine. I did need to add hot water from time to time.

Thanks Heather. See you soon.

Another question. Can I cut the whole brisket into thirds without running the risk of it drying out? They already made an initial cut at one end for people unfamiliar with the concept of cutting across the grain.

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I assume you got this from Schwartz's in Montreal. If so, then "steam" it the way they do it in the Montreal delis - just fill a large lidded pot/pan with about an inch of hot water, put the brisket in there, and put the lid on. Put the whole thing in a 350F oven for a couple of hours. It'll be beautiful.

Schwartz's.....*sniff*...that's just beautiful. The jewel of The Main.

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I assume you got this from Schwartz's in Montreal. If so, then "steam" it the way they do it in the Montreal delis - just fill a large lidded pot/pan with about an inch of hot water, put the brisket in there, and put the lid on. Put the whole thing in a 350F oven for a couple of hours. It'll be beautiful.

Schwartz's.....*sniff*...that's just beautiful. The jewel of The Main.

It's is indeed from Montreal and it is a thing of beauty that I really don't want to screw up. The meat can sit in the water, no need to elevate?

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A couple of thoughts:

1) A hotel pan or lasagna pan with a small baking rack inside, and add hot water to just below the level of the rack. Meat on rack, cover the pan with heavy duty foil. Place in moderate oven for recommended amount of time, check the water level periodically, and add small amounts of boiling water if needed.

2) A large pasta pot with an insert. Put brisket in vertically. Add water to just below the bottom of the insert. Steam on stovetop. (It's how I steam tamales.)

I wouldn't cut it into pieces before cooking. I think that you will render a lot more fat if it were cut in pieces and it won't be as juicy. If necessary, after it is cooked, you can cut, wrap, and freeze part of it. Or give some to me.

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I just plop my brisket into an inch of water. It's possible that I'm losing a bit of flavour by not elevating it above the water but, to be honest, I doubt the difference is substantial. I like Zora's suggestion of putting it on a rack just barely above the water level. One of these days you'll have to try some of my pastrami. Not quite the same, of course, but incredible smoke flavour.

Yes Waitman, that was flavour. Maudite Americaine. :lol:

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(This post reminds me that I still have the fatty third of a Schwartz's brisket in the freezer...)

I used one tier of my Asian dumpling steamer, but that's basically just a bigger version of the common vegetable steamer insert. The counterman at Schwartz's suggested using a carving fork as a gauge: when the meat has steamed enough, it'll grip the fork enough to be lifted out of the steamer. They also suggested two hours as a typical time.

Two hours might be a smidge on the long side, as some of the drier surface meat tends to fall apart when you start cutting. Maybe 1:45 would do it.

BTW, I couldn't bring myself to toss the water from the steamer, because it had acquired a phenomenal aroma from the remaining surface spices. So I used it as the base for a noodle soup later :lol:

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I brought home a pound of house made and smoked pastrami from Neal's Deli in Carrboro, NC. (One pound is all they would sell me, since they make it in limited amounts and need to have enough for their breakfast and lunch customers.) I arrived there at 10:30 a.m., on a week day, and they were already sold out of biscuits for their breakfast sandwiches. I had my egg and pastrami on rye. Outrageously delicious. Their breads come from Guglhopf Bakery in Durham, where I have also eaten breakfast, and their bread was every bit as good as their pastries.

But back to Neal's pastrami. We just made sandwiches out of most of the pound of meat I brought home--J steamed his and I griddled mine. We unfortunately had to eat it on supermarket rye, but even so, I have to say that Katz's pastrami can't hold a candle to Neal's--Katz's has always seemed to me to be over-steamed, almost shredding apart and paradoxically dry despite being fatty. This pastrami was perfectly cooked, very tender yet resilient. Just enough fat and black pepper. Subtle, complex flavor. Just mmmfff deliciousness in every bite. I don't have a strong enough memory of Schwartz's smoked meat from our Montreal visit, but I don't remember swooning over my Schwartz's sandwich the way I was over this one.

We had our sandwiches with Ba-Tampte half sours. No Dr. Brown's in the house, however. I had to settle for a Diet Coke.

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