Salting the Brisket

[tstalafuse]

I did a cook this weekend and the pit master that was cooking the brisket salted, using table salt, to the point it looked like it had a dusting of snow on it. On both sides. He cooked it @225 for 12 or so hours. I was fully expecting it to be too salty to even eat, but it was actually amazingly good and didn't taste salty. I have been trying to not over salt, using only kosher salt, and I am now wondering if I am way under salting the big cuts of meat. Yes, I have read articles and watched all videos, so before I haul off and kill a brisket with salt.. How much salt are you putting on your briskets?

[Panhead John]

How long was the brisket salted before putting it in the smoker?

[tstalafuse]

Panhead John, 3, maybe 4, hours.

[Sid P]

Interesting question. I’m following.

[mrichie1229]

Follow up question, did they crutch? When I salt a brisket, I use a salt grinder on a medium course setting and can feel the salt as I rub it in but it is not covered in it. When I crutch I use more bouillon cubes than I would if I was making gravy mixed with hot water.

[tstalafuse]

Wrapped in butcher paper.

[smokin fool]

I make my own dry rub usually 4 cups at a time, in the mix may be two tablespoons of salt, usually only one.
Sometimes augment with Sucklebusters Texas 1836 rub which is 24% salt.
Usually dry rub right before before the meat hits the grill so if anyone's under salting its me.

[rickgregory]

this will be dependent on how salt sensitive you are but Meathead recommends, I think, 1/2 tsp per pound of meat. NOTE though, that not all salts are the same amount per volume. Diamond Crystal is half the amount of salt per volume as Morton. In other words, a teaspoon of Mortons contains twice the amount of salt as a teaspoon of Diamond Crystal. So, if I rain down a lot of DC and you do the same thing but with Morton's, yours will be much saltier than mine.

If you have a gram accurate scale, the easy way to do this is to figure out what a teaspoon of Morton's weighs, divide that by 2 (to get to MH's 1/2 teaspoon per pound) then note that. Now you know how many grams per pound you need, and can measure it out regardless of salt brand.

EDIT: Per https://www.mortonsalt.com/article/m...itional-facts/ 1/4 of a teaspoon of Morton's is 1.4gram. So 1/2 would be 2.8... call it 3 grams. For a 10lb brisket, you thus need 30 grams of any salt.

[tstalafuse]

It was Morton's and it was alot. Had to be 3/4 to a full cup for a 15lb brisket, which would only be 7.5 teaspoons according to Meathead's salt recommendation. I am not exaggerating when I say it looked like it had snowed on the brisket. I personally am very salt sensitive, so I know I have to really salt it up for others, but this was an abuse of a salt shaker.

[DaveD]

I did not know that about the difference between DC and Morton's. Thanks for that pearl of wisdom!

[WI Bubba]

Honest Officer, that triple beam scale is for salt, and the baggies are for storing rubs.

[texastweeter]

I'm pretty heavy handed with the salt. Never really measure it though. I REALLY heavy handed with the black pepper though.

[tstalafuse]

texastweeter He is an old school Texas salt and pepper, so if the salt didn't kill it the amount of pepper would...

[texastweeter]

I like him already.

[STEbbq]

I’d be more concerned about table salt and iodine which I think imports a more metallic taste versus kosher for smoked meats.

I have measured out Meathead’s recommended rub and salt levels for pastrami and, well, I typically go much heavier.

[tstalafuse]

I typically try to follow recipes to the exact amounts, but now I am questioning the amount of "recommended" salt I should be using especially on big cuts of meat.

[RiverJeff]

I like the Dalmatian mix 2 pepper to 1 kosher salt mix than apply on all my beef til the pepper is very present! Makes me smile!!

[Oak Smoke]

I’m pretty heavy handed with the salt and pepper. It seems like a lot of the salt gets carried away with the drippings.

[Polarbear777]

I use mass and use the scale feature in paprika. I also compared several types of salt and settled on this.

[Polarbear777]

This is consistent with meatheads volume recommendation but I only use mass as it’s easier to scale/measure.

[STEbbq]

I will have to check again next time I am salting. I guess part of the issue is that I am not always dealing with a single brisket but the point and flat separated so more surface area.

[Polarbear777]

If I have multiple pieces I just weigh them and scale the salt in multiple bowls per piece.

About as foolproof as I can manage.

Then with salt free rubs you just toss as much or as little as you want on top.

[MsTwiggy]

I use sea salt at 1/2 tsp per pound of meat. I am salt sensitive. I salt early so it has time to penetrate. I usually let a butt or brisket dry brine for over 24 hours. Steaks at least 1 hour before cooking. IMHO proper dry brine makes a difference in how dry your meat ends up.

[CandySueQ]

What MsTwiggy says^^^! For a contest, I will fully season my brisket and let it rest chilled for as long as possible before cooking.

[texastweeter]

Same. Inject. Salt fridge 24 hours at least.

[Murdy]

I limit my salt intake due to a health condition. I follow Meathead's recommendations for salt, and I find it comes out great. I typically dry brine overnight. And, I find I can fit this level of salt within my diet.

[Huskee]

I do the standard 1/2 tsp coarse Kosher salt/lb meat, it never fails you. Yep, I measure so my results are consistant. If I'm adding a saltless rub after dry brining then I will spinkle a little extra salt on top after the rub so that the bark has a balance.

[WayneT]

I have been eyeballing my salt for meats attempting to do what I thought was 1/2 tsp/lb, but for the last two cooks I actually weighed after trimming and could tell I had been using much more. None of my prior cooks tasted too salty though.

From the scientific discussion about salting meat, I understand the salt gets absorbed into the meat during dry brining and helps the cells retain moisture. What happens to that salt during the stall when the meat starts sweating?