Corned Moose Brisket

[SenatorShriv]

I've been curing about 13lbs of moose brisket (flat) for about a week. I mostly followed the guidelines from meatheads corned beef recipe but added a few flares that I thought would work well with the wild game. I'm not going to be able to consume it all right without experiencing an instant heart attack.

Anything else that I should consider before vac sealing some of it? How long will it last in the fridge? If I vac seal how will it hold up in the freezer? What about "canning" some of it in a giant mason jar?

I host an event in March (after St. Patricks Day and unsold briskets go on sale) called Cornedbeefapalooza. If I could preserve some of it that long that would be ideal...

[Jerod Broussard]

Vacuum sealing and freezing should help it last a few months. Smoking it and making pastrami might extend that some.

[SenatorShriv]

any ideas about how long it will last vac sealed in a fridge? seems like the garbage they sell in the store usually has a month shelf life or so...

[gcdmd]

Freezing it in the brine might protect it from freezer burn. Also, storing it in a freezer that is not self-defrosting should prolong its shelf life.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/57100/time-250000-year-old-mammoth-was-served-dinner

[Spinaker]

Wow really curious to hear how this comes out.

[SenatorShriv]

Cool. Thanks for the help guys!

I'll be boiling some tomorrow for a test run. The technique that I've been using and getting rave reviews from with beef briskets has been to crock pot / simmer it for a couple of hours then finish it in a smoker to add a little smokiness and bark. That's what I'm going to do with about 1/2 of the batch tomorrow and then I'll freeze the rest for at least a couple months and see how well it lasts.

I split this moose with 2 other guys so I only have the one flat to play with. Next year I plan on taking the whole shebang. I've also found that other moose hunters aren't valuing the brisket so I'm fairly sure I can acquire a few more soon if this works out.

I'll report back!

[HorseDoctor]

Once it's "corned" and vacuum packed it's freezer life is somewhere just short of infinity, as long as the vacuum seal is intact. I found a piece of corned deer roast in my freezer that was (years) older than I care to admit but is was fine.

[SenatorShriv]

Just realized that I never followed up with folks here to let you know how it turned out... The flavor was fantastic! I won't change anything about the cure when I do it again.

It was a little bit leaner than a normal beef brisket as you would expect since the moose is just a leaner animal. Not sure if there is anything I can do to change that since I usually boil mine up.

I gave away several of the other chunks to the other guys who were part of the hunt. Just have this one four pound chunk left.

Thanks for following along and helping me with a few questions!

[HorseDoctor]

Oh my... throw that in a pot with some cabbage, taters & a few other root veggies... wow! Can't wait for St Patrick's day!

[gcdmd]

You could smoke it and make it into pastrami.

[HorseDoctor]

I have tried that with deer "corned venison" and IMO, it's too lean to make good pastrami.

[gcdmd]

Good to know, thank you. Back in my hunting days I corned a number of venison haunches, but I wasn't into smoking meat at the time, so I didn't try that.

Thanks again.

[grillinglen]

As a child in Alaska one of my dads friends gave us some corned bear brisket. don't remember anything other than it tasted just like good beef brisket, I'm sure if it was weird or real gamey we would've complained, being kids.

[Huskee]

I don't eat bear a lot, but when I did I remember it being a very sweet meat and not very gamey. I suppose that could be like venison or fish- varying from one to the other depending on how it lived what it ate and how it's prepared. But I also suspect that it would be a hit with kids!

[grillinglen]

These were coastal bears so you always took them in the spring so they weren't fishy