Hi all, I'm having a bunch of people over on St Patty's day and I'm planning to cook three corned beefs. Im going to cook one the traditional way, one boiled in Guinness and brown sugar (a recipe I tried last year that was delicious) and I'd like to do the third in the PBC. I don't feel like doing Meatheads pastrami recipe as there are too many steps and I don't have a ton of time during this week. The PBC recipe posted on their website seems pretty easy, but I don't want to use the beef and game rub. Adding salt to corned beef just seems like a terrible idea. Anyone have any rub or technique suggestions?
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goosebr160
Go ahead and make the pastrami using Meathead's directions for starting with corned beef, with the exception of taking the pastrami all the way to probe tenderness (195-203°F or so) . Serve right away or chill and store overnight; slice, steam the slices if desired, and serve.
I've PBC'd a bunch of pastrami that way. In short, here's what I do:
Store-bought corned beef soaked for 12 hours (water changed 3 times)
Dry rub (Meathead's recipe) stored uncovered in fridge for 48 hours
Smoke to probe tenderness, 203°F (or so). Mine are usually tender just under 200°F
Serve immediately or wrap in foil, place in freezer for 3 hours, then move to fridge. Warm before serving.
The bark is great and sticks well, even if you choose to steam it. I usually lightly steam or nuke several slices at once before piling into sammies and pressing them in a panini press to warm the whole sammich. I don't like steaming the whole pastrami chunk to 165 because it loosens the bark too much, which is why I prefer to work with heating slices instead. Plus the cold pastrami is much easier to slice.
The pastrami usually loses 50% of its trimmed weight during the smoking process, in my experience.
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; March 9, 2019, 03:27 PM.-
colin , yes, early on in my PBC learning curve I tried that method. Not with pastrami, but with straight up brisket. I found it works better if you do that after the brisket has had time to get a good bark on it, so I usually don't wrap brisket until it reaches 180-185°. Many folks add a little beef broth instead of the beer. Homemade beef broth can be gluten free.
Kathryn
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So I already posted this picture on the "show us what you're cooking" thread, but I decided I should share how I achieved these results (mostly because I can't stop thinking about it).
I started with a 4 pound point cut and trimmed off most of the surface fat including a piece of flat and deckle that was still attached. I followed Meatheads prep and rub. Soaked for about 18 hours, changing the water twice. Applied the rub Friday afternoon and placed in the fridge, uncovered on a wire rack for about 42 hours.
I cooked it in the PBC which was running fairly hot (I've learned not to panic when this happens). It peaked at 380, and took about 2 hours to drop below 300. It settled in around 280 after that. It stalled twice at 150 and 170. Both times I cracked the lid to get the temp back up to 320-330. This helped it quickly power through the stalls. Once it reached 180, I put it in my makeshift steamer. It went in a foil pan propped up on two crumbled up long pieces of foil. I poured in a beer and some beef broth just under the propped up meat (I brought the mixture to a boil first). Covered the pan tightly in two pieces of heavy duty foil, and returned it to the smoker. I cracked the lid and let it ride. In 1 hour, it was up to 203. I checked it and the probe slipped right in like butter. It was 2 hours before dinner time, so I placed the pan in a faux cambro.
The meat was so tender and juicy and the bark was absolutely on point (pun intended). Everyone loved it. My only complaint was that there were no left overs! I still have a 4lb flat in my fridge that I plan to smoke in the next couple weeks. Will be interesting to see how it holds up to the point. Total cook time was just under 7 hours, plus 2 hours in the cambro. Thanks fzxdoc for the advice!Attached FilesComment
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