Rolf’s latest Corned beef to Pastrami Magic - December 2022
Edited and updated March 2025
Recipe is for 3 corned beef points of 3-4 Lbs each
Ingredients:
~10 pounds of good corned beef. Points preferred but flats are ok too.
Each piece of meat will feed about 4-6 people. Leftovers make excellent hash.
Charcoal suitable for a 8-12 hour cook
Mixture of smoking woods. I recommend equal parts Apple and Cherry. Optionally one or two chunks of Pecan.
10 tablespoons fresh black pepper kernels (Tellicherry black recommended)
12 tablespoons coriander seeds
9 teaspoons garlic powder
6 teaspoons onion powder
4 teaspoons caraway seeds
3 teaspoons Juniper berries
Optional
2-3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds. Will increase spiciness considerably*
* If using mustard seeds reduce black pepper to 9 tablespoons
-Rye, pumpernickel or swirled combo bread
-Brown (or Dijon) Mustard
Optional
-Swiss Cheese slices
-Coarse country mustard
Meat Prep:
1. Take the corned beef and place in a large stock pot or buckets and fill with cool water. Every 2 hours change the water out for fresh water. Soak for at least 4 hours (if the corned beef is thawed) or 4-6 hours of the corned beef is frozen.
2. Pat the corned beef dry.
Rub Prep:
1. Measure out the spices and divide into equal portions. Using a spice grinder (AKA Chopper style coffee grinder) grind half the spices until they are medium fine. Grind the rest of the spices to be medium coarse. Combine the coarse and finer mixtures.
2. Shake the spice mixture on the corned beef pieces so there is a thick layer on both sides, and all edges. Place on a dry tray and refrigerate over night or longer.
Smoking and serving:
1. Start your smoker and set it up with enough fuel for 8-11 hours of cooking. Regulate the temperature to 230 to 250 degrees.
2. Once the smoke has changed from white to blue put the meat on. Any loose rub from your tray should get sprinkled on top.
3. Smoke for 4 hours.**
4. Wrap the meat in butcher’s paper or parchment paper. (Foil is an alternative)
5. Cook until largest piece reaches 197-199 degrees
6. Allow to cool. Ideally refrigerate or even freeze over-night.
7. While still cool slice thinly. 2-3mm is a good setting. Sprinkle the slices with bits of the smoked rub that has fallen off the meat.
8. Wrap sandwich sized piles in wet paper towels and warm in the microwave for 35-45 seconds, or if you have a deli steamer heat with steam.
9. Assemble sandwiches with mustard, cheese, etc and enjoy
* * Recipe Variant. After 4 hours remove the smoked meat, place in a food safe plastic bag, and cool in ice water bath and then refrigerate. When time prepare to serve, remove the meat from the fridge and place in 195 degree sous vide bath for 4 hours. Allow to cool briefly and then slice and serve.
10. Assemble sandwiches and enjoy. I tend to go with raw bread, but browning up the sandwich on the griddle is awesome too.
TIPS
- if you run out of fuel, just put the wrapped meat in an oven at 225 degrees. The smoking part is over so it really isn't cheating.
- With a medium big green egg and a Spider with a pizza stone instead of a conveggtor, you have enough room to put these in a rib rack and have plenty of space. Put small crumpled foil balls between then so they don't touch.
- Don't use Mesquite or Hickory. They are too strong. Maple is an option but I prefer it for other things. Apple and or Cherry works very well IMHO.
-The soaking serves to reduce the salt, but also opens up the surface layer so the spices stick better. Depending on your salt tolerance, and the particular corned beef, you may want to soak longer. I tend to like salty, but without soaking most brands are just too salty.
- You can tweak the ratio of pepper to coriander, just make the total 22 tablespoons. More pepper makes it hotter, more coriander give it more of that special "pastrami taste". My next batch will be 10 T pepper and 12 Y coriander to see what I think. While I love mustard seed, I have come to think it drowns out the subtlety of the caraway and juniper so I probably won't be using it in the rub the future.
-I usually add a very thin layer of Mayo to the bottom slice of bread as sacrilegious as that may be!
- Don't forget to save some for pastrami hash.
Edited and updated March 2025
Recipe is for 3 corned beef points of 3-4 Lbs each
Ingredients:
~10 pounds of good corned beef. Points preferred but flats are ok too.
Each piece of meat will feed about 4-6 people. Leftovers make excellent hash.
Charcoal suitable for a 8-12 hour cook
Mixture of smoking woods. I recommend equal parts Apple and Cherry. Optionally one or two chunks of Pecan.
10 tablespoons fresh black pepper kernels (Tellicherry black recommended)
12 tablespoons coriander seeds
9 teaspoons garlic powder
6 teaspoons onion powder
4 teaspoons caraway seeds
3 teaspoons Juniper berries
Optional
2-3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds. Will increase spiciness considerably*
* If using mustard seeds reduce black pepper to 9 tablespoons
-Rye, pumpernickel or swirled combo bread
-Brown (or Dijon) Mustard
Optional
-Swiss Cheese slices
-Coarse country mustard
Meat Prep:
1. Take the corned beef and place in a large stock pot or buckets and fill with cool water. Every 2 hours change the water out for fresh water. Soak for at least 4 hours (if the corned beef is thawed) or 4-6 hours of the corned beef is frozen.
2. Pat the corned beef dry.
Rub Prep:
1. Measure out the spices and divide into equal portions. Using a spice grinder (AKA Chopper style coffee grinder) grind half the spices until they are medium fine. Grind the rest of the spices to be medium coarse. Combine the coarse and finer mixtures.
2. Shake the spice mixture on the corned beef pieces so there is a thick layer on both sides, and all edges. Place on a dry tray and refrigerate over night or longer.
Smoking and serving:
1. Start your smoker and set it up with enough fuel for 8-11 hours of cooking. Regulate the temperature to 230 to 250 degrees.
2. Once the smoke has changed from white to blue put the meat on. Any loose rub from your tray should get sprinkled on top.
3. Smoke for 4 hours.**
4. Wrap the meat in butcher’s paper or parchment paper. (Foil is an alternative)
5. Cook until largest piece reaches 197-199 degrees
6. Allow to cool. Ideally refrigerate or even freeze over-night.
7. While still cool slice thinly. 2-3mm is a good setting. Sprinkle the slices with bits of the smoked rub that has fallen off the meat.
8. Wrap sandwich sized piles in wet paper towels and warm in the microwave for 35-45 seconds, or if you have a deli steamer heat with steam.
9. Assemble sandwiches with mustard, cheese, etc and enjoy
* * Recipe Variant. After 4 hours remove the smoked meat, place in a food safe plastic bag, and cool in ice water bath and then refrigerate. When time prepare to serve, remove the meat from the fridge and place in 195 degree sous vide bath for 4 hours. Allow to cool briefly and then slice and serve.
10. Assemble sandwiches and enjoy. I tend to go with raw bread, but browning up the sandwich on the griddle is awesome too.
TIPS
- if you run out of fuel, just put the wrapped meat in an oven at 225 degrees. The smoking part is over so it really isn't cheating.
- With a medium big green egg and a Spider with a pizza stone instead of a conveggtor, you have enough room to put these in a rib rack and have plenty of space. Put small crumpled foil balls between then so they don't touch.
- Don't use Mesquite or Hickory. They are too strong. Maple is an option but I prefer it for other things. Apple and or Cherry works very well IMHO.
-The soaking serves to reduce the salt, but also opens up the surface layer so the spices stick better. Depending on your salt tolerance, and the particular corned beef, you may want to soak longer. I tend to like salty, but without soaking most brands are just too salty.
- You can tweak the ratio of pepper to coriander, just make the total 22 tablespoons. More pepper makes it hotter, more coriander give it more of that special "pastrami taste". My next batch will be 10 T pepper and 12 Y coriander to see what I think. While I love mustard seed, I have come to think it drowns out the subtlety of the caraway and juniper so I probably won't be using it in the rub the future.
-I usually add a very thin layer of Mayo to the bottom slice of bread as sacrilegious as that may be!
- Don't forget to save some for pastrami hash.
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