Put up some brisket for pastrami last night...

[realdocBBQ]

Costco run. 2 full pork bellies and a 17.5lb Prime brisket.


After trim and separation:


1947g point
3570g flat


5lb 6.9oz of trim. Sheesh.



Used Meathead's brine calculator for 5.5kg of meat, 2.5" thick, which was the thickest part of the point. 3 gallons of distilled water, and threw in an 'eyeball' amount of various pickling spices, as well - mustard seed, dill seed, black peppercorns, some mace powder, red pepper flake, bay leaves, coriander, a cinnamon stick allspice, cloves, some juniper, anise pods - don't remember if I put in cardamom or not. Oh shoot, forgot garlic. Oh well, I think it'll come out ok.

7.8 day cure time. So it should be ready to desalinate the day before Thanksgiving, smoke it overnight, rest it during the day, I'm excited.

Gonna do a long 3-day turkey brine after injecting, as well. W00T!

[realdocBBQ]

The 18 lbs or so of pork belly will get turned into bacon, probably this evening.

DOUBLE W00T!

[Draznnl]

Very cool.

I’ll be posting a pastrami adventure from start to slicing later today.

[realdocBBQ]

I wish I could get a decent cheap cut that was thick enough to make big thick cuts of pastrami - like 4" thick. Don't want to do WHOLE brisket, as that giant deckle fat I think is unappetizing, especially once corned/cured. Does like a big old rump roast turn out decent pastrami? Some other big thick cheap cut?

[Draznnl]

@DogFacedPonySoldier I think any cut will work. You have to make sure you cure the meat long enough with a very thick piece of meat. However, brisket has a certain texture to it that other cuts don’t duplicate. So, while you can duplicate the taste, don’t be surprised if the tongue feel is a bit off.

[jfmorris]

That is some nice looking meat! So much waste in that trim. Sure drives the usable cost per pound of the meat up doesn't it? I figure most are like that though if you separate the point from the flat, and go after all that fat layer between the two. I had a couple pounds just trimming the exterior fat of the last brisket I did, and I left a 1/4" of the fat cap.

So is this the evolving Thanksgiving menu? Homemade pastrami, homemade bacon, and turkey?

BTW I have that same red handled filet knife. Rapala I think. One of my gotos when trimming fat. Very cheap, and very sharp!

[realdocBBQ]

Absolutely! Also be doing a ham, as well.

[jfmorris]

realdocBBQ did you decide on the ham yet? If you did, I may have missed it.

I made a "whole ham" last year, versus doing one that was spiral sliced, and probably will stick with spiral sliced next time, for ease of use/trimming/eating. I ended up with a lot of meat left on the bone, which sat in the freezer for a few months before I decided we weren't ever gonna make soup with it, and I tossed it. I feel like the spiral sliced ones I've made had less waste.

[realdocBBQ]

jfmorris, I think I'm with you. I don't know that doing a whole ham is really worth the extra trouble carving. Really, having the spiral slices is just so much more convenient - I think I'm anti- just because I feel like it's taking the 'easy' way out, even though it doesn't change anything about the cook. lol. Just... you know, vanity, I guess.

So I'll prolly go with a spiral, although it seems harder to find the larger ones. I need to keep looking, maybe I'll just do two.