Today's the day!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Today and tomorrow I know there will be lots of cookin' goin' on!

I'm taking my first stab at homemade pastrami today. Got 2 brisket halves in there, about 2 1/2 lbs each trimmed with 1/8" fat cap left. They've been curing since Friday evening and last night about 11PM I pulled them out of the brine, washed them down and put them in cold water and back in the fridge to soak out some of the salt...

This morning I got up and poured out that water and put in fresh cold water, gonna give them another hour, maybe, then throw them on the pellet smoker. Not eating until tonight... I'm thinking maybe I should wait a while. Small briskets like that aren't going to take 10 hours to cook, and we're going to eat probably around 7:30-8:00PM? Maybe I should wait till about noon and cook them till around 6, wrap them up to rest a bit and go to the 6PM church service?

I dunno... I have a Maverick temp probe, but... terrified of overcooking. Not a big deal to wrap up and pop in the oven if they're cooking too slowly, though, right? My first try at this, and I want the guests to enjoy the pastrami. Plus, I'm throwing a bone-in ham in there, too. Told the wife to get one that is cured but not cooked, but she said everything at the store was already fully-cooked. So not much to do to that except smoke it up to temp, I guess.

Pointers welcome. Just wondering about how long you have had to cook similar briskets. External temps should be in the 50s, I believe, shouldn't be too much of a factor. Meat thickness is 1 1/2" to 2" throughout, for the brisket. I'm kinda at a loss on the ham... since it's already cooked, I assume not much to really do there?

[Jerod Broussard]

Wouldn't worry at all about overcooking pastrami.

Check out the "Ultimate Ham Recipe" on the main site. I got one going right now while I'm up a tree in the woods. It's a 16 pounder for a coworker.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

That ham recipe looks great! I'm going to have to run to the store to get some apricot preserves! lol

[David Parrish]

The Chris Lilly Apricot Glaze is DA BOMB. It always gets compliments from my family.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Just got it all on the smoker! Can't wait. Gimme a few and I'll post some pics of the brisket.

[David Parrish]

We DO like pics!

[JohnF]

Not sure of your recipe, but Meatheads calls for the rub then 2 days in the fridge?

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Yes, I would have liked to leave them, but just didn't have time. I barely got time enough to cure them properly.

I think they'll turn out ok... essentially just rubbed them and put them on the smoker.

Pics!

Curing:



Ready for debrining:






In the water:




The rub - the red on top is just a touch of chipotle I added in at the last minute:



Ready to go!



Rubbed and in the smoker!

[Jerod Broussard]

Lookin' good. My wife complained about how long the process was and had absolutely nothing to do with it other than being under the same roof as the process.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Yup... taking a while. I'm at 187 and 192 right now.

Did a ham in the interim with Chris Lilly's spiced apricot sauce. Substituted agave nectar for honey and used smoked paprika instead of plain, and chipotle chile powder in place of cayenne. Turned out abso-freaking-lutely AMAZING. Wowzers, that glaze was a bit overpowering before cooking, but man, it came out totally perfect. In LOVE with that glaze! Pics upcoming...

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Here's the ham:

[jecucolo]

I did a ham for Christmas using the same method and it was fantastic!

[LA Pork Butt]

Looks great!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Just peeked in on my pastrami - one's at 207, one's at 201. Woot!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Well... that was a huge disappointment.

Not sure what I did wrong, but that was seriously NOT tender pastrami.

Pulled the two briskets off at 210 and 207 respectively, total cook was just about 8 hours for one and just over 8 or 8 1/2 for the other. Wrapped tight in foil and kept in a cambro for... about 3 hours. Still very warm and juicy when I pulled them out.

However...

Tough
Oversalty (needed more soak time)
One had a VERY thin strip in the center that wasn't cured - like 2-3mm. No big deal. 7 days next time instead of 5.
Too salty - overnight wasn't quite enough to pull out enough salt. Next time, 24 hours debrining.
Too heavy on the rub - too much pepper. Easy fix.
Tough.

And did I mention tough?

I dunno, it wasn't jerky, but it wasn't soft and tender, either. Dang. I am pretty disappointed in myself. Guess maybe I shoulda wrapped them instead of gone full smoke all the way? Was supposed to be a Choice cut, so who knows. All I know is I learned some lessons, and next time (if I try this again) I will probably do some things differently. <sigh>






Very few times have I been totally disappointed in something I smoked. Seldom have I wanted to throw it in the trash. Today was one of those days. If I coulda sliced it ultra-thin, maybe it would have seemed more tender. On a sandwich with rye bread, Grey Poupon and Swiss cheese it was better, but nothing like I was hoping for. I'd trade every ounce of what I cooked for a coupla Firehouse Subs New York Steamers.

[Huskee]

DogFaced PonySoldier
It could just be one tough ol' cow. Many times we read of folks who do a recipe and it doesn't work out too great and then next time it's awesome and they say something like 'I almost gave up but then I tried it once more and it was awesome'. I remember one fella who followed the regular brisket recipe to the letter and his brisket was tough. He was angry (it seemed) at AmazingRibs, including us mods and Meathead who all coached him through the process, for what he insinuated was a bad recipe and bad advice. We assured him everything he did was right, at least everything he said he did. Some months later he posted that he'd redone another brisket and loved it to pieces this time, best thing he'd ever eaten. You just never know how the meat will behave.

I did one pastrami that was slap yo' mamma good (but a tad salty so I desalinated my next one a pinch longer), and then my next one was 'meh' at best, tough, and the last couple pieces got tossed. Chalk it up to just a not so great hunk of meat.

Also, it looks like you didn't do the steam step? If you didn't, make sure to try it next time. All the steps lead to a better end product!

Keep up the good work!