MH's Close to Katz's Pastrami

[The Burn]

I've done this once before with wonderful results, so I thought I'd document it this time. This is a 5 lb flat.

It brined for 10 days and then was ready to desalination. Here it is sitting at the bottom of a stock pot.



Soaked for about 14 hours. Then rinsed, dried, oiled and applied the rub.



It's currently doing 48 hours uncovered in the fridge. It will go in the smoker on Thursday, so check back for more photos.

[Huskee]

I bet it will be fantastic!

[The Burn]

It ended up doing 5 days in the fridge rubbed and looked like this before it went on the Performer:



Ended up cooking for about 6 hours to 190:



GF has been craving the pastrami, so instead of refrigerating all of it for 12+ hours, I halved it - part for now, part for later in the week:



Then steamed it to 203 and sliced it up:



This was pretty good, particularly for my first smoke on the Performer and with the Smokenator. Will see later in the week whether the refrigeration and steaming makes it any better.

[Jon Solberg]

That looks SAAWEEEET!

[gshayd]

Nothing better that a hot Pastrami Sandwich. That looks like it will make a fine sandwich.

[IrondeQuer]

Nicely done, Burn!

[The Burn]

Thank you all. It was a bit better later in the week when it had rested in the fridge. I made have been a little heavy handed with the rub so when I steamed the second half I sat it directly on a rack and let some of the rub steam off. It's a long process, but it doesn't take much more active work than doing a brisket. That said, I think next I'm going to do a corned beef.

[Marauderer]

It really looks great and your commentary and adjusting the powere of the rub as you went says you are doing well. Thanks for sharing!

[David Parrish]

Meathead has said this might be the best recipe on the whole site, and I agree. This is a must try for anyone who likes Pastrami.

[The Burn]

When you read the text that accompanies the recipe, it's clear he's probably spent more time working this one up.

[David Parrish]

No doubt. It's also one of the most heavily commented recipes.

[Matt144]

What's the take on wrapping the pastrami? Does brining/steaming prevent it from drying out? Or is it possible to crutch and get a really moist result?

[The Burn]

I can't recall if I wrapped it this time (I got busy during the cook and my log is incomplete), but I don't think so. I think with all the soaking and then the steaming, along with usually allowing it to rest, moisture is not an issue.

[City Boy]

Hey guys happy Super Bowl hangover week!

This was the third time I've tried this recipe and was just a little confused this time. Two questions:

Did the recipe smoke to temp change to 150 or has it always been there? I had three half briskets, which btw seem a lot thicker than anything I've ever seen here or on TV (maybe 5" at the thickest) and they only took 6 hours to smoke and they actually hit 175 when I finally checked them. Had the PRIMO closed and steady at 225. I thought I remembered smoking for much longer than that in the past.

Second concern was that the steaming process took over 6 hours. I know how important it is to get it right back up there so I waited but ended up serving the sandwiches as a takeaway item. After 5 hours I removed the foil that I had under the brisket so that the steam would hit the underside of the brisket better, seemed to help.

Thoughts?

[Jerod Broussard]

City Boy

No hard fast rules on that internal. I've taken all mine way past that on the smoke. Main thing is that it isn't necessary to do a full smoke like you normally do since you are going to steam later.

Most will steam in 3-4 hours with a good tight seal. If you have really thick meat or not so tight of a seal, that will extend the steam time.

[DeusDingo]

ok i feel stupid for asking but i want to know: what is the process for steaming?