First Time Pastrami

[ecowper]

Okay, here we go. I picked up a 3 pound HOF today. Used Meathead's cure/brine recipe for Corned Beef, including the optional add-ins. Except that I cut the brown sugar in half. I'm using 2 gallon zip lock bags. I doubled up in case of a leak. The brisket is in the cure in my outside fridge. Now we wait.

[Jerod Broussard]

Be sure and smell it with those pickling spices. Smelled like a hint of root beer to me.

[ecowper]

Jerod Broussard smells great this morning. Touch of root beer smell, lots of corned beef smell. Hands now smell faintly of it.

[Jerod Broussard]

Good deal.

[ecowper]

5 days I have to wait. This is going to seriously test my lack of patience!

[EdF]

I've done this with a different recipe, but about the same amount of time. Believe me, it will be worth it!

[ecowper]

Everybody raves about it. I love real pastrami (not that crud from the grocery store). I love it so much that I make sure and go to Carnegie or Katz every time business takes me to NYC. C'mon Friday!

[HorseDoctor]

Good luck! Should be great. Next time try it with a point cut. More fat = even better brisket, corned beef &/or pastrami!!!

[ecowper]

Yeah, I would have grabbed point, but the local grocery store didn't have any. Next time I'm gonna grab a whole packer at Costco, separate the point and flat and use the point for my pastrami.

[Huskee]

I have never once in my life seen a lone point in a store in my area. Flats are hit & miss even. I think they get ground into burger at most places.

[ecowper]

Huskee every once in a while the local grocery has a point, but more likely a HOF. The local butcher will carry HOF and whole packers. Costco has HOF and whole packers. But ask anyone here for a Chuck eye steak ... They give you the crazy eye

[Kpaxfaq]

I feel your pain waiting

I have my second packer "corning" in the fridge as we speak. The first one was fantastic although I didn't do the extra steps for pastrami. I'll be vac-packing/freezing the whole one next time in portions to have on demand.

I like to do all my brining/curing in those 2 gal food-grade buckets you can find at Lowe's. With a gallon of brine and a whole packer cut into a couple pieces the liquid rests a few inches down from the top. I take a cereal bowel and sink it in the brine to hold it all under. Of course you need a second fridge to do it unless you're a bachelor!

Looking forward to seeing your results when you take it all the way!

[ecowper]

Kpaxfaq I have a full size garage fridge. Top shelf is covered with beer, soda and Gatorade (for the kiddos). Second and third shelves get used for bulky veggies and my various meat concoctions (as my wife puts it). Right now I've got a tri-tip dry brining for dinner tonight and the brisket busy Corning. Plenty of room for the pork belly that I'm going to start curing tomorrow ;-)

[Kpaxfaq]

Sounds like my basement fridge!

[ecowper]

Went out and turned and made sure there were no air bubbles, etc. It looks good. Can't wait for Friday, when I can start desalinating.

[RonB]

You will be desalinating and I will be salivating...

[Powersmoke_80]

Then 2 days to wait for the rub before smoking

[ecowper]

are you trying to kill me??? ;-)

[bbqoaf]

The Pastrami might be the single best recipe on the entire site.

[ecowper]

That's saying something.

[ecowper]

Going to desalinate this tomorrow morning and get it in the rub tomorrow evening. Smoking it on Weds.

[ecowper]

Pulled the hunk of brisket out of the brine .... So, now it's basically uncooked corned beef. I am tempted to just cook it tonight. It looked and smelled great. But I want some great pastrami so much that I will hold my impatience at bay and finish the process. You can't really get true deli pastrami in the northwest, so I am gonna have to make my own if I want some.

Here's the corned beef after draining and rinsing. I buy these bowls at Costco, food grade plastic. They come in a package of 4, which costs like $12, or something. I have a bunch of them laying around just for doing this sort of thing.

[ecowper]

Letting the corned beef desalinate was a good idea. 8 hours of that and the water it was in had a slight brine taste going on. Pulled the corned beef, rinsed it well, patted it almost dry and then liberally applied, and firmly pressed in, the pastrami rub to the entire thing. There's a bunch on the pan, so I will probably add that on over the next couple days. Now we wait .... AGAIN!

[Mosca]

You will be knocked out. It might be the best recipe on AR.

[Mosca]

I'm pretty sure fzxdoc and a couple others have said so as well. It is pretty spectacular.

[ecowper]

Well, I'm sticking to the recipe. And as difficult as it is being patient, it's looking amazing. I was severely tempted to just go with the corned beef today, but I finally told myself "no, you planned this as pastrami, stick to it. You love pastrami"

[fzxdoc]

You won't regret it, ecowper !

[ecowper]

Here's a shot of the pastrami at the end of day one in the rub. Going to smoke it tomorrow.

[Jerod Broussard]

Just make sure you let it get plenty bark. You know, to really extend the cook time.

[ecowper]

Now you are gonna have to be clear if you're serious or joking

[richinlbrg]

Status update, ecowper ??