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Pastrami, cheating a little

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    Pastrami, cheating a little

    I made my first pastrami a few days ago. Instead of corning it myself I picked up a corned beef brisket (~5lbs) from the supermarket. At $5.89/lb It was considerably cheaper than buying a $9/lb fresh brisket flat and spending a week corning it myself.

    I desalinated it 15 hrs (instead of the recommended bare minimum of 8). Then I decided to put some score marks to both sides before adding the rub.
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    Next I made up Meathead's Katz's Pastrami rub and applied liberally to all surfaces 360*
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    Meathead calls for the rub to stay on the meat for 2 days before smoking. I did not have the time to do this so I put it on for about 1.5hrs while the smoker was heating up. The finished product was still amazing. Next time I will do it 2 days since I'm anxious to see how this can go from A+ to A++.

    I smoked it about 6 hrs with red oak, (more than the recipe calls for as far as wood goes, but I like a good smoke profile and I feel it gets lost in such a highly-seasoned dish as pastrami) and about 2 hrs into the stall I wrapped it as you would a brisket and got the temp to 190. Then I pulled it and let it cool at room temp for an hour then placed it in the fridge, leaving the thermometer probe in.

    The next day I steamed it over about about 1" of water on a rack in a roasting pan. The rack was held up out of the water with 4 foil balls about the size of golf balls. I covered the joint of the thermometer probe & wire with a couple layers of foil to protect it from steam/water degradation.

    Once the water came to a low boil I placed the meat, on the foil it was wrapped in (but no longer wrapped), on the rack and turned the heat to low. I placed the roasting pan lid on with one steam vent open, and steamed it approx 1:30-1:45 until the IT was 203, then turned off the heat and let it sit there until the temp dropped to 180.

    Slice thin.

    Heaven.

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    As George Costanza says, pastrami is the most sensual of the salted, cured meats....

    #2
    Wow, I've got to give this a try, Huskee. It was such a smart idea to start with corned beef as a shortcut to pastrami heaven.

    Kathryn

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks Kathryn! Yeah, I thought as a entry into something I've never done before I'd keep it a tad simpler. For nearly half the price and a week less time & hassle though, I may always stick to pre-corned beef. If I could find a good enough deal anywhere on brisket flats I'd gladly try corning it myself, but I'm not sure that will happen sadly...

      I woke up today to find my wife & kids ate the rest of it so I couldn't even take any to work tonight...I guess that means it was a hit with the entire family!

      Comment


      • fzxdoc
        fzxdoc commented
        Editing a comment
        Same thing at my house. The minute I fall asleep someone is in the fridge snacking on the undefended Q!

      #4
      Looks great. I always start with corned beef.

      Comment


      • Huskee
        Huskee commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks Mark.

      #5
      Looks good. I run into the same problem at my house, everyone loves it so much it just doesn't last.

      Comment


        #6
        Lookin' good Huskee! Reminds me that I have wanted to make a corned beef, since I've gone all the way through to pastrami a few times now. Have to keep my eye out for a "reasonable" flat. At one meat market, they usually have on or two whole packers around every time I go in for about $4.99/lb. Might be worth it to try my hand at splitting the point and flat.

        Comment


        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          That's such a good price! I can't believe it. Around here brisket's price makes it such a delicacy that like Pit Boss I buy more steaks than brisket (which still isn't much). Meathead p[refers the point for pastrami. The point is some dern good fatty meat, like a tender chuck roast when cooked properly.

        • The Burn
          The Burn commented
          Editing a comment
          Yeah, it's strange because he's the only one. Costco, I think, is about $7 for a packer and nearly $9 for a trimmed flat. Grocery store somewhere in between. This little market must have a connection to the distributor...

        #7
        Nice one! Heck, I would be happy cheating if I could save a week's worth of work also.

        Comment


        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks Henrik!

        #8
        Did you change out the water any while desalinating?

        Comment


        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          Sorry I missed this JB, I don't remember so I don't think I did. It was still quite salty so maybe one water change wouldn't hurt unless you can handle salt. I put in water about 5pm, pulled it out the next morning about 8 to dry it and rub it while the smoker heated up.

        #9
        Nice work! Pastrami is one thing I want to try soon, and I love the idea of skipping the corning.

        Comment


        • Jerod Broussard
          Jerod Broussard commented
          Editing a comment
          I'm going all out real soon. My oldest step-daughter got tired of me just listing the steps.

        #10
        Ya da man Huskee

        Comment


        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks DWC you're way too kind. Hey, I even ate a bowl of raisin bran last night in your honor. Thought about slicing a banana too but I was too lazy.

        #11
        Thanks for the great idea of using a corned beef. Also great step by step. This is going to be my next smoke!

        Comment


        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          You betcha, credit goes to Meathead.

        #12
        Excellent, EXCELLENT job Huskee! Now I'm hungry for Rueben's!

        Comment


        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          Gee thanks Strat! I've not experimented much with pastramis, but this stuff is killer, especially so if you can already turn out some good smoked beef.

        #13
        How do you think this would work if you used a point instead of a flat?

        Comment


        • Jerod Broussard
          Jerod Broussard commented
          Editing a comment
          Many prefer the point. The flat just offers more even slicing.

        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          I think it would be awesome based on what Meathead and Jerod say! I don't have access to a point only, otherwise I would try it.

        • W.A.
          W.A. commented
          Editing a comment
          Just bought 2 corned beef points. I'll update how it goes.

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