I posted in the Introduction board pictures of a recent pastrami I made via Sous Vide, Smoking and Steaming and figured I would post the entire process and the pics so everyone can see.
I started with a roughly 8lb choice brisket from Costco. Out here they don’t sell whole briskets or points, but the flat I bought had a decent portion of the point still attached.
I cured the brisket for a week using the following brine:
2 gallon of water
400 grams kosher salt
200 grams sugar
4 tsp pink curing salt
4 TBS pickling spice (a homemade blend of peppercorns, mustard seed, coriander seed, red pepper flakes, allspice and bay leaves)
After curing, I desalinated it overnight before bagging it and cooking it sous vide.
Cooked it at 150 degrees for 24 hours and the put it in an ice bath and into the fridge for a day.
Then I rubbed it with my preferred pastrami rub of equal parts coriander seed and black pepper.
About 2-2 1/2 TBS each was enough to cover the beef.
Let that sit overnight in the fridge and then I smoked it at about 275 degrees (wanted to go lower but was having trouble keeping the temp down in my WSM) for about 2-3 hours until the temp hit 175 degrees.
One half of the pastrami then went into a pot to steam until it was super tender, maybe another 30 minutes.
The other half went into the fridge after smoking. Each meal thereafter, the pastrami was sliced while cold and then the slices were steamed to temp.
Big fan of the results. Even while nibbling on the cold slices they were great and steaming them just put it over the top. Super tender, good salty/cured flavor. I wish I could get a whole brisket (or at least one with more point) but haven't had much luck out here in NY.
Pics are below
Brisket halves post-sous vide. Rubbed with coriander/black pepper rub and put in refrigerator overnight. This is on the way to the smoker
This is the half that I steamed right of the smoker
Sandwich - club roll and Guldens mustard only with sour pickles on the side
2nd half. Because this half had some of the point I cut into this half into smaller pieces so each slice would be cut across the grain.
I started with a roughly 8lb choice brisket from Costco. Out here they don’t sell whole briskets or points, but the flat I bought had a decent portion of the point still attached.
I cured the brisket for a week using the following brine:
2 gallon of water
400 grams kosher salt
200 grams sugar
4 tsp pink curing salt
4 TBS pickling spice (a homemade blend of peppercorns, mustard seed, coriander seed, red pepper flakes, allspice and bay leaves)
After curing, I desalinated it overnight before bagging it and cooking it sous vide.
Cooked it at 150 degrees for 24 hours and the put it in an ice bath and into the fridge for a day.
Then I rubbed it with my preferred pastrami rub of equal parts coriander seed and black pepper.
About 2-2 1/2 TBS each was enough to cover the beef.
Let that sit overnight in the fridge and then I smoked it at about 275 degrees (wanted to go lower but was having trouble keeping the temp down in my WSM) for about 2-3 hours until the temp hit 175 degrees.
One half of the pastrami then went into a pot to steam until it was super tender, maybe another 30 minutes.
The other half went into the fridge after smoking. Each meal thereafter, the pastrami was sliced while cold and then the slices were steamed to temp.
Big fan of the results. Even while nibbling on the cold slices they were great and steaming them just put it over the top. Super tender, good salty/cured flavor. I wish I could get a whole brisket (or at least one with more point) but haven't had much luck out here in NY.
Pics are below
Brisket halves post-sous vide. Rubbed with coriander/black pepper rub and put in refrigerator overnight. This is on the way to the smoker
This is the half that I steamed right of the smoker
Sandwich - club roll and Guldens mustard only with sour pickles on the side
2nd half. Because this half had some of the point I cut into this half into smaller pieces so each slice would be cut across the grain.
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