Pastrami - smoked & then sous vide instead of steaming?

[The Burn]

I haven't been on the boards in a couple of years. Most of my stuff found its sweet point and my cooking slowed down for awhile.

Anyway, been doing pastrami again lately. Did a small flat to pastrami using the standard MeatHead recipe, including the revised smoked temp to 150. Wasn't as thrilled as some in the past. Seem to be seeing some discussion on here about, using sous vide instead of the steam.

I'm finishing off the smoke tonight (probably take it off soon as it's pushing thru the stall in the 160s now), then am serving tomorrow afternoon. Am I SV'ing up to 203? And how long?

I started with a 12-lb whole packer, separated off the point and cut the flat in half, and had about 7lbs trimmed in three pieces.

Is it then worthwhile to fire up the grill again to harden the bark (or maybe the broiler)?

Thanks

[RonB]

I've been happy taking pastrami to probe tender on the kettle - no steam or sv.

[Huskee]

Hey Burn, happy to hear from you again!

This thread here is a very popular technique. Of course you can use it with whichever cut you're using, not specific to short ribs per se. Let us know if it looks good to you.

[Spinaker]

Burn!!!! Great to hear from you again sir!

Personally, I have gone to smoking the brisket all the way up to 203 F and treating it just as I would any other brisket. I have found that the bark stands up much better that way. Using SV certainly works as well. However, I think smoking to finishing temp is more than sufficient.

Even though you have not been around as of late, we appreciate your continued support and we hope to see more of you here soon!

[Polarbear777]

If I’m taking the internal temp above the stall/160F, I will typically just smoke it to finish like a brisket. I already had the smoker running so the steam step seems like it adds work.

Or or I’ll do the full "QVQ" treatment from the beginning:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/sous-vide/470975-"two-week-qvq-pastrami"

[The Burn]

Thanks Huskee. That must have been what I saw. I’m going to give that a try today. Let y’all know how it goes.

Hey Burn, happy to hear from you again!

This thread here is a very popular technique. Of course you can use it with whichever cut you're using, not specific to short ribs per se. Let us know if it looks good to you.

[fzxdoc]

I did a comparison of Clint Cantwell's recipe for SVQ pastrami vs. straight Q. The results were comparable. Here's the writeup, if you're interested:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/sous-vide/318540-sous-vide-que-pastrami-comparison#post318540

Kathryn