Delayed pastrami smoking advice requested

[Dr ROK]

MH's recipe for pastrami calls for letting the meat set with the rub on it for two days. I had scheduled smoking it Wednesday, but something has came up and I won't be able to smoke it until late Friday night. Any advice on whether I should remove it from the desalination bath today and keep in it a gallon ziplock and add the rub on Wed/Thursday or should I go ahead and rub it now and let it set for 4 days instead of 2?

[Dr ROK]

Since I haven't had any responses to this I decided to error on the side of caution and just pulled the CB from the water bath and slipped it into a gallon ziplock. I'll add the rub Wednesday night and smoke it Friday night. I'll post pics as I go through the process.

[Huskee]

Dr ROK it wont hurt to have it sit with rub on it for 4 days. Assuming the meat is good for that long, the rub will not hurt it. In fact, Meathead says "a minimum of 2 days."

[Dr ROK]

Do you think it would dry too much if left uncovered for 4 days?

[Huskee]

Dr ROK, I don't know. Maybe let it go 2 days unwrapped, then wrap it until you smoke it? I have never gone that long to know. When I've done mine I've always wrapped it just because I didn't want a dry barky crust on mine. But I do know Meathead recommends leaving it unwrapped the 2 days. Experiment & let us know how 4 days turns out!

[Dr ROK]

OK, Huskee, I'll do some experimenting for the good of the cause. After all, I think it was Ernest that posted one time. "Relax, it's only food." I need to adopt that mantra on a more consistent basis. I tend to be a bit anal about end products. If it's too dry, I can always use it for corned beef hash. Love that stuff anyway.

I did put it in a ziplock last night, but when I get home from work tonight I'm going to go ahead and rub it up and let it set uncovered till Friday night. That'll be 4 days uncovered. I'll post updates as I go. Thanks for the help!

[Dr ROK]

It ended up being 4 1/2 days in the fridge before I got around to smoking the pastrami. The final product was very good, and I couldn't tell any difference between it and one I'd made prior.

Here's the pastrami taken out of the fridge:




Here's what's left after smoking, steaming, and making rueben sandwiches. It'll make some great pastrami hash, oh yea!

[Huskee]

Nice Dr ROK ! Great to know 4 days works just fine. I have also gone on the opposite end of the spectrum and let the rub sit only 2hrs or so before smoking. I honestly couldn't tell the difference. Maybe side by side I could've, but on separate occasions I couldn't tell.

It's good to know whether you're in a hurry or have plenty of time, 2hrs or 4 days works.