Porkstrami questions

[jfmorris]

Ok, I saw a few posts over the winter of porkstrami, both sliced and pulled, and have a few questions, but cannot comment on the closed off Winter SUWYC channel, so here goes...

- Do you debone the butt to do porkstrami? If so, I assume before the brining/corning process?
- I assume you just corn it like in the corned beef recipe on the free side, then desalinate and apply the pastrami rub?

I saw some talk about sliced versus pulled. Which one do I want to shoot for?

I had kept a butt out of the deep freeze when I got a couple last week at Kroger with the intent of making the "buckboard bacon" recipe from Jess Pryless that Meathead shared on social media a week or so back, but for some reason, having pastrami for sandwiches sounds more appealing right now...

Also, I have a couple of pork loins. Would those be better for making porkstrami than using a boston butt? If so, are you going to smoke it to higher temps, or just the 145F I normally would take a pork loin to?

Thanks!

Jim

[jfmorris]

Well, this is crazy. I think the built in search here in the Pit must really stink, as I found this post from 2019 in a Google search, but never found it when searching the pit:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/porknography-ribs-pulled-pork-ham-etc/733911-porkstrami#post733911

I think that addresses all but the question on deboning. I would certainly want to be deboned if I were to try and use my slicer versus pulled. But the only time I deboned a raw butt it was to make tasso, and I was cutting it into smaller chunks for curing anyway.

[Murdy]

It's not that hard to debone a pork butt:

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+debone+a+pork+butt&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS872US872&oq=how+to+debone+a+pork+butt&aqs=chrome..69i57.6323j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_Bs4ZZOTRJOKtqtsPtuKv6AY_45

I would insert the knife parallel to the bone in the concave area and cut around it to loosen it, but I'm not as good as this guy.

[jfmorris]

Murdy that guy makes it look SUPER easy!

[DTro]

Thanks for the share Murdy -

[klflowers]

I missed that post the first time around Jim so thanks. I am obsessed with anything that ends in strami so I'll definetly be making this. Whenever I get some fridge space. No answer on boned or deboned, but it may be easier to remove the bone after it is cooked. I don't know if it would have an effect on the brining though.

[jhapka]

Might I suggest cutting the butt in half at the end of the bone? Slice the boneless half, pull the bone-in half, and cure faster. Then you can compare.

I only desalinate when I buy the prepared corned beef at the store. Maybe I’m missing a step when I home cure brisket/pork.

[jfmorris]

Great idea! I'll do that!

[CandySueQ]

WOW! How'd I miss this! I think I have a collar in the freezer...

[Smoked Transistors]

Chuds BBQ made a nice Pork Brisket Pastrami last year. He used a Pork brisket from Porter Ranch, the results looked great. Here's that video.

[jfmorris]

His Porter Road pork brisket is certainly bigger than the last couple I got from them... I've not bought it in a couple years just because as good as it was, the value per pound was just not there...

[jfmorris]

Ok, I think you guys helped me decide. I'll cut it in half, cure the bone in and boneless halves separately, which ought to put them at 4 pounds each, give or take, and then do the bone in half for pulling, boneless half to chill and run through the meat slicer...

[jfmorris]

Well, I mixed up a big batch of cure, which is cooling in the fridge at the moment in a 2 gallon stainless stock pot that I will put the pork in, but when I pulled the butt out of the cryovac, it was only 7 pounds, and the bone was larger than most, running about the full length of the butt. Usually it's half the length or less. So I've decided this particular butt will work best for pulling. So I just left it whole for now, and plan to put it in the cure for about a week and see how things look then. I'll move to the cure in a few hours once the cure is cooled down in the garage fridge.

[shify]

I've made it a few times and posted about it before. I've always used a boneless butt, so can't give any feedback on using a bone-in but otherwise, I've followed the standard pastrami recipe on this site but the cure takes much longer as even the boneless is much thicker than a brisket.

Looking through my old posts, it looks like I smoked then to 185 to keep it sliceable. For the next day, just like for regular pastrami, I steam the slices for a few minutes. I'm a huge fan and probably due to make some more - although I'm currently sitting on three pre-cored brisket points that I bought on sale and will eventually turn into pastrami when I have some time.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/food-recipes-techniques-show-us-what-youre-cooking/show-tell/960078-show-us-what-you-re-cooking-suwyc-volume-20-winter-2020-2021?p=969217#post969217

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/food-recipes-techniques-show-us-what-youre-cooking/show-tell/960078-show-us-what-you-re-cooking-suwyc-volume-20-winter-2020-2021?p=969751#post969751

[jfmorris]

Do you recall how long they cured? The cure calculator says it could take 20 days if I tell it the butt is 4 inches! The other recipe posted on here and other guidance on the net says 5-7 days...

[shify]

jfmorris - think I cured it for 12 days.

[Rob whatever]

I wonder if this would be a good opportunity to inject the pork butt with the brine to speed up the brining time.

rob

[jfmorris]

Yeah - I just gotta find the injector I bought years and years ago and have never used, haha.

[johnec00]

I use pork loin to make porkstrami. Here's my post from 4-5 years ago.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/porknography-ribs-pulled-pork-ham-etc/569391-porkstrami

[jfmorris]

Thanks! If the butt for pulled porkstrami works well, I think the pork loin might be next. Sounds like you just take it to normal pork loin doneness too, which won't take more than a few hours.

I've got a deli slicer and a pork loin would slice nice and easy for sandwiches.

[johnec00]

jfmorris Exactly . . . Whatever we don't eat when cooked, we chill and run it through the slicer for sandwiches.

[jfmorris]

Well, looks like I am 9 days in on curing, and basically forgot about it for the past week! I took the lid off the stock pot and turned it over with a spoon the first 2 days, and after the second time, it was sunk to the bottom and didn't need turning over anymore.

I'll probably let it sit until Sunday night, at which time I'll pull from the cure, rinse, and apply a pastrami rub overnight, and smoke while I work on Monday. That'll be 12 days in the cure. Hoping it reaches the center by then, since I never found my injector.

[Bob's BBQ]

Looking forward to the results!

[Spinaker]

You will be fine. I never inject mine and it has always been fine. You can go 15% longer than is recommended, just to make sure it penetrates, if you are worried about it.

[RolfTaylor]

Keep us posted.And thanks from bringing up this topic as I had not run across porkstrami. . Interesting stuff!

[jfmorris]

Ok guys and gals - back to report on the PORKstrami experiment!

It sat in the curing (corning) liquid for more than 2 weeks - March 21st to April 5th. On the evening of the 5th, I rinsed it, blotted dry, and then coated with a batch of the Katz pastrami rub from the free side, and put in the fridge overnight. It hit the kamado about 8am yesterday morning (the 6th).

At 1pm I added 2 racks of ribs, so they were on the grill when I took this picture later in the afternoon.



Unfortunately, due to temp issues (experimenting with vents) and then running low on fuel, the butt did not finish until almost midnight. I pulled it when it probed tender - parts were 195, some parts were 205. I yanked the bone out of the end, and just covered it with foil and put it in the garage fridge. You can see here where I pulled the bone.



This morning I broke out the slicer, and ran it through. I will say that the fat seams in the butt caused it to break up into smaller pieces than you would expect, but they tasted great. That crust is pretty spicy too, following the recipe.



Final yield from an 8# butt was about 4# of sliced PORKstrami:



I bagged it in 1# portions, freezing 2, kept one in my fridge, and sent one to my daughter who loves pastrami. She and the 2 year old loved it, even as spicy as it was.

All in all this was a GREAT use for a 99 cent per pound boston butt from Kroger. The main issue is the long cure time for something 4 inches thick like a butt. If you want to speed that up, you could slice into thinner hunks for curing.

I leave you with a small sandwich I had on sourdough for lunch...

[shify]

Looks awesome. Like you, I’m of the mind that you can’t beat it for the price. Is it better than pastrami, not sure but at $0.99/lb vs >$5/lb it’s hard to turn down. I also have found it slightly more foolproof than pastrami.

[barelfly]

Thanks for sharing your process on this! Now that you have had pastrami with pork and beef, which do you prefer? This looks excellent and something that I’ll consider for the future.

Thanks again!

[jfmorris]

I would have to have the two side by side. Beef certainly has a different texture, but I had a really big sandwich today with this pork pastrami, with just mayo and some horseradish sauce, and it was really really good even just as cold cuts. The cost per pound is certainly better for the pork. I really like the beef, but can see making this with a butt any time I pick some up on sale for a good price.