Last weekend I did 3 pastramis on the WSCGC + SnS combo, and they turned out great! I was in the mood for experimenting so here's the setup:
Pastrami #1: Store-bought corned beef soaked for 12 hours+ Dry rub (Meathead's recipe) stored uncovered in fridge for 48 hours + Smoke on WSCGC+SnS for 9 hours (to 200°F internal) + wrapped in foil, placed in freezer for 3 hours, then moved to fridge until supper the next day.
Pastrami #2: Store-bought corned beef soaked for 12 hours + Sous Vide at 150°F/36hrs + Ice bath + Apply rub + Store uncovered in fridge 24 hours + Smoke on WSCGC+SnS to 165°F internal (2 hours) + wrapped in foil, placed in freezer for 3 hours, then moved to fridge until supper the next day.
Pastrami #3: Clint Cantwell's method all the way : Store-bought corned beef soaked for 12 hours + Sous Vide at 150°F/36hrs + Ice bath + stored in SVbag in fridge 24 hours + Remove from bag, dried off, add rub + Smoke on WSCGC+SnS to 165°F internal (took 2 hours) + wrapped in foil, placed in freezer for 3 hours, then moved to fridge until supper the next day.
Basically, I SVd two of the pieces #2 and #3, placed rub on one for a 24 hr-uncovered-in-the-fridge stay and left the second one in the SV bag in the fridge for 24 hours (per Clint's recipe) and applied rub to it just before adding to the smoker.
The third piece, #1, was done the way I always to pastrami: take all the way on the smoker, unwrapped, to probe tenderness.
Results:
The day after the smoke, I sliced all 3 pieces cold and made Reuben sammies with them, on the panini press. I did not heat or steam the meat before adding to the sammies. Slices were 1/4 inch thick. The pastrami heated to a beautiful tenderness in the sammie with the heat from the panini press alone.
1. The differences between the three for taste, moistness and tenderness was minimal enough to attribute to different pieces of meat only. Take home message: all three cooking methods did equally well.
2. The bark was best on Pastrami # 1 and #2. I couldn't tell the difference in bark quality between the two. #3, where the rub was added just before placing it on the cooker had a bark that was OK but wanted to come off as I sliced it.
3. All three pieces lost about 50% of their trimmed weight during smoking.
What did I learn?
That I can sous vide + smoke or smoke all the way and have equal results. That means if I'm cooking for company and need a more predictable Meat ETA, then the sous vide + smoke method would be the best. Otherwise, I just enjoy smoking the meat all the way.
That for good bark with the sous vide method, let the rub sit on the uncovered piece of meat in fridge for 24 hours before smoking.
Photos:
Sorry I don't have any photos of the sliced meat--I was too busy making the Ruben sammie + French Onion Soup dinner to take any.
Here are photos of the meat smoking along to deliciousness just about 2 hours into the cook.
#2 and #3, the sous vided pieces are ready to remove from the smoker. The "my bite" and #3 will go all the way to probe tenderness at 200°F which will be 7 hours after this photo was taken.
And the look of the two sous vided pieces with rub put on right before smoking vs. put on 24 hours before:
A note about using the SnS with the WSCGC--The SnS is so easy to set up and quick to get on its way to smoking. The flavor profiles compared to other pastramis done on the WSCGC are about the same, as I recall.
I'm still working on nailing solid temps with the SnS but I'm getting closer with each cook.
Kathryn
Pastrami #1: Store-bought corned beef soaked for 12 hours+ Dry rub (Meathead's recipe) stored uncovered in fridge for 48 hours + Smoke on WSCGC+SnS for 9 hours (to 200°F internal) + wrapped in foil, placed in freezer for 3 hours, then moved to fridge until supper the next day.
Pastrami #2: Store-bought corned beef soaked for 12 hours + Sous Vide at 150°F/36hrs + Ice bath + Apply rub + Store uncovered in fridge 24 hours + Smoke on WSCGC+SnS to 165°F internal (2 hours) + wrapped in foil, placed in freezer for 3 hours, then moved to fridge until supper the next day.
Pastrami #3: Clint Cantwell's method all the way : Store-bought corned beef soaked for 12 hours + Sous Vide at 150°F/36hrs + Ice bath + stored in SVbag in fridge 24 hours + Remove from bag, dried off, add rub + Smoke on WSCGC+SnS to 165°F internal (took 2 hours) + wrapped in foil, placed in freezer for 3 hours, then moved to fridge until supper the next day.
Basically, I SVd two of the pieces #2 and #3, placed rub on one for a 24 hr-uncovered-in-the-fridge stay and left the second one in the SV bag in the fridge for 24 hours (per Clint's recipe) and applied rub to it just before adding to the smoker.
The third piece, #1, was done the way I always to pastrami: take all the way on the smoker, unwrapped, to probe tenderness.
Results:
The day after the smoke, I sliced all 3 pieces cold and made Reuben sammies with them, on the panini press. I did not heat or steam the meat before adding to the sammies. Slices were 1/4 inch thick. The pastrami heated to a beautiful tenderness in the sammie with the heat from the panini press alone.
1. The differences between the three for taste, moistness and tenderness was minimal enough to attribute to different pieces of meat only. Take home message: all three cooking methods did equally well.
2. The bark was best on Pastrami # 1 and #2. I couldn't tell the difference in bark quality between the two. #3, where the rub was added just before placing it on the cooker had a bark that was OK but wanted to come off as I sliced it.
3. All three pieces lost about 50% of their trimmed weight during smoking.
What did I learn?
That I can sous vide + smoke or smoke all the way and have equal results. That means if I'm cooking for company and need a more predictable Meat ETA, then the sous vide + smoke method would be the best. Otherwise, I just enjoy smoking the meat all the way.
That for good bark with the sous vide method, let the rub sit on the uncovered piece of meat in fridge for 24 hours before smoking.
Photos:
Sorry I don't have any photos of the sliced meat--I was too busy making the Ruben sammie + French Onion Soup dinner to take any.
Here are photos of the meat smoking along to deliciousness just about 2 hours into the cook.
#2 and #3, the sous vided pieces are ready to remove from the smoker. The "my bite" and #3 will go all the way to probe tenderness at 200°F which will be 7 hours after this photo was taken.
And the look of the two sous vided pieces with rub put on right before smoking vs. put on 24 hours before:
A note about using the SnS with the WSCGC--The SnS is so easy to set up and quick to get on its way to smoking. The flavor profiles compared to other pastramis done on the WSCGC are about the same, as I recall.
I'm still working on nailing solid temps with the SnS but I'm getting closer with each cook.
Kathryn
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