First try at Homemade Pastrami

TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Let's see, what's next on my list of things to try? Oh yeah, I haven't corned beef yet... Let's go with pastrami.

For Pastrami I wanted something with a little more fat marbling than brisket. The butcher said these roasts were cut from the from the front navel section (a traditional beef cut for Pastrami) and included the short ribs. Perfect!
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Short ribs trimmed off & into the freezer. Excess fat trimmed.
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I'm happy with the salt level of the 4% Brine for ham & bacon, so I'm going that route and will modify the brine to suit corned beef.

Brine Solution:
1 1/2 Gallons filtered water
1 1/4 Cups Pickling Salt (250 Grams by weight)
4 tsp. Cure #1
1/2 Cup Sugar
3 - 4 TBS Pickling Spice


Pickling spices simmered in some of the filtered water then allowed to cool (the whole house now smells like potpourri).
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The rest of the brine ingredients which were mixed with the water & spice solution.
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I tasted the brine and it definitely has the flavors that you associate with corned beef.

Into the brine solution, cover & into the fridge for 6 - 7 days.
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See you in 6 or 7 days.
 
ACW3

ACW3

New member
Cliff,
I like where this is going. The different choice of meat is interesting. Can't wait for the 6 or 7 days to be up.

Art
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
squirtthecat said:
Low(er) salt corned beef... I'm watching this too!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I figure why over salt it just to end up soaking it for a day to leach out some of the salt? We'll see how well it works. :rolleyes:



ACW3 said:
Cliff,
I like where this is going. The different choice of meat is interesting.

Art
Click to expand...

I debated a little over which cut to use, but when my butcher showed me those roasts, it didn't take long to decide. The price was nice too; $3.19/lb. ;)
 
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TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Pastrami - Update

One thing I didn't mention above was that I've done a "Cheater" or "Easy" Pastrami using store bought corned beef briskets. The whole point of this was to learn how to cure my own.

Ok, it's been 6 days, so they should be ready. The corned beefs were flipped once per day to be sure they they were brined & cured evenly.

The outside looks gray after the brine but the inside is still pink. From what I've read this is supposed to be normal. One of the roasts needed to be tied to help it stay together during smoking.
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I scoured several pastrami rub recipes. I decided since there's plenty of salt in the meat, salt in the rub was not needed. This is what I came up with:
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For each roast:
1 TBS Course Ground Black Pepper
1 TBS Paprika
1 TBS Ground Coriander
1 1/2 tsp. Mustard Powder
1 tsp. Mustard Seed
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Brown sugar
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice (fresh coarse grind)
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

It tastes pretty good. Peppery, but not too peppery & spicy with just a hint of sweetness. The allspice comes through very subtly at the end. It should work.

Rubbed, then rubbed some more then onto the MAK in smoke mode for a 1 1/2 hours using the last of my Sugar Maple pellets (need to get a BPS order together). Then I'll bump it to around 275° - 300° until they get a nice color.
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Be back in a while...
 
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ACW3

ACW3

New member
Cliff,
You're leaving us hanging, again. You may have to bring some to Savannah in June, just so we get to taste it, too.

Art
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Pastrami - Finished!

Once they got a nice color they were foiled with a few tablespoons of water to steam until an IT of 190° then allowed to rest. After it cooled some, one got thick sliced for immediate consumption and the color, taste and smell were phenomenal!
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It had a little too much pepper for my wife & daughter's taste, so for now I'll just scrape a little off & next time I'll cut back on the pepper & kick up the coriander.


It sure made a great sammy with some Swiss Cheese & Rye Bread!
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TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Chipped - Final thoughts.

I finally got a few minutes to get the slicer out and chip the remaining pastrami.

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Final thoughts: All in all I'm pretty happy with the results especially with this being my first corned beef attempt. Next time I'll cut back on salt in the brine just a tad & use a lighter coating with less pepper in the rub.

I now see why folks who cure their own Corned Beef & Pastrami say that until you cure your own you won't believe how much better it is.

Overall a good learning experience and the wife is especially happy because she loves corned beef.
 
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