Pastrami questions

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smokin phil

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Jun 6, 2012
374
30
First time attempting pastrami. Local County Market had corned beef on sale for $.99/LB! Couldn't pass it up. Had only rounds left though. 

Here's what I have to work with: Brinkmann Smoke & Grill smoker. Have a controller to control temps. 

Plan on using pecan wood chunks to smoke, thinking about adding apple too. Maybe a spot of hickory? Thoughts?

Going to use fresh ground coriander, pepper and a bit of garlic powder for the rub. Again, thoughts?

This is a water smoker. Should I use water or dry smoke or some combination thereof?

Temp and time combination?

Anything else you want to add will be appreciated.

Thanks all!

LETS Q!!
 
First time attempting pastrami. Local County Market had corned beef on sale for $.99/LB! Couldn't pass it up. Had only rounds left though. 

Here's what I have to work with: Brinkmann Smoke & Grill smoker. Have a controller to control temps. 

Plan on using pecan wood chunks to smoke, thinking about adding apple too. Maybe a spot of hickory? Thoughts? Sounds good, hickory would be fine.

Going to use fresh ground coriander, pepper and a bit of garlic powder for the rub. Again, thoughts? That's the standard, if there's anything else you like you can throw it in. Juniper berries is also popular and does add a little something extra.

This is a water smoker. Should I use water or dry smoke or some combination thereof? I would and do use water to help keep it moist.

Temp and time combination? Smoke at 225* until IT is 160*-170* time is hard to tell, it can stall but probably about 1.5hrs/lb

Anything else you want to add will be appreciated.

I would soak the corned beef in clear water for a day changing the water 3 or 4 times to leach the salt out, you can do a fry test to check the saltiness.

Thanks all!

LETS Q!!
 
Here's he beginning of my pastrami. I picked these up at the local County Market (grocery store). Couldn't beat the price. Got rounds because that's all they had left.

756890e8_2012-06-16_15-13-47_174.jpg
4f1a881b_2012-06-16_15-13-55_87.jpg


Can't beat $.99/LB!!!

e6f577ee_2012-06-16_15-20-33_12.jpg


Starting the debrine soak.

1b88bdfd_2012-06-16_15-23-20_652.jpg


Here's my wood. Paid $18.63 delivered to the Do-It-Best (hardware store) about 5 blocks from where I work for the 2 bags of pecan and apple chunks. I know where I'm getting all my wood from now on... The hickory I picked up local for about $4. Gonna use some of all of it for the smoking phase.

Stay tuned for more updates!!!

Lets Q!!!!
 
One more thing. After the debrine, when I put my pepper/coriander/garlic rub on, should I wrap and let sit for a few days or not? Your recommendations and experiences?

Thanks again!!!

LET'S Q!!!

Sent from my Motorola Photon
 
You don't need to let it sit with the rub on it very long, I usually do 3-5 hrs. at most.

On a side note.... this is basically brisket, it is stringy and tough if you cook it to hot to fast and/or not long enough. You want to keep the temps low in your chamber (220-230°), when the internal temp of the meat hits 165° wrap them in foil then place them back in the smoker. Like all brisket you want to go to 190° internal temp for slicing or 200° IT for a more pulled texture - I personally do not like pastrami that does not bite through when you take a bite of the sandwich so I take mine to 200°, it just melts in your mouth!

Remember to let it cool in the fridge overnight before slicing it for sammy's. I usually pull it off the smoker and let it rest in the foil for 1-2 hours, then place in some fresh foil and pop it into the fridge.
 
More updates! And more pics. Debrine step done, rubbed and wrapped. Gonna let sit overnight and smoke on the 'morrow.

525765a2_2012-06-17_15-40-53_653.jpg


Rubbed.

c4b3c52b_2012-06-17_15-29-01_849.jpg


My rub. Black pepper, coriander seeds, both fresh ground, a bit of onion powder and garlic powder.

3b5fa86c_2012-06-17_15-29-35_839.jpg


My "new" $1.00 spice grinder. Picked it up at a yard sale Saturday. Stroke of luck, huh?

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Wrapped and ready for the fridge.

Gonna smoke with 3-2-1. Yeah, this is a different 3-2-1. 3 chunks pecan, 2 chunks apple, 1 chunk hickory. Just sounds like a good mix to me. Will be having sammys with fresh rye bread Tuesday! Can hardly wait. Also, gonna throw some Polska Kielbasa and some hot dogs on the smoker too. LOVE the Polska Kielbasa smoked, the hot dogs are an experiment. How bad can it be? I've yet to have ANYTHING off the smoker I didn't like!

Again, comments/suggestions ALWAYS welcome!

Thanks!!

LETS Q!!!
 
Looking good so far. I think I would have bought the place out at $.99/lb, that's too cheap to pass up. Last I looked, it was over $3 a lb here, I know it was quite a bit more per/lb than a packer brisket. I too do a similar "3-2-1" though it's usually apple-hickory and pecan, since pecan is so hard to come by here.

What temp are you going to take it to? I've only done one, and I went to 165. I'd like to see what a 190+ turns out like. I was worried about it breaking the fat down too much at a higher temp. It did turn out pretty good even if it did have a little "pull" to it.
 
Looking good so far. I think I would have bought the place out at $.99/lb, that's too cheap to pass up. Last I looked, it was over $3 a lb here, I know it was quite a bit more per/lb than a packer brisket. I too do a similar "3-2-1" though it's usually apple-hickory and pecan, since pecan is so hard to come by here.

What temp are you going to take it to? I've only done one, and I went to 165. I'd like to see what a 190+ turns out like. I was worried about it breaking the fat down too much at a higher temp. It did turn out pretty good even if it did have a little "pull" to it.

just curious as to where "here" is ?... If you would please update your profile to show where "here" is, It would be much appreciated
 
good deal... thanks bub... man, you are out there in the middle of nowhere.. eh
Oh yeah, in a town of less than 200 people. Nobody makes good bbq around here(restaurants anyways, there are actually quite a few Iowegians on here), so i had to take it upon myself 
smile.gif
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I know. But again, at $.99/LB just couldn't pass it up. Will try from scratch at some point, I'm sure. Thought it would be a good 'spearment. Around here, brisket is rather expensive. Cheap and on sale is about $4/lb. Normal price goes as high as $7/LB!!!

LETS Q!!!!
You don't have to use brisket, I use sirloin tip and it comes out great, I like the wider slices you get with it. I can catch it on sale down here for $2.49/lb.
 
On the smoker!!! used my 3-2-1 chunk ratio, with my ET-72 in the top/bigger one. gonna pull it at just over 190* methinks. Wanna be able to slice it, but be tender as well. Will try a bit when I pull it as well. The waiting is SOOOOOOOOOOO hard!!!!!

Here's a few pics:

ea9a3e1a_2012-06-18_12-16-31_681.jpg


On the smoker.

77e9f11d_2012-06-18_12-16-43_391.jpg


The wide shot. My smoker and my Weber. No, I don't use it that close to the house. In its summer storage spot. My Weber chimney as well. And the ET72. All the gear on that porch was presents from various people at various times. So in all that gear I have $0.00 invested. It all works for me!!

df0f8fa3_2012-06-18_12-48-19_178.jpg


This is also my free slicer. I've not used it yet. Am I going to be disappointed? Blade seems sharp. Cleaned it up good.

Anyway, we'll see what happens!!

LETS Q!!!!
 
Just wondering if it will cut very well. I've heard some of the plastic ones aren't so great. Don't want it to mess up my meat either. Although not much money, I do have some time invested.

LET'S Q!!!

Sent from my Motorola Photon
 
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