Home Made Pastrami

smokin vegas · Dec 16, 2011

I have been brining and smoking my own Pastrami. Did one this past week. Smoked one and Froze one. Even though I brined it for 10 days the brine and cure did not get to the very middle. Will remedy that with my newest cooking toy.

I served it up with some Baked Zucchini

2 sliced Zucchini

1 sliced Bell Pepper

1 sliced medium Onion

Drizzle heavily with olive oil

and toss

1 tablespoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Italian Herbs

Salt and Pepper

Add to tomatoes and pour over veggies

1 large can crushed toamtoes

3 pureed fresh tomatoes

Bake at 350 for one hour.

pops6927 · Dec 16, 2011

A great looking meal! you did a great job on it and I'm drooling for sure! An injection needle is a great tool to have in your smoking tool box! Congratulations! It can be used on dried beef, too.... !

forluvofsmoke · Dec 16, 2011

This brought a couple of concerns to my mind...

First, the cut of beef you show with the heal sliced off looks like a fairly heavy cross-section...maybe 3" thick, with the fat cap. Is that a tri-tip? Just curious, as I've not done anything with that cut yet myself, but this doesn't look like either cut off of a packer brisket to me. Anyway, 10 days may be a bit shy on brine/cure time, especially with the fat cap intact, as the fat seems to slow the process of osmosis and equilibrium between the solution and the meat. With an average weight packer, my flats and points generally take 10 - 14 days without injecting the cure solution, and they're in the 2" - 2-1/2" thickness range, and I also trim very lean for corned beef.

If the cure didn't take all the way through to the center, that could easily translate into a food safety issue, IMO, (due to extended times in refrigeration with the intention of curing) so be careful what you do with it. I have never had any signs of not fully curing my corned beef after smoking, but I have always sliced enough of it open to be sure it was fully cured before eating any.

I haven't injected for any of my cured meats yet, but they have all been thinner cross-sections, so I've been successful without to this point in time. In your case, with the thicker cut of meat, injecting would be the best choice.

Just so you know...it's best to be sure you get a full cure.

BTW, that sliced pastrami looks freakin' mouth watering from where I'm sitting, and I just finished supper!!! Nicely done!!!

Carry on, fellow smoker!

Eric

EDIT: CRAP! I didn't see the rest of the meal until I posted...you snuck that one in on me with an edit, didn't you??? Ha-ha-ha! Man, that looks like a dandy meal!

smokin vegas · Dec 16, 2011

That is a TipTip I tried Brisket but didn't care for it. It was a very large one the largest I have ever done. There was a small spot in the center that did not get the brine. Meat is kept very cold too. Used Cure#1 and1!/4 cup of coarse sea salt and tenderizer.

michael ark · Dec 16, 2011

Don't look like tri tip to me too fatty.All the tri tip i dealt with was super lean.

warpath · Dec 16, 2011

michael ark said:
Don't look like tri tip to me too fatty.All the tri tip i dealt with was super lean.

Most I have seen are just the opposite.. have a large chunk of fat. on one side.. When I lived in CA I was always taught to grill them fat side down first.. I recently tried a couple fat side up and they were the juiciest I have had..

seeya

Dave

joe nichols · Dec 16, 2011

meat looks great how did you cure it.

smokin vegas · Dec 16, 2011

It is tri tip I buy it in bulk at Smart and Final Wholesale. I leave the fat on because it keeps the meat moist.

smokin vegas · Dec 17, 2011

This is prime meat not the disgusting choice sold in most regular markets.

smokin vegas · Dec 17, 2011

8 cups of water, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup course sea salt, 1 teaspoon pink salt (cure #1), 2 ounces pickling spice cloves, juniper berries, garlic lots of garlic. Brine for 10 to 14 days. The long the better to a certain point.

sprky · Dec 17, 2011

wow looks great to me. My first thought when i saw the pic was looks close to a rib roast. darn fine job

SmokinAl · Dec 17, 2011

It looks more like prime rib, than pastrami. But it sure looks good!

smokin vegas · Dec 17, 2011

I hadn't noticed but you are right it does look prime rib but nope. Proably because of the layer of fat and it was really moist. I use Tri Tip (black angus) the store that I buy it at leaves the layer of fat. I buy it in 20 lbs bags. There are 3-4 tri tips in each bag. The store is wholesale bought the Tri Tip for $3.09 a lbs. Most of the grocery stores in Vegas sell it for around $6.00 a lbs. I made a double smoked ham to give to my brother at the same time. I injected the ham with a cup of apple jc with 2 tabelspoons of brown sugar could not get it all that in the ham though. Ham turn out wonderful.

tjohnson · Dec 17, 2011

When they commercially cure a large piece of meat, do they inject the meat?

I can't seem to find "Tri Tip" in my area, is it possibly called something else?

Todd

pops6927 · Dec 17, 2011

Yes, they are stitch injected (many rows of needles through a processing table) and with maximum curing amounts to shorten curing time.

Try WalMart, they started carrying it a few weeks ago.

TJohnson said:
When they commercially cure a large piece of meat, do they inject the meat?

I can't seem to find "Tri Tip" in my area, is it possibly called something else?

Todd

smokin vegas · Dec 17, 2011

Tri Tip is the bottom Sirloin got to Wikipedia and it shows you where it is located. Different regions of the US do call give items different names. Injecting meat--I was wondering if commerically they inject the meat myself. I will from now on. I moved the meat around everyday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-tip

smokin vegas · Dec 17, 2011

//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/BeefCutBottomSirloin.svg/300px-BeefCutBottomSirloin.svg.pngPink area is where Tri tip that is all I smoke. I did't care for brisket. The reason I like it is that it has a nice layer of fat over it. A gentleman that is a professional chef here in Vegas told me that it is the best cut for smoking. The layer of fat keeps the roast so moist and tender. The fat also adds flavor. I marinate or brine it and add a little tenderizer. It is fantastic.

venture · Dec 17, 2011

The tri tip is from the bottom sirloin butt which is often separated into the ball tip, the flap, and the tri tip.

Tri tips can come trimmed (NAMP/IMPS 185D) or untrimmed (NAMP/IMPS 185C). I prefer mine untrimmed, but many people like the fat cap off. This is why tri tips in the store can look so different at times.

Good luck and good smoking.

smokin vegas · Dec 17, 2011

I know that is what I said T Johnson was asking that is why I posted the diagram of the different cuts on the diagram of beef. So many ask so I thought the diagram would be useful to every one. It also gives alternate name.

pops6927 · Dec 17, 2011

Here's a post I did a couple years ago on tri-tip:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/78806/tri-tip

Shows what Venture was referring to.

Actually, it looks more like a top sirloin or possibly a ball tip. What did it weigh?

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