First Corned Beef Pastrami's (w/ Q-view)

roadkill cafe · Mar 26, 2012

Well, with all the talk around here about how easy making pastrami out of corned beef is, I had to give it a whirl. I picked up a couple extra Penn-Dutch corned beefs at St. Paddy's Day. Seemed everyone was the same price around here, $3.49 lb. at 4 places. Not thinking to look, after I was home I noticed their brand had the spices already on the meat instead of in packets. Oh well... Soaked them, flipping and doing water changes, for about 16 hours and after last water change it stayed clear so I made my rubs (different one for each) coated & wrapped them and into the fridge they went. Rub #1 was fresh ground coriander seeds and peppercorns, granulated garlic and a small amount of Hungarian sweet paprika. Rub #2 was the same as #1 but had smoked sweet paprika, fresh ground juniper berries, onion powder, dried thyme, and superfine mustard powder. Pastrami with Rub #1 was given a little worstershire rub down before the spices, #2 was not. Also decided I needed to throw someing in there for tonight so I picked up some chuck short ribs and rubbed them with some 7 Steak Spice from Saltgrass (a steakhouse chain in TX) a friend sent me. Everything's in the smoker now with some applewood chunks and hickory chips. The wind is really messing with the temps and can't keep the wood from catching fire. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

Short Ribs w/ Saltgrass 7 Steak Spice

Pastrami w/ Rub #1

Close up of Rub #1

Pastrami w/Rub #2

Close up of Rub #2

Dutch · Mar 26, 2012

Looking great so far. Gonna have ta stock up on this stuff

and some of this

and see how this turns out. You're lucky to have some nice looking flats-all I could find in my area were points.

alblancher · Mar 26, 2012

looking forward to the rest of the Qview

roadkill cafe · Mar 26, 2012

Thanks Dutch. I wanted to update as the smoke went but my post was held up for moderator approval due to not being on here for a long time.

After hangin' out in the smoker for 3 hours

Pastrami #1

Pastrami #2

The Money Shots

Short Ribs were pulled at 165* and were quite tough. I think I over seasoned them a bit too. I ate them though.

Pastrami's pulled at 165* after 9-1/2 hrs. Stalled at 156* for about 4-5 hours.

Pastrami #1

Pastrami #2

Both Pastrami's are wrapped in foil and chillin' in the fridge until tomorrow when they'll be sliced for sammies. The fresh rye bread and swiss cheese were begging me to load 'em up but they'll have to be patient. I'll post more pics when they meet..."The Slicer" (insert evil laugh).

Also wanted to acknowledge and thank Luv2Q for his expert advice. BTW, Luv2Q, that wasn't fog on I-95 this morning, it was my smoke

roadkill cafe · Mar 26, 2012

Thanks alblancher. Gettin' any mudbugs yet?

sprky · Mar 26, 2012

alblancher · Mar 26, 2012

Pretty good strami for a Newbie!! The dads are still expensive but it's still a bit early I guess.

roadkill cafe · Mar 26, 2012

Thanks Sprky.

Thanks again Al. Tryin' to cook my way out of that "Newbie" marker under my name. Does it change with time, # of posts, or what?

jalan43 · Mar 26, 2012

Good looking Pastrami! Just goes to show you, Seasoned Pro or Newbie, Good pastrami is good pastrami!

roadkill cafe · Mar 26, 2012

jalan43 said:
Good looking Pastrami! Just goes to show you, Seasoned Pro or Newbie, Good pastrami is good pastrami!

Thanks jalan. Greatly appreciated. We'll see tomorrow when the REAL test takes place. The taste test. That's what separates the Seasoned Pros from the Newbies.

scarbelly · Mar 26, 2012

Looks like some great pastrami - congrats

diggingdogfarm · Mar 26, 2012

Looks tasty!!!

roadkill cafe · Mar 26, 2012

Scarbelly said:
Looks like some great pastrami - congrats

Thanks Scarbelly. :o)

DiggingDogFarm said:
Looks tasty!!!

Thank you DigginDog.

alblancher · Mar 27, 2012

Newbie thing changes with number of posts. You should be past the picture hold thing now. You are proving to us that you are not a newbie to smoking, just to the forum. Looking forward to see some sandwiches.

big sexy · Mar 27, 2012

Let us know when it is time for lunch!

luv2q · Mar 27, 2012

Originally Posted by Roadkill Cafe

Also wanted to acknowledge and thank Luv2Q for his expert advice. BTW, Luv2Q, that wasn't fog on I-95 this morning, it was my smoke

I'm hardly an expert, my friend, but thank you for the show of confidence! LOL!

By the way, it was YOUR smoke that had the darned traffic on I-95 backed up for miles!!! The radio was saying that it was fog. I've never experienced fog that smelled like pastrami, so I knew better than to believe them.

The Q-View is awesome! I can't wait to hear how it all turned out. Good move on trying different rubs. Changing up the variables is what helps you to refine your recipes, in my opinion.

africanmeat · Mar 27, 2012

Man this a great pastrami

roadkill cafe · Mar 28, 2012

Big Sexy said:
Let us know when it is time for lunch!

Lunch came and went like the cool weather here in South Florida....in a blink of the eye.

Luv2Q said:
The Q-View is awesome! I can't wait to hear how it all turned out. Good move on trying different rubs. Changing up the variables is what helps you to refine your recipes, in my opinion.

Thanks again Luv2Q.

africanmeat said:
Man this a great pastrami

Thanks Africanmeat. My daughter and I were saying the same thing while inhaling the first delectable slices.

roadkill cafe · Mar 28, 2012

Bought a Deni slicer yesterday (which will be going back...don't like it) and sliced up strami #2. A little strong on the pepper by itself but once added to a couple slices of fresh deli seeded rye, some mayo and a couple slices of imported swiss it all came together. Wow, I don't think I'll be buying strami from the deli ever again (with TooJay's being the exception). A couple pics of #2 to make your mouth water. The entire strami disappeared yesterday. Strami #1 gets sliced today. I wonder how long it will last?

Plate-o'-strami

Had to cut the strami in 1/2 so it would fit on the slicer. It was hard to tell which way the grain was running.

My daughter wouldn't keep her fingers off the slices as I cut them (me either). Said she was going to be my "official" strami photographer. I think she meant my "official" strami eater!

Strami #2 Sammich

realtorterry · Mar 28, 2012

Just awesome! I almost bought one of those Deni slicers too. Something told me not to. Then I ran into a deal I couldn't pass on a globe slicer & soo glad I got it. I have a CBB defrosting now to do the same thing meself!! Hope mine look as good as yours

First Corned Beef Pastrami's (w/ Q-view)

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