Question on storing Pastrami before Finish

vulnox · Mar 14, 2017

Hello!

Love the forum, I have learned so much here. One thing I am having trouble finding an answer to in some old posts is when it comes to having a period between the smoke and the finish on something like pastrami.

I want to do the method of smoking the corned beef brisket to 150, and then I see where people prefer to do a pressure cooker for 25-30 minutes to finish the pastrami. In these instructions I have so far only seen people do this right after hitting 150 IT.

My issue is, I am making this for a team event at work. What I WANT to do is:

Thursday: Smoke the Corned Beef/Pastrami to 150 IT (or as needed per suggestions)

Thursday Evening: Let pastrami rest and cool a bit, and vacuum seal, and put in the refrigerator for the night.

Friday around 10:30 or 11am: Put in 2-3 cups of water and the pastrami on a rack above the water in the pressure cooker while at work and do the 25-30 minutes (or longer since it is now cooled)

My concern is that the pressure cooker is intended to finish the cook from 150 IT and letting it cool in the refrigerator means I won't get a good result from the pressure cooker the next day.

Any thoughts on this? If needed, I suppose I could just smoke and pressure cooker Thursday night then vacuum and refrigerate, but I like the idea of having a convenient way to warm up the pastrami on the day of at work. Otherwise we have to run back and forth to the refrigerators out in the break area which is usually busy around lunch time and kind of a pain.

Thanks very much!

tropics · Mar 14, 2017

Why not cook it till probe tender then you only have to warm it?

Richie

vulnox · Mar 14, 2017

tropics said:
Why not cook it till probe tender then you only have to warm it?

Richie

I noted in my post that we COULD warm it at work, but it requires everyone running back and forth to a microwave a decent distance from the room. I liked the idea of having a way of doing the entire thing in one go in the room.

tropics · Mar 14, 2017

Vulnox said:
tropics said:

Why not cook it till probe tender then you only have to warm it?

Richie

Click to expand...

I noted in my post that we COULD warm it at work, but it requires everyone running back and forth to a microwave a decent distance from the room. I liked the idea of having a way of doing the entire thing in one go in the room.

Okay I could see warming it with the pressure cooker,or an electric skillet

Richie

vulnox · Mar 14, 2017

tropics said:
Okay I could see warming it with the pressure cooker,or an electric skillet

Richie

Yeah, if I could warm it with the pressure cooker that would be good too. I haven't learned enough about the pressure cooker to just do the warming without overcooking it or something.

chef jimmyj · Mar 14, 2017

It doesn't matter if you pressure cook raw or partially cooked, 150, corned beef/pastrami...No different than taking a smoked and chilled pastrami and steaming it tender a couple days later. What cooker are you using? Smart Pots have pressure cook, steam and slow cook features...JJ

vulnox · Mar 14, 2017

Chef JimmyJ said:
It doesn't matter if you pressure cook raw or partially cooked, 150, corned beef/pastrami...No different than taking a smoked and chilled pastrami and steaming it tender a couple days later. What cooker are you using? Smart Pots have pressure cook, steam and slow cook features...JJ

Thanks for the reply!

I have an IPDUO60 (Instant Pot 6 Quart Low/High Pressure Cooker). I also have an Anova Precision Cooker. I have been doing some reading and the Anova may be a better approach. I plan to vacuum seal the pastrami and refrigerate it. So, what I may do is put the pastrami on the smoker until about 190 (probe tender equivalent) and then let it rest for an hour, then vacuum seal and refrigerate.

Around 9:30/10am on Friday I can fill up the water at work and get the temp up to 150 (or 165? I see conflicting info on this) and reheat the pastrami for an hour or so in the hot water bath then slice them.

Seems less risky than using the pressure cooker, right?

Thanks all for the advice so far. This is basically just finding the best way to reheat all the pastrami before slicing in an office setting where ovens/smokers/etc aren't quite going to fly. :)

chef jimmyj · Mar 14, 2017

Both will work. The Anova will be more predictable. On the reheat IT, 150 is fine for cured meats, pastrami, Ham, etc. 165 is for reheated everything else...JJ

browneyesvictim · Mar 14, 2017

Can't disagree on all the above. I take my pastrami to 200' IT (or just short of that) and is in the smoker the whole time. But it is foiled (crutched) at about 165'. I cook it just like any other brisket and then wrapped in towels and placed in a cooler until ready to serve. I think it benefits from the higher temps that briskets are known to take. That being said, I haven't tried to pressure cook one, but can see the logic in that.

For the schedule you are on, I don't see why you couldn't follow the whole cook/smoke of your desired method then vac seal and then hold in Sous Vide until ready to slice and serve. In fact I think it would be super tender this way. Why cool and re-warm it?

vulnox · Mar 14, 2017

Browneyesvictim said:
Can't disagree on all the above. I take my pastrami to 200' IT (or just short of that) and is in the smoker the whole time. But it is foiled (crutched) at about 165'. I cook it just like any other brisket and then wrapped in towels and placed in a cooler until ready to serve. I think it benefits from the higher temps that briskets are known to take. That being said, I haven't tried to pressure cook one, but can see the logic in that.

For the schedule you are on, I don't see why you couldn't follow the whole cook/smoke of your desired method then vac seal and then hold in Sous Vide until ready to slice and serve. In fact I think it would be super tender this way. Why cool and re-warm it?

Thanks for the reply! Biggest issue with holding in Sous Vide is I would be smoking at home but have to transport it to work, which is a 45 minute drive and not the best to move a container filled with water and sealed meats, while keeping the SV going. :)

I think after a ton of reading I will do smoke until 160-165 IT, pressure cooker for 30-40 minutes, rest, vacuum seal, refrigerate, then the next morning take it into work in a cooler and hook up my SV around 10AM and start warming it up.

Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions, you helped me eliminate the probably bad move of using the pressure cooker and got me on the right path.

browneyesvictim · Mar 14, 2017

Vulnox said:
Thanks for the reply! Biggest issue with holding in Sous Vide is I would be smoking at home but have to transport it to work, which is a 45 minute drive and not the best to move a container filled with water and sealed meats, while keeping the SV going. :)

I think after a ton of reading I will do smoke until 160-165 IT, pressure cooker for 30-40 minutes, rest, vacuum seal, refrigerate, then the next morning take it into work in a cooler and hook up my SV around 10AM and start warming it up.

Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions, you helped me eliminate the probably bad move of using the pressure cooker and got me on the right path.

Perhaps I wasn't clear... I wasn't suggesting to transport with the SV going.

Take it to work in a cooler as you were but wrap it in towels and keep it warm instead of cold for your transport, then set up your SV again at work if you want. But in fact you may not even need to take and set up your SV at work at all. It will hold at safe temps wrapped up like that in a cooler from the time you leave home till you are ready to slice and serve.

vulnox · Mar 14, 2017

Browneyesvictim said:
Perhaps I wasn't clear... I wasn't suggesting to transport with the SV going.

Take it to work in a cooler as you were but wrap it in towels and keep it warm instead of cold for your transport, then set up your SV again at work if you want. But in fact you may not even need to take and set up your SV at work at all. It will hold at safe temps wrapped up like that in a cooler from the time you leave home till you are ready to slice and serve.

Gotcha, I assumed you just missed the work part and that I was doing this all at home, where I would do what you suggested normally.

My only problem with that is I will be cooked 2-3 of these ~4lb corned beefs. I am not confident in the timing of all three being where I have them all hit their IT just in time for me to wrap them and drive to work. :)

If one finishes in 8 hours and another in 10 or whatever, it becomes a whole big juggling act. That's why I was hoping to do them the day before and refrigerate overnight then just walk in and reheat all three.

When I smoke at home I do what you said and just wrap the hell out of them and will let them rest in the cooler for up to 4 hours as long as they stay in a safe temp range.

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Question on storing Pastrami before Finish

vulnox

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tropics

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vulnox

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tropics

Epic Pitmaster

vulnox

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chef jimmyj

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

vulnox

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chef jimmyj

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

browneyesvictim

Master of the Pit

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browneyesvictim

Master of the Pit

vulnox

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