Corned beef to pastrami - great flavor but way to salty

gmc2003 · Apr 15, 2017

Sorry no pictures, I currently don't have a camera, and use a rotary phone.

So as the title states I did the prepackaged corned beef to pastrami trick yesterday. The pastrami flavor was out of site, but it also had a major salty aftertaste. I soaked the corned beef overnight changing out the water four times. When I woke up I rinsed it off and applied my rub of coriander, pepper, onion, garlic and brown sugar. Then into my WSM for the smoke using mesquite and hickory. After cooking at 250 for nine hours I pulled it out at 185. Let her rest for an hour and tasted. The initial bite was perfect then the salty aftertaste kicked in.

It was really disappointing. I'm glad this piece of meat only cost me 5 dollars as it is uneatable. I can't even give it to the dog, because of the salt and garlic. Not to mention I'd probably have to start giving him high blood pressure medicine. Anyway I'll try to salvage it by making into a hash. My question is where did I go wrong? Is there anything that can be done after the fact to save the pastrami?

Thanks in advance

Chris

SmokinAl · Apr 15, 2017

Soaking it overnight should have taken out most of the salt.

Your only other option would be to cure your own brisket so you could control the salt content.

Al

gmc2003 · Apr 15, 2017

Thanks Al, one of these days I want to try and cure my own, but I read so many success stories on this method I had to try. Maybe it was just the brand I used.

Chris

tropics · Apr 15, 2017

gmc2003 said:
Thanks Al, one of these days I want to try and cure my own, but I read so many success stories on this method I had to try. Maybe it was just the brand I used.

Chris

Chris next time you do one,cut a small piece to do the fry test.

Richie

shyzabrau · Apr 15, 2017

I'm really curious about what went wrong. When I did it, I was very happy with the results. Maybe you needed a higher volume of water?

3261509113_e043d2b55e_o.jpg

shyzabrau
Apr 15, 2017

gmc2003 · Apr 15, 2017

Thanks Richie, I should have thought of that. We do the fry test when making sausage.

Thanks Shyzabrau, you may be on to something. I thought the bowl I used was plenty big enough, but maybe not. I used a large plastic salad bowl that hold more then a gallon of water.

dirtsailor2003 · Apr 15, 2017

Another trick is to half a potato and put it in the water. When you change the water out put in a new halved potato. Potatoes are salt sponges. Save the taters and cook them if you want.

justplainbob · Apr 15, 2017

i soak mine for a couple of days

now I'm gonna be "that guy"

did you use garlic and onion powder?

gmc2003 · Apr 15, 2017

Case, wouldn't the potato leak out starch? If it doesn't or doesn't affect the taste I'll give it a go on the next round. I still have a pre-packaged corned beef in the freezer. Thanks for the idea.

Bob, I think my wife would kill me if I took up that much real estate in the the refrigerator for a few days. Yes I did use onion and garlic powder.

Chris

daveomak · Apr 15, 2017

May I suggest... When you brine cure meats, weigh the salt and cure and sugar based on the weight of the meat plus the water... If you have 5#'s of meat and 2#'s of water, add the salt at 1.75%... the sugar at 1%.... the cure at 0.25%... plus any spices you like.... The result will be salt 2%... No rinsing or soaking required... brine for 7 days per inch of thickness... Use a zip bag....

It is recommended to use approx. 25-50% brine solution per weight of meat for a brining solution...

gmc2003 · Apr 15, 2017

Dave great brining advice, however I didn't think I was brining. I was more soaking to get the saltiness out of the prepackaged corned beef. The rest of the ingredients were added after as a rub, and always I'm very appreciative of any and all suggestions.

chris

daveomak · Apr 15, 2017

gmc2003 said:
Dave great brining advice, however I didn't think I was brining. I was more soaking to get the saltiness out of the prepackaged corned beef. The rest of the ingredients were added after as a rub, and always I'm very appreciative of any and all suggestions.

chris

Sorry... I got confused when you noted a bowl large enough to hold a gallon of water....

Anywho.... Use the numbers to a hunk of meat... same deal... salt, sugar and cure based on the weight of the meat... 7 days per inch thickness... spices as much as you want... no need to soak or taste test until done...

You can rinse at the end of the cure cycle... then add more spices before you put it in the smoker.. I do... I grind them to a fine powder so we are not eating whole pepper corns etc..

disco · Apr 15, 2017

I am so glad you posted this. I wondered if it was just me.

I don't use a corned beef to make pastrami. The reason is commercial corned beef is usually quite highly salted and I find it makes it too salty. You have to remember most people cook their corned beef by boiling it in water which takes a lot of the saltiness out. This doesn't happen when you smoke it. However, many really enjoy a pastrami made from a corned beef.

I have just found it so much better to brine my own which allows me to introduce more traditional pastrami spices and control the salt.

Just my personal preference but I had the same experience trying to smoke corned beefs and finding them too salty.

Disco

gmc2003 · Apr 16, 2017

I'll chalk it up to a learning experience. I have one more corned beef left in the freezer that I'll try in a couple of weeks. If that fails then oh well. I will also be looking/researching into making my own from scratch.

Keep on smoking in the free world.

Chris

grizsmoker · Apr 17, 2017

gmc2003, after St. Patrick's day I purchased 6 corned beef brisket points that were on sale for cheap. I froze 3 for future CB & Cabbage and I smoked the other 3 for thin sliced pastrami.

All 3 packages were the same band and roughly the same weight. I soaked them overnight and then into the smoker they went. Two of them turned out great, but one was so salty it was inedible.

I have no idea why one was so much different than the others as they all looked exactly the same to me. My guess is just like we have all experienced, "no two briskets are the same", so I am thinking this brisket just absorbed more salt than the others.

I don't know if that's possible, but that's what i am going with.

Keep your smoke on.

Russ

Corned beef to pastrami - great flavor but way to salty

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