I've done a couple of brisket pastramis and have never really been totally pleased with the results. Too dense maybe for my pastrami taste.
I was going to try Cowgirls venison pastrami, but didn't want to use my precious jerky meat.
So in the store the other day, I spied these Top Blade roasts and thought they would make a good looking pastrami with all the marbling and flecks of fat contrasted with the deep red cured meat.
If your not familiar with this cut of beef, it is from the chuck. It is very tender except for a nasty tendon that lays right through the middle of the cut. To make the flat iron steaks(which make real good fajitas by the way) you simply fillet the meat off each side of the tendon leaving a thin steak from each side.
Here's a good shot of the tendon intersecting the roast. Note the outstanding marbling in this cut. These were about 1 1/3 lb each.
So here's the recipe I used...
Wet brine cure...
2 small bottles of spring water
2 Tbs tender quick
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
Dry rub cure...
3 Tbs tender quick
1 Tbs ground pickling spice
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs black pepper
2 Tbs garlic powder
I used my injector to pump the roasts with as much wet cure as they could stand. ( ended up only using about half ). Kind of shook them off a little and used all the dry cure rub on the outside.
I'm going for a three and a half day cure and will smoke them Friday.
I figure if that big tendon survives the cure, smoke and steam, I can slice around it when the time comes.
I thought maybe this cut was an original idea for pastrami, But a google search found some English guy had tried it with liquid smoke then braised it in the oven.
( no offense C.A.)
Wish me luck!!
I was going to try Cowgirls venison pastrami, but didn't want to use my precious jerky meat.
So in the store the other day, I spied these Top Blade roasts and thought they would make a good looking pastrami with all the marbling and flecks of fat contrasted with the deep red cured meat.
If your not familiar with this cut of beef, it is from the chuck. It is very tender except for a nasty tendon that lays right through the middle of the cut. To make the flat iron steaks(which make real good fajitas by the way) you simply fillet the meat off each side of the tendon leaving a thin steak from each side.
Here's a good shot of the tendon intersecting the roast. Note the outstanding marbling in this cut. These were about 1 1/3 lb each.
So here's the recipe I used...
Wet brine cure...
2 small bottles of spring water
2 Tbs tender quick
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
Dry rub cure...
3 Tbs tender quick
1 Tbs ground pickling spice
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs black pepper
2 Tbs garlic powder
I used my injector to pump the roasts with as much wet cure as they could stand. ( ended up only using about half ). Kind of shook them off a little and used all the dry cure rub on the outside.
I'm going for a three and a half day cure and will smoke them Friday.
I figure if that big tendon survives the cure, smoke and steam, I can slice around it when the time comes.
I thought maybe this cut was an original idea for pastrami, But a google search found some English guy had tried it with liquid smoke then braised it in the oven.
Wish me luck!!
