Pastrami

[nemisportsman]

Decided to get some smoking done and haven't attempted pastrami in a long while. Previous attempts have been brined pastrami this time I am doing a dry cure.

[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]
They were all about 3.25 lbs, I made sure the fat (where present) was trimmed to about 1/8 in.

My Dry Cure (for about 10 lbs meat)

[/font][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]1/3 cup Morton Tender Quick
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup freshly coarse ground black pepper
2 1/2 Tablespoons garlic powder
3 Tablespoons ground coriande[/font]r

THE BEEF AFTER 3 DAYS

 

[nemisportsman]

My first step today is to take the cured beef out of the bags and rinse thoroughly. All of the cure material should be removed at this time.

After rinsing they need to be soaked for at least an hour before smoking.
I use a huge stainless bowl, but a big pot, food grade bucket, or whatever would work just fine.

Time to make the rub and get the smoker ready while the briskets take their bath!

THE RUB

No salt for this one just some coarse ground items to give it a nice crusty and flavorful outside.


4 Tablespoons freshly ground black pepper, slightly coarse grind
3 Tablespoons freshly ground juniper berries
1 1/2 Tablespoons freshly ground coriander seeds, slightly coarse grind
1 Tablespoon garlic powder

 

[nemisportsman]

Got the smoker up to temp/loaded:

Tally for todays smoke:

3 Briskets Pastrami
1 3.5 lb Chuck roast
2 Fatties (ones a bratwurst w/ kraut, I forgot to label other when I made a batch up and froze so it's a surpise)
10 Chicken thighs




Making some good smoke and working on getting a consistent temp. Going to do this around 250.

Like any project- a few screw ups...I'll need one of my dogs to watch the smoker while I get another tank of propane, this one seems kinda low!!! __________________

 

[nemisportsman]

Smoked for several hours until pastrami was around 160 then pulled them out,double wrapped in foil and placed into cooler for 2 hours to rest.

Fatties were done

First one is Italian Sausage, Green Peppers, Onions, Pepperoni, a bit of Mozzarella and Pizza sauce.

Second creation was Bratwurst, Sauerkraut, Corned Beef and a bit of Swiss Cheese.

After a couple hours the Pastrami had rested long enough, I cut it to sample a slice and snap a pic....going to cool it overnight before slicing on the electric slicer.

Turned out better than I expected utilizing the dry cure method, I was nervous if it would distribute equally and completely in just 3-4 short days versus the 3 weeks I usually take to brine pastrami.

Finally decided to top a full day of babysitting the smoker with one of my favorite post smoking beers

I'll post pics of the finished deli-sliced product tomorrow.

 

[fire it up]

Nice job. It all looks so great!
Nice smoke rings.
Points for the pastrami, man I have to make some.

 

[rivet]

That's some good looking stuff there!

 

[alx]

Thanks for sharing recipe and pics.Beautiful color to that pastrami.

 

[pignit]

Shweeeeet!

 

[blacklab]

Great lookin smoke. If it taste as good as it looks, which I'm sure it does your in business

 

[scubadoo97]

All looks wonderful. What time's dinner