Corned Beef / Pastrami Question

[itstom]

Hey Guys-

I just took a 5 pound brisket out of the brine after 2 weeks.  The brine I used was the one from Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie book. He calls for only 3 days in the brine if making pastrami, 5 days if corned beef.  But other sources say 2 weeks so I figured I would go the max. as only half of the brisket was going to be smoked for the pastrami.

Anyway, this is what I ended up with:

IMAG0859.jpg

• itstom
• Feb 19, 2016

So what's the deal?  Kind of grayish on the outside that looks like maybe it was in too long but reddish on the inside.  I'm not worried about the safety as the pastrami goes to 150 internal and of course the corned beef portion will be boiled.  There's no funky smell or anything from it, it just looks weird.

Any ideas?

Tom

 

[SmokinAl]

It's perfectly good. The red in the center means it's cured all the way through. The brown on the outside is just a reaction to oxygen. When it's cooked it will be all red. I usually cure mine for 10-14 days also.

Also at 150 IT the pastrami will be very chewy. I always take mine to 195-205 IT. At that temp a toothpick will slide in like room temp butter. Good luck & let us know how it turns out.

Al

 

[eman]

If you really want to keep flavor in your corned beef ,Dont boil it steam it till it's up to temp.

 

[itstom]

Smoked the pastrami to 150 then steamed it to 205. My only complaint is the pepper and coriander on the outside was too coarse and most fell off when I sliced it.

The corned beef was spot on.

Thanks for the help guys!