CORNED BEEF TO PASTRAMI

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larry maddock

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Sep 27, 2005
1,070
11
BOURBON,MISSOURI
YO ,
today tue/3/7/06 i purchased a couple of corned beef points.
these were $1.29 a lb. they are a little more than 3 lbs each.

on wednesday i will start soaking them in water in fridge.

thursday i will change water a couple of times.

friday morn i will smoke them on my
electric water smoker with mesquite chips.

i am told this will make it PASTRAMI.

i will post the results this weekend.
 
yo
i put a small corned beef brisket point in my smoker.

smoked corned beef is pastrami.

it turned out good but not great.

you have to soak corned beef [from cry-ovac pack] for 24/48 hrs.

thats in h2o, changing water a couple of times.

the c beef i usually put in crock pot.
this turns out great.
my honey ,margaret loves the crock method.

so my couple of times a year the pastrami craving will be deli fed.

just to much work for ONLY good pastrami
 
Thanks for sharing Larry~the search for the perfect pastrami continues!
 
For 25 lbs

5 qts. ice cold water 38-40 deg
2/3 cup instacure #1
1 Tbs. garlic juice
3/4 cup salt
1 cup powdered dextros

MEAT

Use a very good grade of beef plates or well trimed briskets

PUMPING AND CURING

Pump the plates or briskets to %15 of thier green weight.Meat should be placed in a curing box or vat and kept submerged while curing in cooler for 3 to 5 days at 40 deg

SPICING AND SMOKING

Remove the cured pastrami pieces from the box and rub all sides with a combination of coarse black pepper and coriander; or you may use coarsley chopped pickling spices.You may also sprinkle the meat with paprika to give it an attractive look.

Place in smoker preheated to 130 deg with dampers wide open.Hold at this temp for about 1 hour or until the surface of the meat is dry.Close dampers to 1/4 open and apply a light smoke for 2 hours.Increase the temp to 200-220 deg and hold until an internal temp of 175-180 is obtained.Meat is then removed from the smoker and allowed to cool at room temp for 1 to 2 hours before placeing in a cooler overnight.

This is a recipe from The Sausage Maker book.I have not tried to do this yet but plan to this summer cause I love good pastrami,good luck,David
 
I have been making my own pastrami for almost 20 years and have never done anything special to prepare it. It tastes better than what I can buy in the local deli or market and over the tears have received many comments about how good it tasted.

All I have ever done is to cover completely the corned beef with a mixture of ground coriander and fresh ground black pepper, smoke it indirectly low and slow, 200-225 degrees, for 6 hours until meat is 165 internal.

Give this a try...you won't be dissapointed.

Georgepat
Smoker, writer and digital photo restoration
 
Thanks for sharing your technique Georgepat and welcome to Smoking Meat Forum. When you can, drop in at "Roll Call" and introduce yourself to the rest of the family.
 
I want to do pastrami. So, I searched this forum to see if any of you guys have done one. I finally found this old thread, but still a goody. I found a recipe at http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Pastrami.pdf

I would cut and paste it, but it's a PDF and I don't know how to do that.

Just out of curiousity, does anyone here like their pastrami semi-fatty? My heart is gonna get blown out when I get my smoker for Christmas. Lipitor, here I come! :shock:
 
I found this a few years back and this guy really has it down, trust me I've done this recipe multiple times....and usually I'll double it and make half corned beef (gotta make them rueben sandies you know) and the other half I finish off as pastrami.......you honestly cannot go wrong with this (and I always use roast's, not briscuit).......I'd say it's a secret but heck he posted it on the internet......so here you go:

http://www.randyq.addr.com/recipes/pastrami.htm

it takes time, but damn well worth the effort....trust me!!!! (in fact have two roasts brining right now as we speak) :D
 
I bought some of that Tender Quick stuff but haven't tried it yet. Is it like Prague Powder #1? I' not exactly sure when I should use it.

These brand name things confuse me ... Wouldn't want to do harm to myself and others

:oops:
 
yo debi,

when making my version of FRESH sausage
italian-polish-cajun-brats-hot links or chorizo
i do not use any cure...

when making my homemade versions of
kielbasa-andoiile-romanian jewish beef--chicken wurst or smoked sausage..
i use either

1 teaspoon of prague #1 for 5 lbs meat

OR 1 teaspoon of
mortons tender quik or mortons sugar cure for 1 lb meat..

geting the strenghts mixed up could cause a problem

im a fan of morton salt products...
i dont even have any prague or instacure in the house anymore..


brother smoked gave you the link to them.

they have a section called ask rose....
there really is a rose...
she will give you a deli style corned beef recipe --
then smoke it to make pastrami.

black pepper and coriander rub is a MUST...

i hope this helps..
 
Smoked -

Thanks for the link! I'm not sure why I ordered it must have read it alot and it was fairly cheap. I'll check it out

Larry -

Growing up all sausages were lightly smoked and then hung up to age. When you make sausage do to hang it to age? I'm thinking that may be the reason for Mama using prague powder. Or maybe she was just at the age were everyone was getting botchulisum? I know she used it on all pork sausages. She was a bit timid around pork.

We used the front mud room (entry porch) to hang all the sausages, bacons, hams and procuittos. You butchered in the fall and didn't eat anything hanging until at least after Christmas. Procuittos got moved to the root cellar in the spring and eatten the next year.

Wish we didn't get chased out to play so much these things would be good to know. We were never allowed in the "stone house" - which was the smoke house about the size of an outhouse.

I loved the pastrami I made it was great! And so easy! Does the Tender quick taste different than prague powder #1? I may have to a adjust the recipes accordingly.
 
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