Got my new Auber controller in this week, did the wiring yesterday, and put it to work today. Gotta do new things occasionally.....put some venison roasts in a brine for 3 days using the pastrami kit from Sausage Maker and then smoked for 7 hours today to make some venison pastrami. Took longer than expected. First time, wasn't perfect, should have brined another day or two...but its gonna make some mighty tasty reuben sammiches regardless....
So I mixed up the brine like the instructions, placed in the fridge and let it soak for 3.5 days. Took out today at noon and started seasoning up the hind quarter roasts (round and flat, not sure of proper names). Directions called for paprika, coriander, and black pepper....I added mustard seed, red pepper flakes, and some pickling spices. Got seasoned up and placed in the smoker at 125F to warmup and get some cold/warm smoke going with my smoke tube (only 2nd time using it). It started out great, lots of thick smoke (i put some chips in the tray to see if they would burn as well). Went an hour then bumped up to 170 for another hour, then bumped up to 225 to begin hour 3. The new Auber held temps rock steady the entire time, no more wild temp swings. But after a while I was getting disappointed with the lack of bark on the outside. Also, I was checking the Internal Temp readout with a manual meat thermometer along the way, well, one of them needs to be checked for accuracy cuz there was about a 5-6 degree difference. After I bumped up the temp to 225 the IT rose quickly and I thought it wouldnt take long, but it seemed to hit a bit of a stall like a brisket and even cooled down a bit for some reason. At this point I started kicking the temp up again, first 250, then 275 and finished at 290 because it seemed to be taking forever to get to the recommended IT of 175 on the box (this may be difference between beef and venison). Along the way I thought that with the wood chip tray fully inserted that it couldnt breathe enough to get the smoke tube going good. So I pulled it out some and either that worked, or with the higher temps of the smoker the wood in the chip tray started smoking, because now there was some good smoke coming out. When I finally pulled them off when IT hit 176 on the probe (171 on the hand held) they had some decent bark on the outside, not great, but better than before.
Upon making the cut it was apparent that I should have let them sit in the brine another day or two (or remove the silver skin). I failed to remove the silver skin as I forgot because I put them in the brine early AM before I left for work on Thursday morning. Will learn which on the next try. Can clearly see that the brine didnt penetrate completely with the "bulls eye" in the center of the cut. But never the less, I took out the slicer and sliced em up 5mm thick. I wanted to go thinner, but the cheap slicer I got didnt perform well when trying thinner. But in any case I got em boxed up in custom packaging haha and they will make some nice sandwiches and just snacks as they are. They taste great, really like the flavor profile. Will be doing again, but too much stuff was new. New controller, new recipe, new smoke tube.... was less than perfect....but as they say....that dog will hunt. Just like sex, the fun is in the practicing. haha
So I mixed up the brine like the instructions, placed in the fridge and let it soak for 3.5 days. Took out today at noon and started seasoning up the hind quarter roasts (round and flat, not sure of proper names). Directions called for paprika, coriander, and black pepper....I added mustard seed, red pepper flakes, and some pickling spices. Got seasoned up and placed in the smoker at 125F to warmup and get some cold/warm smoke going with my smoke tube (only 2nd time using it). It started out great, lots of thick smoke (i put some chips in the tray to see if they would burn as well). Went an hour then bumped up to 170 for another hour, then bumped up to 225 to begin hour 3. The new Auber held temps rock steady the entire time, no more wild temp swings. But after a while I was getting disappointed with the lack of bark on the outside. Also, I was checking the Internal Temp readout with a manual meat thermometer along the way, well, one of them needs to be checked for accuracy cuz there was about a 5-6 degree difference. After I bumped up the temp to 225 the IT rose quickly and I thought it wouldnt take long, but it seemed to hit a bit of a stall like a brisket and even cooled down a bit for some reason. At this point I started kicking the temp up again, first 250, then 275 and finished at 290 because it seemed to be taking forever to get to the recommended IT of 175 on the box (this may be difference between beef and venison). Along the way I thought that with the wood chip tray fully inserted that it couldnt breathe enough to get the smoke tube going good. So I pulled it out some and either that worked, or with the higher temps of the smoker the wood in the chip tray started smoking, because now there was some good smoke coming out. When I finally pulled them off when IT hit 176 on the probe (171 on the hand held) they had some decent bark on the outside, not great, but better than before.
Upon making the cut it was apparent that I should have let them sit in the brine another day or two (or remove the silver skin). I failed to remove the silver skin as I forgot because I put them in the brine early AM before I left for work on Thursday morning. Will learn which on the next try. Can clearly see that the brine didnt penetrate completely with the "bulls eye" in the center of the cut. But never the less, I took out the slicer and sliced em up 5mm thick. I wanted to go thinner, but the cheap slicer I got didnt perform well when trying thinner. But in any case I got em boxed up in custom packaging haha and they will make some nice sandwiches and just snacks as they are. They taste great, really like the flavor profile. Will be doing again, but too much stuff was new. New controller, new recipe, new smoke tube.... was less than perfect....but as they say....that dog will hunt. Just like sex, the fun is in the practicing. haha
Attachments
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Pastrami seasoned meat.jpg -
Pastrami startup.jpg -
Pastrami warmup.jpg -
Smoking it on up...jpg -
Thin smoke.jpg -
Had to crank it up.jpg -
Hit a stall.jpg -
Finishing out temp.jpg -
Plated temp2.jpg -
Plated temp3.jpg -
Round Cut1.jpg -
Flat Cut1.jpg -
Flat Cut3.jpg -
Slices1.jpg -
Slices2.jpg -
Slices3.jpg -
Custom Packaging.jpg -
Pastrami Kit.jpg -
Smoke directions.jpg
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