Homemade Pastrami (ala Smokin Al's recipe)

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Robert H

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Nov 29, 2017
223
158
Hi All
I found some USDA CHOICE eye rounds at the supermarket a couple or three weeks ago for a real good price and thought I would make some pastrami. I am pretty sure choice is the highest U.S. rating. I assume it is the equivelant of our AAA rating in Canada. Anyway, I was looking around for a how to, and found Al's recipe and thread, and decided to go with it.
So, thanks for posting that Al, it came out perfect
Eye of round Pastrami, mucho q-view!!
I put them in a five gallon pail and adjusted for three gallons.After 12 days in the brine, I soaked in cold water for about four hrs. Then, after drying them off, slathered with mustard to hold a nice coating of coarst black pepper, some Montreal steak spice and then wrapped in cellophane for a day. Off to the smoker and that took about five hours and some wine and a little brandy. I let them sit for a day in the fridge after resting and then onto the slicer for a razor thin slice. I took the liberty of using his sandwich build also. Rye bread buttered outside, pastrami, provalone, kraut....and added some homemade thousand island dipping sauce.
If you get a chance to try this, I say go for it! I am glad I found the thread and glad I did it. I will be slicing a lot up for kids, and some neighbours and freeze the rest.
Stay Safe
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I've used Al's eye round pastrami recipe a few times and it is a good one. Looks like you nailed it. That reuben sandwich is also spot on.
 
Prime is our USA highest beef standard. Choice is just fine though. That pastrami looks great. Nice job.
 
Nice job. Even though a lot of deli restaurants use brisket and navel for pastrami, I really like corning round, rump or chuck roasts. It's a whole different version.
 
Thanks for the replies. I forgot all about Prime, There is a Select also if I recall, but there was not much trimming required. It was a great price at 2.39/lb. It is funny how they advertise meat specials here. The price is per Kilo, but they advertise in lbs to make it appear cheaper! I should have grabbed five or six at that price, but no room in freezer.
 
I thought of using an inside round in the future, Thirdeye. It's a nice cut, economical and one slice can cover alot of bread.
 
i have 2 eyes in freezer so . AL have you tried the dry rub brisket recipe on the eye of rnd?? i kinda want to try that.. any reason not to??
 
i have 2 eyes in freezer so . AL have you tried the dry rub brisket recipe on the eye of rnd?? i kinda want to try that.. any reason not to??
No I have not, only because the eye is so thick I thought it would be better to brine cure it & inject a bunch of brine into the middle. I’m sure the dry cure would work, but I would let it go at least 14 days.
Al
 
Hey
I have not looked in for a few days, so thank you all for the kind words and WOW, made the carousel!!!
Made my day! Thank you.
 
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Looks like it turned out great! And congrats on the carousel ride! Good looking sandwich!

Ryan
 
Wow - looks delicious!

Often times at Sam's Club, Choice is very close to prime. And with eye of round being so lean, I personally don't see a lot of difference between choice and prime on that cut of beef.
 
That looks GREAT!

One of my favorite things to do is pick up a few of the corned beef briskets that go on sale the day after St. Patrick's day, and smoke them into Pastrami. They are so cheap and you don't have all the work to do to corn them, just soak them in plain water for a few hours before smoking to reduce the saltiness.

My favorite pastrami sandwich is essentially to cut up into strips and fry it like a Philly Cheese Steak, with onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, and either provolone or white american cheese (or both). Then, the only departure from a Philly is to add a little yellow (or deli) mustard on the bread. Give it a try, I think you'll LOVE it.
 
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