My First Pastrami w/ QView

[rocapps]

So tried my first pastrami yesterday. Didn't plan ahead, so bought a pre-corned beef from the local supermarket:




Gave it an hour soak in cold water to pull some of the salt out:




Gave it a good heavy rub, based on this Pastrami recipe:




Smoked the Pastrami over a mix of Oak and Apple pellets (roughly 50/50 mix):


With a rack of pork spare ribs for dinner, yum!


The final product, after a rest in foil:




A quick taste before refrigerating the Pastrami for the night:


What a great late night snack!!


After a night in the fridge, sliced it paper thin on the meat slicer:




A mess of paper thin pastrami:




And made a great sandwich for lunch:




All in all, I learned a few items with this smoke:

• Should have soaked the corned beef for longer than an hour to remove more of the salt.
• Applewood pellets smoke A LOT and burn at a lower temp than the oak! Think I'll mix 2/3 Oak to 1/3 Fruit wood next time.
• You can never tell how long something is going to take to reach temperature (got a really long plateau at 152 degrees).
• Home-made Pastrami is damned good, and you'll never want to eat store bought pastrami again!

Now, to clean out the grease bucket, change the foil, and decide what to make next weekend!!!

~Robert

 

[ronp]

Don't know how we missed this. Very nice pastrami there.

[QUOTEShould have soaked the corned beef for longer than an hour to remove more of the salt.][/quote]

The best thing is always fry up a piece before smoking it, then adjust your plans accordingly.

Good job.

 

[beer-b-q]

Great looking salami Robert, I agree with Ron, don't know how we missed it...

 

[got14u]

I am going to do one of these. you pushed me over the edge ! great looking pastrami

 

[billbo]

Nice Robert! Man I gotta do one of those!

 

[rocapps]

Thanks for the tip Ron! I'll try that next time.

It wasn't too salty for me, but I have others to please

 

[the dude abides]

Nice looking Pastrami! Good job. Was it dry at all? I expected to see a little moisture in the foil.

for your maiden voyage with a pastrami. Welcome to the club.

 

[mballi3011]

Now thats a club I have to join. Club pastrami is alittle heaven on earth

We asbolutely love pastrami around here.

 

[rocapps]

There was about 1/8 of a cup of liquid in the foil after the rest, and a good amount seemed to be re-absorbed by the meat while it sat in the refrigerator overnight. I placed the pastrami cut side down in the drippings, in a lidded cambro.

I wouldn't call it juicy after it was chilled, but it wasn't dry either.... about perfect for slicing into sandwich meat!

which is what it was destined to become!

 

[nozzleman]

Great Job, this sounds very interesting. I may have to give it a try.

 

[blackened]

I'm going to have to do one of these soon..

 

[oneshot]

Nice job ro!!!! Great job on yer strammi !!!!

Gotta love those Traegers...How long have you had yours???

 

[erain]

great looking strami man!!! maybe after my canadian bacon expierment will try some of this... looks very very fine!!!

 

[benjaminr]

Sweet! now im going to have to go get another pastrami! THANKS A LOT!

 

[oldschoolbbq]

do a fresh(homemade)one,it's LOTS better.....

 

[fire it up]

Great job Robert.
You're absolutely right about smoking your own and never wanting to eat store bought again.
Used to buy pastrami quite often but ever since I smoked my first I have never bought any from the deli since. Even if I don't have any pastrami on hand I wouldn't bother because it just isn't the same.

 

[rocapps]

That's the plan! Maybe in a couple of weeks.

 

[jerseyhunter]

Looking good, Love making pastrami, esp. out of venison.

 

[richoso1]

Great looking Q, and also some very good observations. Congrats my friend.

 

[yount]

Thanks had to go get a corned beef out of the freezer to try this looks great thanks for the tips