Hey All,
Yes, a thousand corned beef and pastrami threads this week, well, here's mine ;)
I initially was going turn two corned beef flats into pastrami but then added two points as well, when they're only $1.88/lb (additional $1 off/lb vs. sticker price) I really couldn't go wrong. Flats were 3.3 and 3.6 lbs, points were 3lb each.
So, on with it. I mostly followed the "Close to Katz' Pastrami" over on amazingribs.com The flats were well rinsed then soaked ~12hrs in a big pot of water, rinsed again, dried well then well seasoned, placed on cooling racks on a sheet pan and left uncovered in the reefer for ~36hrs. The points (I bought them later) were treated the same but soaked ~10hrs, then seasoned and vacuum packed for ~12hrs. Before smoking I patted dry the points and hit them with a little more black pepper then hit everything with a touch of kosher salt.
Seasoning: I needed about 1.5X the amount below for my 4 cuts. Note: I left out the sugar from the recipe I was sorta following
4TBSP coarse black pepper
2TBSP ground coriander
1TBSP regular paprika
2tsp granulated garlic
2tsp onion power
1tsp dry mustard
Ready to go:
I did the 1st hour at ~200°F to get a little more smoke from the pellet pooper then bumped to 225°F for 3hrs. At that time my ITs were in the 150°F range so I raised the pit to 250°F for the remainder of the cook. 6hrs in the ITs were in the upper 160s. The small point on the top rack finish first at 8hrs, probing nice and tender with an IT ~200°F. The other point -far right- took another hour, and the two flats finished out in 10hrs total.
I had let the cuts all rest in the cooler as I took them off. After about 2hrs I sliced up the first point a bit a made a trip to the pub were my taste testers reside. Everyone was quite impressed and said it was some of the best pastrami they ever had. I thought it was a bit salty buy they all said it was just right. One of my buddies wants to pay me to make him some! (sure, why not!). Anyhow the rest of the crew will get to try some tonight (along with the pickle alum/no alum experiment for those that have seen that thread) then I have a day before St. Paddy's party tomorrow that I'll take some to. The high holy day being Sunday it's looking to be a good weekend, Sláinte!
Oh, a little snackwich ;)
Yes, a thousand corned beef and pastrami threads this week, well, here's mine ;)
I initially was going turn two corned beef flats into pastrami but then added two points as well, when they're only $1.88/lb (additional $1 off/lb vs. sticker price) I really couldn't go wrong. Flats were 3.3 and 3.6 lbs, points were 3lb each.
So, on with it. I mostly followed the "Close to Katz' Pastrami" over on amazingribs.com The flats were well rinsed then soaked ~12hrs in a big pot of water, rinsed again, dried well then well seasoned, placed on cooling racks on a sheet pan and left uncovered in the reefer for ~36hrs. The points (I bought them later) were treated the same but soaked ~10hrs, then seasoned and vacuum packed for ~12hrs. Before smoking I patted dry the points and hit them with a little more black pepper then hit everything with a touch of kosher salt.
Seasoning: I needed about 1.5X the amount below for my 4 cuts. Note: I left out the sugar from the recipe I was sorta following
4TBSP coarse black pepper
2TBSP ground coriander
1TBSP regular paprika
2tsp granulated garlic
2tsp onion power
1tsp dry mustard
Ready to go:
I did the 1st hour at ~200°F to get a little more smoke from the pellet pooper then bumped to 225°F for 3hrs. At that time my ITs were in the 150°F range so I raised the pit to 250°F for the remainder of the cook. 6hrs in the ITs were in the upper 160s. The small point on the top rack finish first at 8hrs, probing nice and tender with an IT ~200°F. The other point -far right- took another hour, and the two flats finished out in 10hrs total.
I had let the cuts all rest in the cooler as I took them off. After about 2hrs I sliced up the first point a bit a made a trip to the pub were my taste testers reside. Everyone was quite impressed and said it was some of the best pastrami they ever had. I thought it was a bit salty buy they all said it was just right. One of my buddies wants to pay me to make him some! (sure, why not!). Anyhow the rest of the crew will get to try some tonight (along with the pickle alum/no alum experiment for those that have seen that thread) then I have a day before St. Paddy's party tomorrow that I'll take some to. The high holy day being Sunday it's looking to be a good weekend, Sláinte!
Oh, a little snackwich ;)
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