Pastrami FAIL

[aneander]

First time trying pastrami. Used a 5# flat. Followed a recipe, Guy Feretti, for a whole brisket. Trimmed almost all the fat off. Brined for 7 days. Rubbed whole piece. Using Recteq pellet smoker. Smoked 7 hours @ 215 (suspect it runs hot) to hit 170. Then upped to 225. Took another 4 hrs to hit 210. Wrapped in butcher paper and put in a cooler over night.

Results: Dry, tough, and salty as hell!

Conclusions: Maybe the brine was a little strong for such a small piece and/or brined too long. But the cook just flabbergasts me.

Any and all suggestions welcome

TIA

 

[in. pred]

you will remember this lesson. lol when i first started brining stuff i went too far a few times.

 

[chopsaw]

Any and all suggestions welcome

My first comment is don't follow food network for curing . Everything I see on there for curing is salt heavy in my opinion .

Do you have an Instant pot ? If so cut a section to fit the IP . On a rack with some water , maybe a cup in the bottom . High pressure for 30 minutes . Release and probe for tenederness . Keep going until it's where you want it to probe .
May or may not help with the salt , but should make it better .

You could also slice some and dry it down for jerky . I've done that few few times . Again , there's still the salt .

 

[Jim_C]

When I had the Thanksgiving ham come out too salty I followed some advice I saw here and soaked pieces in water, checking after each water change, until the salt level came down.