Pastrami Loaf with QView!!!

[tallbm]

Ok so I have 15 pounds of ground Venison Pastrami seasoned up, formed in big loaves, wrapped in saran wrap and resting in the fridge for smoking overnight tomorrow night (fri 1/19/2018).

This batch has 2% Soy Protein Isolate added to it so I am hopeful that it fixes the issue where the pastrami wants to break more easily than I like after freezing and defrosting.

I think that when I go to make the pastrami I will cut the giant loaves into much smaller ones. Much of this meat will be used in salads so I would vac seal little 1 pound loaves and then cube up for salads for the week. I'l also slice a good amount as well so I know if I solved my problem where it wants to break up some after freezing and defrosting :)

I hope it all works out!

 

[tallbm]

Ok so I have 15 pounds of ground Venison Pastrami seasoned up, formed in big loaves, wrapped in saran wrap and resting in the fridge for smoking overnight tomorrow night (fri 1/19/2018).

This batch has 2% Soy Protein Isolate added to it so I am hopeful that it fixes the issue where the pastrami wants to break more easily than I like after freezing and defrosting.

I think that when I go to make the pastrami I will cut the giant loaves into much smaller ones. Much of this meat will be used in salads so I would vac seal little 1 pound loaves and then cube up for salads for the week. I'l also slice a good amount as well so I know if I solved my problem where it wants to break up some after freezing and defrosting :)

I hope it all works out!

So my loaves came out tasting amazing again.
The 2% Soy Protein Isolate helped with the issue of the slices breaking up more easily than I like. They still want to break up some but not nearly as much as before.
I think next time I will try about 2.3% of SPI or so and see if I can get it perfect :)

7.5 pounds were done as thin slices. The other 7.5 pounds were cubed up for salads. All 15 pounds will be devoured!!! :)

 

[muddydogs]

Mixed up a batch of your pastrami tonight, used antelope, pork fat and nonfat dry milk as a binder. Tomorrow I'm going to stuff it in 4 7/8 (124mm) fibrous cases (well one case as I only did 5 1/2 pounds). Will smoke it on Saturday and see what I get.

 

[tallbm]

Mixed up a batch of your pastrami tonight, used antelope, pork fat and nonfat dry milk as a binder. Tomorrow I'm going to stuff it in 4 7/8 (124mm) fibrous cases (well one case as I only did 5 1/2 pounds). Will smoke it on Saturday and see what I get.

Oh man, you are in for a treat! I hope you have some good pickling spice and didn't skip out on the ground juniper berry.

You will love the stuff!

 

[muddydogs]

Nope, I had to order the juniper berries and at the same time I found the fibrous cases so I just had to get a 20 count of them. Hope it turns out great because I have a lot of cases to fill eventually not to mention the 12 oz of juniper berries. Pick up some pickling spice out of the bulk bins at Winco. Used my smoked sea salt in it as well.

Going to smoke it with Lumberjack Mexican spice blended pellets.

 

[crazymoon]

So my loaves came out tasting amazing again.
The 2% Soy Protein Isolate helped with the issue of the slices breaking up more easily than I like. They still want to break up some but not nearly as much as before.
I think next time I will try about 2.3% of SPI or so and see if I can get it perfect :)

7.5 pounds were done as thin slices. The other 7.5 pounds were cubed up for salads. All 15 pounds will be devoured!!! :)

TBM, Sounds like you are getting it to perfection! :)

 

[tallbm]

Nope, I had to order the juniper berries and at the same time I found the fibrous cases so I just had to get a 20 count of them. Hope it turns out great because I have a lot of cases to fill eventually not to mention the 12 oz of juniper berries. Pick up some pickling spice out of the bulk bins at Winco. Used my smoked sea salt in it as well.

Going to smoke it with Lumberjack Mexican spice blended pellets.

Ooooooh! I am so curious about the Mexican spice blend! I expect a report back on it :)
I think you will be fine and yeah I have a lot of ground juniper berry left over as well hahahaha. I bought the pickling spice online the same time I ordered ground caraway and the juniper berry. I had to grind the pickling spice and juniper berry myself with my Magic Bullet flag grinder blade.

TBM, Sounds like you are getting it to perfection! :)

I'm trying. I'm almost there. I'm guessing 2.3 - 2.5 percent SPI may be the ticket to the perfect slice strength/break level without affecting flavor.
Another thing I have found is that it doesn't hurt to go with overfilled measurements. So no need to do "level" teaspoons and such. I prefer it to "mound" over a good amount. No flavors come out to powerful :)

 

[muddydogs]

I have a coffee grind that I use to grind spices, chewed the juniper berry's right up.

 

[checkdude]

Hi all. After reading this article I just knew I had to try. And finally did. Got so excited making it I fergot to take photos but for the last one. Now into the fridge to rest till tomorrow.

can't wait to taste it!

 

[DanMcG]

That looks good Checkdude, great color! Cherry smoke?

 

[checkdude]

Wasn't sure about cherry so I used apple. It sure smells good! Am going to slice it up later today.

 

[tallbm]

Nice work! I don't how you managed to wait this long without tasting it lol :)

 

[checkdude]

Willpower of iron! Not lol. Am just too full from lunch and not able to appreciate the taste. Will have to wait couple of hours. A glass of wine should help the digestion.

 

[idahopz]

That looks great!

 

[checkdude]

Finely gorgeous around to slice it up.

got a nice pile. Made some before using recipe from Bear but prefer this. Sorry Bear just my taste buds are different. Will see how the taste developed over time. Try it with mayo,mustard, sour kraut, pickles. ..so

many choices lol.

Got over 100 slices out of the loaf so I'm set. Some to kids and friends to try out and get feedback from. Thanks again for your recipe and great step by step.

 

[tallbm]

Finely gorgeous around to slice it up.View attachment 357103got a nice pile. Made some before using recipe from Bear but prefer this. Sorry Bear just my taste buds are different. Will see how the taste developed over time. Try it with mayo,mustard, sour kraut, pickles. ..so View attachment 357104many choices lol.View attachment 357104Got over 100 slices out of the loaf so I'm set. Some to kids and friends to try out and get feedback from. Thanks again for your recipe and great step by step.

I'm glad you enjoy it! Did you use ground beef or venison and ground beef fat?
I'm still working on getting the slices to hold together a bit better after freezing and defrosting. Without any binder they wanted to break up a little too easily after freezing and being defrosted. I added 2% Soy Protein Isolate (SPI) on my last batch and it helped out quite a bit. I think I'm going to increase my SPI to 2.3% in my next branch and see if that gives the slices perfect strength :)

I love to eat mine as a hot pastrami sandwich with melted swiss cheese and some thousand island dressing. Basically a Reuben with no sauerkraut :)

 

[ab canuck]

Looks great, On to the list of more to try and do....

 

[checkdude]

Used ground beef, no fat and 1/2 cup of dry milk as binder. Sat in the fridge day and a half and the slices held together solid. Could bend completely around without breaking. Am definitely try your way as I have swiss cheese in my fridge.

 

[checkdude]

Looks great, On to the list of more to try and do....

You can say that again! There seems no end to all the different types to try. Hard to say which is my favorite. The hard soppressata or latest boudin are the latest but not the last I'm sure.