Had a brisket flat in the freezer and I needed some Pastrami. Quite a coincidence I know. Took it out to thaw for a couple days before I cured it.
5 1/2 lbs. before trimming. I love that new scale. Wish I had one like that in college in the 80's. But I digress.
Trimmed it up and ended up with 4 1/2 lbs.
Using my recipe I got from http://www.randyq.addr.com/recipes/pastrami.htm and modified it just a touch.
Made the brine I will be injecting. Got it really cold after boiling it. Don't want to inject warm liquid into cold meat. Could be deadly.
Mixed up some rub #1 while the brine cooled in the freezer. Ground up the coriander, juniper berries and peppercorns in my new Father's Day gift.
Works pretty good.
Mixed up the curing rub. Rub # 2.
Ready to start the injections. Notice the amount of fluid in the cup.
We will pump as much of the brine as we can into the meat. See the little cut in the lower left. It came like that. It was perpendicular to the grain so it helped me know which way to slice. Pure luck I guess.
She got all she can take. Note the amount left in the cup. I'll throw that in the bag with it after the rub.
Ready to be rubbed and put away for 10 days.
Rubbed with Rub # 2.
Sealed up and ready to put in the fridge for 10 days.
It's Sunday. 10 days later. Soaked in cold water for 2 hours changing the water a couple times.
After the soak. I didn't do a fry test. Pretty confident it's not too salty.
Rubbed it with rub # 3.
Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off to the smoker we go. Put a few RO Chef's Select briquettes in the box.
Lit up a chimney full of RO Lump.
Heated up the smoker when the coals were ready. Smoking with hickory(left) and pecan(right).
Pastrami hits the smoker at high noon.
Time to go back in time a few hours and prep some other goodies like beef short ribs.
Did a little impromptu non measured rub.
Wrap them up for a couple hours.
I figure I'll cook them 4 hours using a 2-2 methods. A smoke then a braise thing
Bought 1 1/2 lbs of almonds to smoke. I marinated some in what you see there as the marinade. I did the rest sprayed with PAM and Sea salt.
Let them marinate for about an hour. Smelling pretty good.
Put them in the smoker for 2 hours.
Added some short ribs to the mix and let her smoke away.
TBS
Pecan smoke. Bed of hot coals. Temps are good.
Smoke only comes out of the stack. We got this baby sealed up good. Not to mention well.
Open the vent just a wee bit.
It's been almost 2 hours. The almonds look done. Maybe too done in a few spots. They taste good. Should be real good Wednesday. Foiled the short ribs and pastrami and threw in a half cup of apple juice in each one. Sorry no pic. But it looked like a big tin foil log. You didn't miss anything.
Let them braise for about 2 hours more. Wrapped in a towel for a couple hours.
Nice crust. Boy do they smell good.
They literally fell off the bone. Slid right off. These are actually for Monday night. We're having Pastrami sammies for Sunday dinner. Tried some of the short rib and it was outstanding.
Pastrami stalled for about 1 1/2 hours around 152.
Since the Pastrami was taking longer than expected I jacked up the temp a little.
Finally done. 7 1/2 hours. Let it sit 30 minutes. No towel wrap and long rest today. La Familia wants to eat.
Sliced in half against the grain.
Different angle.
Bearview. Click for larger view.
All sliced up. Sliced a little thick. It was still kind of hot. Hard to slice thin.
Making some sammies. Rueben for the wife. Just Pastrami and Swiss for me.
Dinner.
Thanks for watching.
5 1/2 lbs. before trimming. I love that new scale. Wish I had one like that in college in the 80's. But I digress.
Trimmed it up and ended up with 4 1/2 lbs.
Using my recipe I got from http://www.randyq.addr.com/recipes/pastrami.htm and modified it just a touch.
Made the brine I will be injecting. Got it really cold after boiling it. Don't want to inject warm liquid into cold meat. Could be deadly.
Mixed up some rub #1 while the brine cooled in the freezer. Ground up the coriander, juniper berries and peppercorns in my new Father's Day gift.
Works pretty good.
Mixed up the curing rub. Rub # 2.
Ready to start the injections. Notice the amount of fluid in the cup.
We will pump as much of the brine as we can into the meat. See the little cut in the lower left. It came like that. It was perpendicular to the grain so it helped me know which way to slice. Pure luck I guess.
She got all she can take. Note the amount left in the cup. I'll throw that in the bag with it after the rub.
Ready to be rubbed and put away for 10 days.
Rubbed with Rub # 2.
Sealed up and ready to put in the fridge for 10 days.
It's Sunday. 10 days later. Soaked in cold water for 2 hours changing the water a couple times.
After the soak. I didn't do a fry test. Pretty confident it's not too salty.
Rubbed it with rub # 3.
Hi Ho, Hi Ho it's off to the smoker we go. Put a few RO Chef's Select briquettes in the box.
Lit up a chimney full of RO Lump.
Heated up the smoker when the coals were ready. Smoking with hickory(left) and pecan(right).
Pastrami hits the smoker at high noon.
Time to go back in time a few hours and prep some other goodies like beef short ribs.
Did a little impromptu non measured rub.
Wrap them up for a couple hours.
I figure I'll cook them 4 hours using a 2-2 methods. A smoke then a braise thing
Bought 1 1/2 lbs of almonds to smoke. I marinated some in what you see there as the marinade. I did the rest sprayed with PAM and Sea salt.
Let them marinate for about an hour. Smelling pretty good.
Put them in the smoker for 2 hours.
Added some short ribs to the mix and let her smoke away.
TBS
Pecan smoke. Bed of hot coals. Temps are good.
Smoke only comes out of the stack. We got this baby sealed up good. Not to mention well.
Open the vent just a wee bit.
It's been almost 2 hours. The almonds look done. Maybe too done in a few spots. They taste good. Should be real good Wednesday. Foiled the short ribs and pastrami and threw in a half cup of apple juice in each one. Sorry no pic. But it looked like a big tin foil log. You didn't miss anything.
Let them braise for about 2 hours more. Wrapped in a towel for a couple hours.
Nice crust. Boy do they smell good.
They literally fell off the bone. Slid right off. These are actually for Monday night. We're having Pastrami sammies for Sunday dinner. Tried some of the short rib and it was outstanding.
Pastrami stalled for about 1 1/2 hours around 152.
Since the Pastrami was taking longer than expected I jacked up the temp a little.
Finally done. 7 1/2 hours. Let it sit 30 minutes. No towel wrap and long rest today. La Familia wants to eat.
Sliced in half against the grain.
Different angle.
Bearview. Click for larger view.
All sliced up. Sliced a little thick. It was still kind of hot. Hard to slice thin.
Making some sammies. Rueben for the wife. Just Pastrami and Swiss for me.
Dinner.
Thanks for watching.
Last edited:
