Porkstrami ~ Using A Jazzed-Up Version Of Pop's Brine On Boneless Pork Butt

[thirdeye]

I did make a couple of changes to the recipe and started a new thread today, so here is the current version:

Porkstrami ~ Round 2 ~ A work in progress

• Boneless pork butt
• 112 ounces of water
• 16 ounces of beer
• 80g canning salt
• 30g white sugar
• 3 tablespoons pickling spice
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay
• 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon crushed ginger
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 22g Cure #1 (note: this is added after the brine has cooled back down)
• AmesPhos – this is calculated at 1.8 g/lb of meat weight and mixed into an amount of brine that equals 10% of the meat weight.
• Pastrami seasoning - thirdeye recipe (or a 50:50 mixture of pastrami seasoning and thirdeye's Garlic Pepper blend)

Day 1 - Combine all ingredients EXCEPT Cure #1 and AmesPhos, into a stock pot. Slowly bring up to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. Do not let this mixture come to a boil. Allow to cool on the stovetop, then refrigerate overnight. De-bone pork butt and slice into thick roast(s), tie with string so it holds it’s shape.

Day 2 – Strain the brine. Add the Cure #1 to the chilled brine and mix very well. Measure an amount of brine equal to 10% of the meat weight (for example: 2000g of meat needs 200g of brine for injecting). Calculate the amount of AmesPhos (1.8 g/lb of meat) and mix it into the 200g of brine. Inject the brine into the meat. Hold meat in a plastic bag for about 8 to 10 hours so the phosphate can start to work. Then add the meat into the covering brine, and cure for 13 days, agitating the liquid daily. Remove meat from brine rinse and soak about an hour. Pat the meat dry, add pastrami seasoning. Rest in the refrigerator 12 to 18 hours.

Day 3 – Smoke the meat up to 5 or 6 hours or until it gets a nice color and the internal is ~160°. Move to pressure cooker with some pork broth. Process for 35 minutes, then use natural release. Check tenderness and if needed…. Process again for 5 or 6 minutes.

 

[denny]

Here is the brine recipe I came up with. I'm going to do at least two more to figure out if any changes are needed. One note was on the saltiness.... there is salt in my pastrami rub, so if there is too much salt in the brine the overall flavor could be too salty. Also, a whole roast would have less pastrami rub. I did like the amount of bark with the three pieces, but I want to try this on a 5# or 6# boneless butt. An alternate plan would be to mix my pastrami rub 50:50 with my garlic pepper seasoning. So, this really is a work in progress.

Porkstrami ~ A work in progress​

• Boneless pork butt, cut in half or thirds.
• 112 ounces of water
• 16 ounces of beer
• 125g canning salt (reduce this?)
• 30g white sugar
• 4 tablespoons pickling spice (maybe reduce to 3T)
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay
• 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon crushed ginger
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 22g Cure #1 (note: this is added after the brine has cooled back down)
• AmesPhos – this is calculated at 1.8 g/lb of meat weight and mixed into an amount of brine that equals 10% of the meat weight.
• Pastrami seasoning - thirdeye recipe (or a 50:50 mixture of pastrami seasoning and thirdeye's Garlic Pepper blend)

Day 1 - Combine all ingredients EXCEPT Cure #1 and AmesPhos, into a stock pot. Slowly bring up to a simmer and cook for 1 hour. Do not let this mixture come to a boil. Allow to cool on the stovetop, then refrigerate overnight. De-bone pork butt and slice into thick roast(s), tie with string so it holds it’s shape.

Day 2 – Strain the brine. Add the Cure #1 to the chilled brine and mix very well. Measure an amount of brine equal to 10% of the meat weight (for example: 2000g of meat needs 200g of brine for injecting). Calculate the amount of AmesPhos (1.8 g/lb of meat) and mix it into the 200g of brine. Inject the brine into the meat. Hold meat in a plastic bag for about 4 hours so the phosphate can start to work. Then add the meat into the covering brine, and cure for 13 days, agitating the liquid daily. Remove meat from brine rinse and soak about an hour. Pat the meat dry, add pastrami seasoning. Rest in the refrigerator 12 to 18 hours.

Day 3 – Smoke the meat for 3 or 4 hours or until it gets a nice color and the internal is ~160°. Move to pressure cooker with some pork broth. Process for 35 minutes, then use natural release. Check tenderness and if needed…. Process again for 5 or 6 minutes.

Notes: The “corned” flavor is kind of strong right out of the pressure cooker. It needs to rest for the flavors to mellow.

This sounds really interesting and I want to try it. But first, I have a couple questions: #1. The pressure cooker, is this the type with a gasketed lid that locks on securely, and with a weighted device that rocks back and forth venting excess steam? #2. What is 'natural release'?. My Mom used one years ago but I never liked the flavor it gave to a beef roast, so my wife was never 'permitted' to use one! Is there a work-around for that step/device?
Thanks very much for any advice.
Denny

 

[thirdeye]

This sounds really interesting and I want to try it. But first, I have a couple questions: #1. The pressure cooker, is this the type with a gasketed lid that locks on securely, and with a weighted device that rocks back and forth venting excess steam? #2. What is 'natural release'?. My Mom used one years ago but I never liked the flavor it gave to a beef roast, so my wife was never 'permitted' to use one! Is there a work-around for that step/device?
Thanks very much for any advice.
Denny

I have both a traditional pressure cooker (not the Insta-pot style) that has a built-in pressure release valve, and a pressure canner (which is for processing Mason jars with meat, fish, etc.) that has a rocker-weight and a dial gauge. Either one works for cooking meats, and I use the pressure canner for doing several at a time as it's a 23 quart capacity.

Natural release means that at the end of processing time, you turn off the burner and let the cooker drop in pressure on it's own, which takes about 15 minutes.

You can do a steam finish on pastrami, which is how many deli's finish it. If you have a pasta pot with the perforated insert, or a tamale pot those will work. If not, you can use a stock pot with a trivet or steamer insert in the bottom. If you look carefully at the pressure cooker photo in post #1 you can see a trivet in the bottom, and the liquid level is above that. Steaming just takes longer than a pressure finish, but you can check the progress of the tenderness along the way. Be sure to save the juices to use for dipping, reheating or even a Reuben soup with some toasted garlic rye bread on the side.