Smoker temp for pastrami, narrative and pics added

[chef k-dude]

Just curious. I've always smoked pastrami at 225 and it takes forever. In fact my last notes say I smoked it to the stall, wrapped in foil and refrigerated overnight then baked in the oven the next day at 300 till it was 200+ deg, then cooled, refrigerated and sliced another day. I dont do the classic steaming of the slices and the only way I eat the pastrami is griddled Rubens, so the slices get to room temp then are heated within the sandwich on the griddle.

Well, I DO like to make some corned beef potato hash with any bits and pieces!

My pastrami has always been great and I can do what I've done again of course, but curious if anyone is smoking at higher temps? I see some folks on the web out there are going up to 250 deg. My MES30 will do 275. I dont want to dry them out but I do always use a water pan.

 

[sandyut]

Cook it like a brisket. I would do 275, 250 would work too. 225 is some kind of myth that is in way too many online directions.

 

[chef k-dude]

Thanks David. I am learning more and more that the old slow and low doesn't apply to everything.

The reason I have suffered the slow and low is exactly what you said.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Yup, run 250-275 and have fun with the process.

 

[sandyut]

Thanks David. I am learning more and more that the old slow and low doesn't apply to everything.

The reason I have suffered the slow and low is exactly what you said.

no problem at all. I too did everything at 225 at first. Its just slow.

 

[thirdeye]

When I corn beef at home, or use store-bought corned beef to make pastrami.... it's all about the flavor. And I'm talking about the distinctive aromatic flavor of corned beef, then the peppery garlic flavor of the pastrami rub, and lastly the smokey flavor. My smoker will run in the 250° - 270° range, and I tend to use a stronger wood like pecan and hickory.

 

[millerbuilds]

250-270 is fine. I run most of my briskets at 250-255 and then 270 after the stall and wrap.

- Jason

 

[chopsaw]

I run 260 . Why ? Because that's where my kettles like to run . I just did a small hunk of home cured point end cured brisket . I did it in the MES 30 at 260 , and burned whole mesquite wood chunks . Fantastic . I have a new found love for the 30 , and whole muscle meat .

 

[chef k-dude]

Thanks y'all. What a Franken-pair of flats I have in there now. One is long and kind of slender and came out of the package broken in half and the other is fat and thick and all "swole up" last I looked. My MES30 remote is telling me the thinner one is already over 180 in 2 hours, like it just skipped the stall. I have to run back down there and get the thermapen on them to see whats really going on. May be time to wrap the small broken one.

 

[chef k-dude]

Seriously...I'm one of the few I guess with an accurate MES30 probe because it was telling me the narrow one was already 183 after about 2 hours. Thermapen confirmed at 182. Look at this motley pair of flats, the scraggly broken one and the misshapen chubby one.

Looks like its time to scrape that upper gasket seal area there on the smoker. Funny how I only noticed it in pictures!

So I moved the probe over to the chubby one and wrapped the broken one. It felt really firm, I hope it doesn't come out tough. Probe is telling me the chubby one is already at 170 too. I'll watch it for a while then foil him too. I have one more handful of chips mix to burn up yet.

 

[chef k-dude]

It's a good thing I realized I needed to feed those last chips because I walk out there and it's raining! Forecast was cloudy and no measurable amount of rain and I hadn't looked at the radar. Fortunately I have deck umbrellas so I moved one over the smoker.

When I corn beef at home, or use store-bought corned beef to make pastrami.... it's all about the flavor. And I'm talking about the distinctive aromatic flavor of corned beef, then the peppery garlic flavor of the pastrami rub, and lastly the smokey flavor. My smoker will run in the 250° - 270° range, and I tend to use a stronger wood like pecan and hickory.

I haven't corned my own and may never. Giant Food here has the best prices on corned beef in the area for St. Patrick's day. These are last year's I got for $3.50lb. They used to be as low as $2.50lb. I usually get 2-4 flats for pastrami and a couple points for corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and onions. So I just made room for more of this year's corned beef sale! Still have a point from last year but will likely do some corned beef and cabbage here soon to eat that up.

I hear ya on the flavors. My Pastrami rub is also spicy too with red pepper flakes and cayenne in it. The heat isn't powerful on pastrami, half of the rub has come off during slicing, but using it on chicken, the heat really comes through...in a good way, we like it spicy.

Here's these flats rubbed. You can see the broken one. Never had one broken like that.

Oh, and I'm smoking with a mix of pecan and apple with a pinch of Mesquite chips mixed in.

 

[thirdeye]

I hear ya on the flavors. My Pastrami rub is also spicy too with red pepper flakes and cayenne in it.

Speaking of spicy flavors.... my neighborhood watering hole has a kitchen they have leased out over the years. One year in particular, a Mexican restaurant had leased it. They put on a St Patrick's Day buffet with both corned beef and pastrami and the owner made several mustard sauces. One resembled an Oriental hot mustard like you put on eggrolls.

 

[chef k-dude]

That would be good on a pastrami sandwich, or just pastrami and Corned beef, for sure. I always keep hot Chinese mustard in my mustard collection but use it mostly on spiral cut ham. I usually buy a couple hams around Christmas or Easter when they are on sale and break them down and vac seal packages to eat-on through the year. I use the hot Chinese mustard every time while the wife opts for spicy brown.

Maybe I should set aside some of this pastrami for some hot Chinese mustard!

 

[chef k-dude]

Well folks, this was amazing. If this pastrami is as tender as my past stuff, what a game changer. I've had this smoker for 11 years and have been schlepping at 225 for up to 12 hours sometimes, and like I wrote above, got tired of that and started just pulling them and finishing the next day in the oven.

These flats were both just under 3lbs each. I turned the smoker on at about 7:30AM and shortly after put them in, not waiting for a warm-up. The broken longer narrower one was done in 4 hours at 11:30 and the chubbier one was done in 4-1/2 hours at 12:00 noon (both 205+ deg). The smoker is already cool and back in the garage.

It was like "what stall?"

They are at least moist enough to be sitting in their own juices in the foil. I didn't add any.

Probably wont slice until the weekend. I'll report back.

Cant believe I never asked this question till now (palm to forehead)

 

[chopsaw]

Looks great . That point end I just did was like jello when I took it out .
Tender quick and pickling spice for 14 days .

Next up , cure your own , and if you have an instant post , try that for a finish .
Those are probably gonna be perfect though .

 

[millerbuilds]

Well folks, this was amazing. If this pastrami is as tender as my past stuff, what a game changer. I've had this smoker for 11 years and have been schlepping at 225 for up to 12 hours sometimes, and like I wrote above, got tired of that and started just pulling them and finishing the next day in the oven.

These flats were both just under 3lbs each. I turned the smoker on at about 7:30AM and shortly after put them in, not waiting for a warm-up. The broken longer narrower one was done in 4 hours at 11:30 and the chubbier one was done in 4-1/2 hours at 12:00 noon (both 205+ deg). The smoker is already cool and back in the garage.

It was like "what stall?"

They are at least moist enough to be sitting in their own juices in the foil. I didn't add any.
View attachment 713920

Probably wont slice until the weekend. I'll report back.

Cant believe I never asked this question till now (palm to forehead)

Looks very tasty!!!

Nice work,

Jason

 

[chef k-dude]

Looks great . That point end I just did was like jello when I took it out .
Tender quick and pickling spice for 14 days .

Next up , cure your own , and if you have an instant post , try that for a finish .
Those are probably gonna be perfect though .

Pressure cooking never occurred to me. Does it destroy the rub? I know I lose a lot of rub just running through the slicer...its a mess to clean up!

It's funny, sort of, EVERYTHING out there is "Instapot" and I'm yelling at these recipes online "Not every pressure cooker is an instapot!"

I have the Zavor Lux Multicooker. Not by choice, it was a Christmas gift. There's not much I use it for, ham-bone beans and a couple other recipes. It's great to not have to pre-soak beans!

 

[chopsaw]

Pressure cooking never occurred to me.

Thirdeye is the one that came up with it that I saw . So I tried it myself , and it's a fantastic way to finish the pastrami .

"Not every pressure cooker is an instapot!"

I understand that . I only have experience with an Instant pot , so I was asking that specifically .
I had " or pressure cooker " in there , but deleted it because I have no experience with any of the others .

 

[chef k-dude]

I wasn't getting on you about the Instapot. I'm the one who's hollering at recipes. Most normal people, have Instapots! I was kind of laughing at myself. An emoji might help

I wish we had GIF's with ROTFL, smacking the forehead, etc. here.

But seriously, on the subject. Whats the method and times for doing this? When do you pull from the smoker and how long pressure cooking? I used to pressure cook corned beef all the time then realized if I had the time, the stovetop is fine and I can control the timing of potatoes, cabbage and onions better.

I just had a turkey wing fail I will be posting at some point. They are tough as heck. I was thinking the only thing I can do with the leftovers (other than gnaw the meat off) is cook them in water until they are falling apart then cook some collards in that water/broth, pull the meat and add back in with to collards. But now you have me thinking the pressure cooker might be a solution.

 

[chopsaw]

I wasn't getting on you about the Instapot.

I know that , and was thinking that my response could / would be taken that way . The draw back of the printed word without emotion .
You stated " yelling at the internet recipe "
I'm specific from running Construction jobs , and knowing what the contract language means .
It's a curse really , but 5 million in framing and sheet goods , you better get it right , Lol .
Hard to leave it behind really .

OK enough of that .

Whats the method and times for doing this?

That's why I asked " Instant pot " because Wayne was using a stove top pressure cooker , and his times and temp was way different from mine . Could have been the meat as well .
I did it twice . First time was a test , that ended up with ,
Smoke to 150 / 160
1/2 to 1 cup of water in the bottom
Rack to hold the meat off the bottom , out of the water .
High pressure for 50 minutes natural release .

That's in and instant pot and about a 4 pound store bought corned beef . We have a thread going on times and temps ,,, somewhere .
thirdeye will have some great input on this , lets get him involved .