My first attempt at pastrami, using eye of round, came out OK but not great. The flavor was there but I felt the meat was a little tougher than it should have been. This is my second try, this time using a pre-cured corned beef flat (on sale) and the sous vide cooker. The inspiration for this came from the Amazingribs web site. (Credit where due.)
I soaked the corned beef overnight, changing the water a couple times, then vacuum bagged and put in the sous vide pot at 150F for 36 hours.
Then into an ice bath to stop the cooking. After that I coated it with the rub and refrigerated it overnight.
The rub:
4 TBS coarse black pepper
2 TBS coriander
1 tsp mustard powder
1 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
I actually ended up with easily twice the amount of rub needed for the 4ish pound flat.
The next morning I set the MES for 225F and smoked using Todd's Pitmasters Choice pellets in the Aamzin Pellet Smoker. I smoked it to an IT of 165F then wrapped in double foil and let sit till cool before going back in the refer overnight again. Unwrapped and, after 30 or so minutes in the freezer, ready for the slicer.
And finally - sammies! (The wife is pretty stingy with proportions - silly girl thinks it is healthy.)
And the rest bagged for the freezer.
I gotta say, this recipe nailed it. The flavor is, to me, just fantastic and the meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender. Just perfect. The only improvement I can think of would be to double the amount of meat on the sandwiches, but that seems to be a lost battle.
I soaked the corned beef overnight, changing the water a couple times, then vacuum bagged and put in the sous vide pot at 150F for 36 hours.
Then into an ice bath to stop the cooking. After that I coated it with the rub and refrigerated it overnight.
The rub:
4 TBS coarse black pepper
2 TBS coriander
1 tsp mustard powder
1 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
I actually ended up with easily twice the amount of rub needed for the 4ish pound flat.
The next morning I set the MES for 225F and smoked using Todd's Pitmasters Choice pellets in the Aamzin Pellet Smoker. I smoked it to an IT of 165F then wrapped in double foil and let sit till cool before going back in the refer overnight again. Unwrapped and, after 30 or so minutes in the freezer, ready for the slicer.
And finally - sammies! (The wife is pretty stingy with proportions - silly girl thinks it is healthy.)
And the rest bagged for the freezer.
I gotta say, this recipe nailed it. The flavor is, to me, just fantastic and the meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender. Just perfect. The only improvement I can think of would be to double the amount of meat on the sandwiches, but that seems to be a lost battle.
