I had back-straps from this years deer season and decided to see if I could turn them into pastrami, or a venison dried "beef" for snacking. What I did was to take my pickling spices, some crumpled up bay leaves and some garlic and boiled them in a couple cups of the brine to release the oils in the spices. Then after doing a super trim job on the meat removing all the sinew and stringy membranes that always get in between you teeth, I submerged into the brine and weighted it down with a plate inside of a 5 gallon food grade bucket and back in the fridge it went. I rotated and turned the meat slabs each day. Ten (10) days later they were removed from the brine rinsed off and patted dry with paper towels. Next, and I know some of you here don't like this method, I coated all the meat with a horseradish mustard, sprinkled on some Mrs Dash (garlic/herb/no salt), and packed them heavy with black pepper. I then place on the bottom rack in my meat frig overnight.
Preheated the MES40 to 150* and put the meat in along with hickory in the Amaze-n-smoker tray.
2 hrs into the smoke the meat IT was 128/127 . I used an i-Grill 4 probe thermometer to monitor progress.
at the 3 hr mark I raised the temp to 170
at 4 hr mark bump to 180 - meat is now at 139/.140
at 8 hrs I bump to 200 , meat is now 150/146
at 9-1/2hrs I turned heat off and let it sit while I eat my dinner, IT is at 157/162.
brought it inside after an hour and put in the frig overnight
Just finished slicing and bagging up.
The taste is good, mustard is gone, and it has a nice color and finish. I only have a few photos so here they are below.
Enjoy !
![IMG_3160[1].JPG](/media/img_3160-1-jpg.373463/full?d=1507233337)
![IMG_3162[1].JPG](/media/img_3162-1-jpg.373464/full?d=1507233337)
![IMG_3161[1].JPG](/media/img_3161-1-jpg.373465/full?d=1507233337)
Nice n Red
![IMG_3163[1].JPG](/media/img_3163-1-jpg.373466/full?d=1507233337)
I will do this again. Like Pop said in one of his posts., it takes time, don't get in a hurry. How true that statement is.
Preheated the MES40 to 150* and put the meat in along with hickory in the Amaze-n-smoker tray.
2 hrs into the smoke the meat IT was 128/127 . I used an i-Grill 4 probe thermometer to monitor progress.
at the 3 hr mark I raised the temp to 170
at 4 hr mark bump to 180 - meat is now at 139/.140
at 8 hrs I bump to 200 , meat is now 150/146
at 9-1/2hrs I turned heat off and let it sit while I eat my dinner, IT is at 157/162.
brought it inside after an hour and put in the frig overnight
Just finished slicing and bagging up.
The taste is good, mustard is gone, and it has a nice color and finish. I only have a few photos so here they are below.
Enjoy !
Nice n Red
I will do this again. Like Pop said in one of his posts., it takes time, don't get in a hurry. How true that statement is.
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