Vacation Cook #3: Pastrami

[NCGrimbo]

A week ago, I started the process of making some pastrami for the first time. A trip to the butcher's produced this brisket which had the largest flat and smallest point I've ever seen:

Into the brine for 7 days:

Out of the brine and rubbed with black pepper and coriander:

Picture of the meat on the Yoder as required by law :mrgreen::

After around 8 or 9 hours it's done:

Sliced and sampled. It's a little more salty than I'm used to, but I'm more sensitive to salt than others:

All sliced up and ready to eat:

For those looking the recipe I followed, you can find it here via chef Tom of ATBBQ.

 

[Stingerhook]

You sir are on a roll.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

:hungry::hungry::hungry:
Nicely done I just did some a few weeks ago Came out Great I got a con beef and soaked it while changing the water 5 times over 9 hrs I used Thirdeye's rub This was from a brisket flat When it reached 167* I put it in a tin pan with the meat raised on balls of foil Putin a can of beer and steamed it till done- 199* Came out great I really dont have the fridge space to corn something

 

[PaPaQ]

That looks awesome!

 

[Fooball]

Very nice looking pastrami. One of these days I'm going to try making it. You are an inspiration.

Every time someone posts about pastrami, I think of Katz Deli in NYC.

Never been there, but the videos and pictures of their sandwiches are mouth watering. Maybe overkill on the amount of meat piled on!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbW958A9pVc

 

[bowhnter]

That looks great!

 

[thirdeye]

You got great color on that, and I like the coarseness of the rub. :clap2:

Sliced and sampled. It's a little more salty than I'm used to, but I'm more sensitive to salt than others:

The salt percentage is pretty important as we all have different tastes. Plus, salt plays a role in the curing process. The Chef Tom recipe didn't list the weight of his brisket, so it's hard to work the salt percentage backwards. But for what it's worth... I guessed the weight of your brisket at 12#, and if you used the same amount of Morton Kosher salt, water and ice as Chef Tom the salt percentage works out to >2.5%. A middle of the road percentage is 1.8% to 2%. (I shoot for 1.5% because the Cure#1 has some salt in it too)

 

[Charny]

Very nice looking pastrami. One of these days I'm going to try making it. You are an inspiration.

Have you tried converting a corned beef into a pastrami? You soak it to de-salt, spice it, and smoke it. And then finish with steam or pressure.. The results are quite amazing, far beyond corned beef. And it freezes well. Thirdeye's writeup of the process is outstanding. And while that reads like a bit of work, it seems the small non-time critical steps make it not a big deal.

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258936

 

[snadamo]

I’m rather enjoying your vacation cooks! There’s so many things I want to try, pastrami included. However, I have a freezer full of stuff I need to make beforehand. Good problem to have I suppose.

 

[Fooball]

Have you tried converting a corned beef into a pastrami? You soak it to de-salt, spice it, and smoke it. And then finish with steam or pressure.. The results are quite amazing, far beyond corned beef. And it freezes well. Thirdeye's writeup of the process is outstanding. And while that reads like a bit of work, it seems the small non-time critical steps make it not a big deal.

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258936

Yea, I have seen some posts on here about that method around St. Patty's Day when the corned beef goes on sale.

Haven't tried that either. That will be my 1st attempt!

 

[NCGrimbo]

You got great color on that, and I like the coarseness of the rub. :clap2:

Thanks! I was concerned that I didn't brine it long enough since it was a very large brisket.

The salt percentage is pretty important as we all have different tastes. Plus, salt plays a role in the curing process. The Chef Tom recipe didn't list the weight of his brisket, so it's hard to work the salt percentage backwards. But for what it's worth... I guessed the weight of your brisket at 12#, and if you used the same amount of Morton Kosher salt, water and ice as Chef Tom the salt percentage works out to >2.5%. A middle of the road percentage is 1.8% to 2%. (I shoot for 1.5% because the Cure#1 has some salt in it too)

Your guess is close. The brisket was 11.1 pounds. Chef Tom's recipe was for a 7 pound flat but I didn't change it for my larger brisket. I was hoping that would reduce the saltiness of the final product.

 

[Bill-Chicago]

I remember when your vacations included trips to Chicago.


Sadness.

 

[thirdeye]

Thanks! I was concerned that I didn't brine it long enough since it was a very large brisket.

Your guess is close. The brisket was 11.1 pounds. Chef Tom's recipe was for a 7 pound flat but I didn't change it for my larger brisket. I was hoping that would reduce the saltiness of the final product.

Dang, my calibrated eyeball must be drifting as I get older. :biggrin1: At 7#, Chef Tom's brisket would have been saltier than yours as you had 4 pounds more "weight" in the bucket, and everything is based on weight (water weight + meat weight that is). So, your thought was correct since your brisket was heavier.

The closer you get to mixing an equilibrium brine, the longer you can extend the brine time because the finished product will never get too salty. 14 days is kind of my sweet spot because my brine starts out with a lower percentage of salt, and lower nitrite too.

One tip you can try is injecting about 10% (by weight) of your brine, and using the remainder to cover when it goes in your bucket. Now, from day one, you will be brining from the inside out, and the outside in. And if you stick with Tom's recipe, you can always soak it to draw some salt out. For me, the store bought corned beef is too salty, so I soak all of them. Store bought briskets have a pretty hot brine because they can't afford to cure them for a long time.

 

[KennesawBBQ]

Looks great! I am doing my first pastrami - a 7 lb. choice flat from Costco. Just put in the brine last night. 6 days in brine, 2 days de-salt, 1 day drying. I'll post pics in about 10 days of the smoke. Following this copycat Katz recipe found on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE-79AnoV70

 

[NCGrimbo]

I remember when your vacations included trips to Chicago.


Sadness.

I miss you to Bill.