So it is cheap corned beef season at the local supermarkets and I usually cure my own beef for pastrami. But the $1.97/lb. price tag got me thinking about experimenting with an idea I had but never tried. I thought about grinding up pastrami seasoned corn beef, stuffing it and smoking it. Now I am still relatively new to sausage making and I am definitely not a math or science guy. So figuring out how much pastrami seasoning to mix with ground corned beef makes my head hurt. So this was what I was thinking
1. Rinse store bought corned beef just to get some of the pink curing goo off of it (I will not soak to de-salinate, you'll see why later)
2. Rub with my usual pastrami rub (DOES NOT CONTAIN SALT)
3. Pop it into the freezer on a sheet tray for a few hours until its almost frozen
4. Cube it up and grind the spiced corned beef through my grinder
5. Fry a test patty to determine if more pastrami spice is needed
6. Stuff into prepared casings
7. Smoke it for about 2-3 hours or until it reaches the color I desire
8. Eat it and experience epic failure or pastrami dog bliss.
So.. the reason I am not planning to soak it to remove salt is because I am not adding any additional salt to the mix.
So here are some questions:
1. Is there an easier way to determine how much pastrami rub should go into the sausage mix? Is my rub, grind, and check method going to lead to a lot of wasted corned beef?
2. Do you still think the end product will be to salty if I don't soak the corned beef for a while?
3. Can I assume that this corned beef which is cured and then ground can safely be smoked at temps between 130-170?
4. Any other additional ingredients that might be necessary in the mix? NFDM maybe?
As always, thanks in advance for your help. Looking forward to try this!
-Chris
1. Rinse store bought corned beef just to get some of the pink curing goo off of it (I will not soak to de-salinate, you'll see why later)
2. Rub with my usual pastrami rub (DOES NOT CONTAIN SALT)
3. Pop it into the freezer on a sheet tray for a few hours until its almost frozen
4. Cube it up and grind the spiced corned beef through my grinder
5. Fry a test patty to determine if more pastrami spice is needed
6. Stuff into prepared casings
7. Smoke it for about 2-3 hours or until it reaches the color I desire
8. Eat it and experience epic failure or pastrami dog bliss.
So.. the reason I am not planning to soak it to remove salt is because I am not adding any additional salt to the mix.
So here are some questions:
1. Is there an easier way to determine how much pastrami rub should go into the sausage mix? Is my rub, grind, and check method going to lead to a lot of wasted corned beef?
2. Do you still think the end product will be to salty if I don't soak the corned beef for a while?
3. Can I assume that this corned beef which is cured and then ground can safely be smoked at temps between 130-170?
4. Any other additional ingredients that might be necessary in the mix? NFDM maybe?
As always, thanks in advance for your help. Looking forward to try this!
-Chris