Pastrami from a corned beef

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chef willie

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Dec 31, 2010
3,201
376
Willamette Valley, Oregon
Scored two CB's flats marked down after St. Patricks Day for a pastrami fix. Soaked overnight with a few water changes to leach out the factory injection. Heavily applied the rub and film wrapped for a two day rest. Allowed to come to room temp before going into the Smokin' It #3 at 225 with apple wood chunks. This wasn't a huge chunk so after about 5 hours I removed it at about 160 IT. Wrapped in film and foil and allowed to rest until cool. Put into fridge for an overnight rest. Sliced very thin on the Hobart slicer at work. Gave the boss a scant half pound. Steamed me up a half pound for a Pastrami Reuben with some cole slaw on the side. Awesome meal and still have a small one in the fridge for another run......Willie






 
Looks delicious Willie!!!

Those packaged corned beefs sure make making pastrami easy!

Nice job!

Al
 
OMG---That looks Mighty Tasty!!!
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I'd be all over that !!
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Wish I could make one---That's one of the many things Mrs Bear doesn't like.

Bear
 
​Willie I am jealous My slicer can't do that,will have to practice my knife skills,LOL Have one soaking now rub tomorrow. Points

Richie 
 
CW Looks awesome!!!! any way you could post the Rub recipe??? I am going to have to try this!!! POINTS,,,,

DS
 
 
OMG---That looks Mighty Tasty!!!
drool.gif
drool.gif
-------------
points.gif


I'd be all over that !!
icon14.gif


Wish I could make one---That's one of the many things Mrs Bear doesn't like.

Bear
Hey John....yeah, my gal doesn't touch them either. This was a grocery store flat, real small, about 3 pounds & a tad less after smoking....10 bucks. half pound to the boss, half pound to my sammich and my kid will get the rest....win win, all gone and I enjoyed the process. Thanks.....Willie
 
 
​Willie I am jealous My slicer can't do that,will have to practice my knife skills,LOL Have one soaking now rub tomorrow. Points

Richie 
yeah, I hear ya. Many delis in NYC go for the thicker hand cut slices. Katz's being the most famous I believe. Much like a brisket cut.....about pencil thickness is perfect. Enjoy...
 
 
yeah, I hear ya. Many delis in NYC go for the thicker hand cut slices. Katz's being the most famous I believe. Much like a brisket cut.....about pencil thickness is perfect. Enjoy...
No I will slice almost paper thin,just takes me a little longer then machine.

Richie
 
 
CW Looks awesome!!!! any way you could post the Rub recipe??? I am going to have to try this!!! POINTS,,,,

DS
Wow. That looks great. X2 on the rub recipe
Hey,,,,sorry a bit late....had to work today. So, recipe is as follows:

1/4 cup Kosher salt

1/4 cup paprika. I used Hungarian.

3 tablespoons coriander seeds

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons black peppercorns (or regular ground BP)

2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds

1 tablespoon white peppercorns

8 cloves of garlic, minced

Combine seeds and coarse grind, then combine with other ingredients.

Rub is now ready to use or stored for a bit.

IF you are using a corned beef from the market I would def cut back on the amount of salt in this recipe.
 
That looks....fantastic!

You took it to 160 IT? That's lower than most. It looks EXACTLY like what I want texture-wize though. Most people seem to take them to ~203. Is yours chewy? I want a nice tight slice like yours looks. I have a 5.5 prime brisket I've been curing since end of February waiting for time/weather to cooperate.  Thanks for the tips!
 
 
That looks....fantastic!

You took it to 160 IT? That's lower than most. It looks EXACTLY like what I want texture-wize though. Most people seem to take them to ~203. Is yours chewy? I want a nice tight slice like yours looks. I have a 5.5 prime brisket I've been curing since end of February waiting for time/weather to cooperate.  Thanks for the tips!
Yeah, I do them to a lower temp and then steam them to get that 'deli' pastrami finish to them. I think the last one I did was to 170'ish and then steamed. IMO the steaming is what makes it a pastrami as opposed to just a smoked corned beef. In many delis the sliced meat is often kept in a pan of juice & fished out as a sandwich is ordered. I have, in the past, used a crab boil in the steaming water to impart another layer of spicy flavor to it. So, the steaming finish will soften up that meat. Here's the link to my other one showing the steaming.....good luck with yours & have fun....Willie

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/137575/my-first-pastrami-w-que-view
 
Thanks Willie. I will check your other thread out. I guess what I hope to achieve here is as close to a "deli counter" pastrami texture/flavor as I can get. Let me see what your other post reveals for me. Thank you again.
 
Ok that was a good read! So the part that I seem to be stumbling on here, is how long would you steam the whole piece of beef? What's your end goal look like (physically)? I'll probably do half of this 5,5 lb flat, so an hour? Two? Do you steam the whole piece and THEN the slices after it's been refrigerated (next week's sandwiches in other words)? I'm really drilling down here because this is completely new to me so I have no frame of reference here and I want to do it right!

Thanks again!
 
 
Ok that was a good read! So the part that I seem to be stumbling on here, is how long would you steam the whole piece of beef? What's your end goal look like (physically)? I'll probably do half of this 5,5 lb flat, so an hour? Two? Do you steam the whole piece and THEN the slices after it's been refrigerated (next week's sandwiches in other words)? I'm really drilling down here because this is completely new to me so I have no frame of reference here and I want to do it right!

Thanks again!
yes, I steamed the whole piece to hit the desired end result. I wasn't overly concerned about IT at that time, just that it was hot and juicy. Kind of like the bend test with ribs on the grill. I then sliced and brought most of the meat into the Club with the sides of rye, mustard & pickles.....guys slapped some meat on slice of rye, slathered with mustard and folded in half like a taco then into the pie hole. Anything left was steamed sliced, just to hit edible levels. HTH....IMO the thin slicing across the grain is a key to tender pastrami in conjunction with the steaming.
 
CW, Nice job ,they look excellent !
Thanks.....not something I do on a regular basis but was quite tasty..
 
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