First Time Pastrami From A Packer

[rivet]

Hey Jim, no sugar at all in the rub. Trying to stay within the more "usual" pastrami flavors, I'll be tweaking them and playing around next time. I used some cardamom because we have it (my wife makes outstanding cardamom cookies) and it seems to go well with ground coriander...sort of like a mirror flavor. It can put you off at first ( I know ground coriander does this to me a lot) but really marries well with it.

Great container and price of the seed! I just used pre-ground coriander. I need to get another small electric coffee-grinder to dedicate to spices only...

 

[got14u]

I can't wait to see the finished pics Rivet. My packer is almost done defrosting. By Sunday I want to get this started. I can't wait and thanks for the inspiration

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Nice start!!!!!!!

I'll be patiently waiting for the outcome!

Got my first started today...not all the traditional spices like yours (can't get some of them yet)...and, I wanted to play alittle.

Eric

 

[rivet]

You are very welcome, and glad to inspire you... I got my inspiration from folks here, and you should in turn do the same!


Hey, glad you got started though....keep a log and recipe for your files, it will pay off. Nothing wrong with playing with a recipe, neither!

Got started this morning on the 'strami!


I was up at oh-dark-thirty getting prepped and having fun. Rinsed out the packer under cold running water then several iterations of cold-water soaks for a total of about 45 minutes-





The meat smelled incredibly good even after the rinses. The brine colored the fat reddish and bits of spices stuck into it, making it look really pretty even after soaking. Then I did the Fry Test....





HOLY MOLY AND OH MY GAWD! Did this thing taste good! Wowzalooza! I could tell allready I am never buying pastrami again...it's gonna be made in-house!

Then I rubbed the flat with the rub I made yestiddy, and it looked good!





Meanwhile had the SnP fired up with hardwood briquettes and alderwood, humming along at 220F. Put the pastrami flat and the "house-rubbed" point for burnt ends into the smoker to make their happiness!





Will post more as the smoke goes on. Gonna smoke the strami to 180. The point same, then cube it up and back into the smoker for burnt ends

 

[alx]

Looking awesome John.

:PDT_Ar mataz_01_37:

 

[got14u]

man this is killing me. great step by step

 

[rivet]

Here we are into the smoke and first-spritz-time. Using apple juice only....


The flat is at 130 and the point at 110. All looking good, and proceeding to plan. Spritzed after the pic....


 

 

[bbq engineer]

Oh Yeah...this is gonna be good. The suspense is killing me John.

 

[fire it up]

Coming along nicely, hopefully this will be one of those rare smokes where no plateau comes into play but we all know how rare that is.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhh maaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sitting here thinking about my brining corned beef, knowing I planned on an 11 day cure before it's smoke-thirty........10 days to go.........it'll be worth it...gotta keep repeating that to myself! LOL!!!!!!!

I'll be OK.....this thread is just grabbing me where it hurts (so good).

Gonna be a LONG wait here!

Nice smoke...keep it coming! I'll be tagging along for the finish!

Eric

 

[rivet]

Me too...read more below...

Thanks, but this is one of those everyday smokes with the dreaded plateau!

We were rolling right along at 220, 225 life was looking good then I temped and spritzed. Good deal, 'strami at 149 and moving up.




Or so I thought.

An hour later...it was at 140F !! Arrgh!

Okay...regroup, no worries. What do we do...hmm. Have another beer! Yes, excellent idea. Still have a couple more of these

Getting dark, so I set up and fired up the tiki lamps.




Nuttin' left to do but grab a bowl of chips, and enjoy the smoke!

More later as it develops.

 

[got14u]

great so far...it seems like you got everything covered including the beer....I would be freezing out side smokin right now..lol...nice tiki lamps by the way.

 

[rivet]

Oh yeahhhhh...after a very long haul, my first pastrami is done and what a success!

This brisket gave me my longest and biggest plateau ever~ 9 degrees and almost two full hours. I knew enough to ride it out, but what a ride!


Pulled it out of the Alderwood at 190F-




Smelled incredibly good and meaty. Not like pastrami, but like meat! Made my mouth water. Then, I sliced that baby in two even pieces and that's when the full pastrami smell hit me like a tidal wave.....this was all pastrami!




Oh-so-tender, this piece of meat sliced like butter. Beautiful slices perfect for the sammie to come...




I could smell the hints of juniper and coriander tucked away in the waves of deliciousness. It was that good. I took a bite of the meat before making the sandwich and OOO-LA-LA BABY WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS.... OH...MY ...GAWD. Wow, it was THAT delicious! No exaggeration here; just real complete goodness. Even Mrs Rivet was impressed. She asked for a plate of slices while I made the sammies cause she couldn't wait.


I toasted some Jewish Rye, and slathered on Fire It Up's Habanero Mustard he sent me during an exchange, and put a bit of Swiss on each piece of bread, then into the oven to melt. Meanwhile, plated some kettle-fried potato chips, sauerkraut, a kosher dill (Mount Olive, from North Carolina..best in the world!) and had to break out the Pilsner glass for the beer....



I had to put the mustard jar in the pics 'cause it is the best mustard in the world for this stuff, but you have to like heat. This is grown-up mustard, for chili-heads only....it'll make your head-sweat~ and boy, is it goo-ooo-oood!


 

 

[fire it up]

That strami had beautiful color. Great job John! I'm so glad you loved your first fully cured smoked pastrami, it is one of those things that makes your knees weak.
Glad you liked the mustard so much, forgot to pick up a bottle to try the habanero out but I will next time I'm at the store.
How are the burnt ends coming along?

 

[rivet]

Hey Jim, they came out great, or as guess they should be! Posting on another thread....

 

[blackened]

Looks great! Congrats on a successful smoke..

 

[DanMcG]

Wow John that looks beautiful!! Great step by step and excellent photos, I can almost taste it. I'm glad it was as good as you had hoped it would be. Thanks for sharing the Q-view!

 

[beer-b-q]

It looks Great John, What kind of mustard is that...

 

[rivet]

Hi Paul,


That's Bookbinder's Hot Habanero Mustard that Fire It Up sent me during an exchange we did. It is- without a doubt- the BEST spicy / hot mustard I have ever tasted. Really.




I'm a mustard lover and think that a good yellow mustard is heaven (Koop's wins, every-time) however this one is fantastic.


It is HOT, hot enough that a chili-head like me starts to feel it, so this isn't something you want to feed your kids. It went particularly well with the flavor of the pastrami and I put a squirt on top of the warm sauerkraut too; that made it even better. The tang of the 'kraut plus the bite of the mustard......mmmmm.


I can't find it anywhere around here where I live so I went to their website:
http://www.bookbindersfoods.com/


Doesn't seem to be working right today, though. I'll check again later this week.

 

[bbq engineer]

Really Nice Rivet...an all around excellent job on the innaugural pastrami. This is the quality of post, instruction, photographs, and dedication to turning out amazing smoked meats that anyone should strive for.

I made a pastrami one time from a freezer burnt chuck roast that I had for way to long in the freezer...trimmed it down to nice red meat first, and I will tell you that I absolutely couldn't stay out of it. It was that good! I turned my brother on to it too, and for weeks, we would talk about our latest pastrami and how good it was. I also put it in the steamer for a couple of hours which I thought really made it extra moist and delicious. The taste is just unbeatable. I guarantee I will never buy pastrami again.

I am going to look for that mustard too. It sounds awesome!