November seems to be Pastrami month at the SMF!

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Should we officially dedicate November as Pastrami month here atthe SMF?

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fire it up

Smoking Guru
Original poster
OTBS Member
Feb 24, 2009
5,167
14
South Jersey
Received some juniper berries from DanMcG recently and knew right away that pastrami was soon to follow
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First I made the injection because it needs to cool in the fridge before you inject the meat.

I boiled a pot of water and measured out 3 1/2 cups, stirred in
2Tbsp Tenderquick
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2tsp granulated garlic
1tsp chipotle powder

As that cooled I made up the mixes.
Rub 1

3Tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1Tbsp onion powder
1Tbsp ground coriander
1tsp Italian seasoning

Take out 2 Tablespoons to mix with Rub 2 and save the rest for smoking day.


Rub 2

Add to the 2 reserved Tablespoons of rub
1/4Cup Tenderquick
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2Tbsp granulated garlic
1Tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika

Mix it all up (this will be the second step in curing)

Once your solution has cooled completely it is time to inject and rub for the curing to begin.

Picked up an 11 1/2lb packer



Enjoyed this shot as you can really make out where the point and the flat are located, the point is that balled up curved part on the top and underneath that layer of fat is the point.


You can always separate them before curing if you want, I smoke it whole then separate after.

After trimming the fat down to about 1/8-1/4 inch I injected it with as much of the cooled brine as I could.
(Not a very pretty trim job)


Drained out all the extra liquid, rubbed with olive oil and applied all of rub #2 then into a vacuum seal bag to rest in the fridge for 10 days give or take a day.



I massage and turn at least once a day but two is better, this helps to work in the cure.
Shot of it today after a little massage action


Now we wait...
 
Ok Jim that looks just like mine too. I did just about the same brine and I too injected it with some brine and tender quick. Then let it sit in the frig for 8 days and you go from there. You are doing just about everything i did you are doing. So I hope yours comes out like mine cause it was really good.
 
Tis is my normal process for making pastrami and have had them turn out perfect every time so I have no doubt if we are doing similar recipes they will both come out great.
Did I read earlier in a post you were starting yours tonight?
If so, good luck
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Looks like you are off to a good start... I like your injector...
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Exellent designation for the month! I'm really looking forward to seeing everybodies pastrami and trying my hand at another one.
 
I second the November being pastrami month. It sure seems like everyone is on a pastrami kick. I'm sure I will be making more sooner then later. They are finally going to open up a Sam's club in Billings, MT which is only a hour away. Maybe then I can get a decent brisket.
your pics are great...one question for you guys.....do you need to do the rub while it brine's. I was thinking of just letting mine sit in the brine. What are the differences ?
 
I guess there are several different ways to make it. I rubbed mine with a rub similar in content to the cure injection liquid. This rub had 1/2 cup of tenderequick so in my particular recipe it was necessary so it would perform the curing action that's needed. The injected brine I used only had 2 TBSP Tenderquick. The brining time is the "curing" time that the Tenderquick needs to do its job.
 
That's what I was wondering Rivet. I copied yours pretty closely and 2 TBS didn't seem like a lot. I will pull mine out today and rub her down..didn't mean to high jack the thread either.my brain just started kicking in..back to the topic
 
Thanks, after having 4-5 of the plastic ones break on me I decided to grab one that was more heavy duty and I love it, 12 holes around the tip of the needle for injection to go every direction, and as an added plus if a horse ever comes by and needs to take a dose of steroids I can help him out
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Though November is "turkey month" I felt that so many folks were doing pastrami, many for their first time and it is my hopes that we can get more people to give it a try.
I know I was nervous my first time making pastrami from scratch but it really is so much simpler than most people think, I hope everyone tries their hand at it eventually.

As for the injection and rub, like John said, so many different way but this just happens to be my favorite way to do pastrami, and it lets me add some chipotle into the meat as it cures for 10 days, gives it a nice flavor in the end result.
 
Sounds good to me, I just picked up some CBB at Sam's Club for $2.50/lb with the sole intent of making more pastrami this week.

Nice Q-View pics, that should come out tasty!
 
Just a little update since I am now half way through my 10 curing process of corned beef, soon to be pastrami.
Yesterday and today after massaging the meat



Another 5 days and we are ready to smoke
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Great thing about curing is if the weather doesn't cooperate it can be left in the cure longer, just may require a bit longer soak time to reduce the saltiness.
Smoke on everyone!
 
Thats a long cure Jim....Just kidding.....Weird- i see Rivet posting in this thread tonite and the date on his last post is 2 plus weeks ago....
 
Awesome! Thanks for taking the veil off for a newbie that has been reading and viewing all of the pastrami threads.

Where did you use the juniper berries?
 
Well as you know I sent you a PM about the juniper berries.
To anyone else who may read this I used the juniper berries crushed up in the final rub that I applied the day of smoking.
 
FIU, keep this thread together for the finish please, i want to give your method a shot. it sure looks like it is gonna be great. cant wait for the finish!!!
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I ended up posting the smoke itself in a separate thread because I didn't want folks searching for pastrami on here to get confused by the poll at the top and pass by it
 
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