Scored some corn Beef

[fishwrestler]

I have been checking the dates on a few corn beef at a local Safeway, Notice a few of them expired on the first of May. Well I totally forgot and figured they had been pulled or sold. I stopped in on Sunday and checked the case. One marked down but the date was May 12th. Then I see a few marked May 1st. I asked the young kid behind the counter about them. He says I can't sell the I need to pull them. We walk back over to them and he says how many do you want I said any date May 1st, HE replies let me get some 1/2 off stickers and I proceed to pull all five marked May 1st. When he returns he puts 1/2 off stickers on them all and says enjoy.
I stuck them int he freezer but will be doing a pastrami smoke in the near future.
Robert

 

[skillet]

Hmmm, thats interesting last Thursday (4/29)... I got a tip from a friend at work that a local grocery store (Hy-Vee) had brisket on sale. When I called they said nope sorry but corned beef was on sale for .99 cents a pound. Did they all have extra corned beef?!?

Well I buzzed over right away, get to the cooler and it says 1.79/lb, ALL with May 1st expiration dates. So I ask and they said yep just bring the to the meat counter and they'd mark them down. (wondered how many people bought them for the "sticker" price)

Well a lot of them were very dark colored, not like you typically see corned beef at St. Patty's day, but I picked through them all and found some nice colored ones.

So I ask about them and he said they had two more pallets in the back and the meat manager got them from the warehouse to try and sell them since they were so close to expiring.

Well I opened one this weekend and it smelled a little funky so I give a 2+ hour fresh water bath (two water changes) and it really didn't smell any so I smoked it up. Use a traditional pastrami rub and while it stalled at about 172 for 3+ hours, after 11 hours i pulled it and wrapped it.

Well yesterday I steamed them for 3 hours and it is some great tasting pastrami. And no one felt bad, although no one ate a lot, but we did eat about half of it.

Wondering what yours will smell like and if the expiration date is really that sensitive or I wondered it these were sitting somewhere warm. I ened up buying 56 lbs of them... hope I didn't waste my $$$.

I'll try and get some qview up soon.

 

[skillet]

Ok as promised..... corned beef -> pastrami

After the 2 fresh water baths, getting ready to rub


The rub


Rubbed on!


The next day after, cuttin it up.







Three hours steamed.... wow it was good, need to get the fixins for a pastrami sandwich. Although just plain is fine by me too!

 

[south jersey bbq tim]

nice pic of the rub!! i need a new camera

 

[indyadmin1974]

Man that's some good looking pastrami!

 

[morkdach]

wow good looking pastrami!

 

[mballi3011]

Yes thats some good looking pastrami but it is playing with the devil with meat that is out dated. I have picked up some meat dated for that day before at a reduced price and froze it. But I haven't got any meat that has benn out dated before.

 

[skillet]

I hear ya mballi301. I'm a little worried about the rest of my stash. I did put it in the freezer immediately when I got home. The only difference I noticed was it was a bit saltier than the other brisket I had, which had the same expiration date.


Thanks for the kind words everyone, this was my very first try at corned beef/pastrami. Want to do the whole thing when I get a chance. Brisket->brined->smoked. Just tried it after reading about everyone else advice here.

The camera isn't anything special, just a point and shoot a Canon Powershot A640. But in macro mode. It's a fun hobby getting some good pictures.

The rub was gleaned from several different recipes from all over and then I put in what sounded good, all measurements are approximate :-)

2 tbsp kosher salt
3 tbsp course ground pepper ( I like the Tellicherry)
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp thyme
1 tbsp Hungarian paprika (hot)
1 tbsp smoked Spanish paprika
1/2-3/4 cup brown sugar

This weekend I'm stopping by Penzy's and getting their Corned Beef Spices mix, it sounds good.

 

[fishwrestler]

Looks good Skillet.

I am not to worried about the stuff I bought It was only one day past the sell by date. I froze it up as soon as I got home.
Will do all four later this month
R