All right, so I decided to give try my hand at pastrami. I have smoked/boiled/cooked many a corned beef (sliced thin after on my slicer) for my favorite sandwich ever- corned beef sandwich. I wanted to go a step further and see what it would be like to go full pastrami. ON TO THE MEAT!
I started with a 4.5 lb corned beef brisket I got at my local Aldi (a little under $4 a lb, pretty good deal). I soaked it overnight in water to remove the salt and coated it in the good stuff:
Musturd
fresh ground pepper (tons)
fresh ground coriander
fresh ground mustard seed
garlic powder
onion powder
I let it hang out for an hour+ while I prepped my smoker
I smoked it (at 270) for 4 hours totally uncovered (about 160 degrees) before putting it on a rack in pan with some beef broth to steam. I let this ride about 3 hours and then put it back on the smoker to crisp up the bark (to a temp of about 200). You can see below the finished product- the bark was perfect.
I ran it through my slicer the next day - so tender! much of it just fell apart.
I thin sliced some onions with some swiss cheese and regular yellow mustard...
finished product!! It is just so tender it is hard to describe.
Verdict-
The crust and pepper flavors are fantastic without being overwhelming. I will say in the future I will stick with regular corned beef. It is easier to prepare (stick it in a pan with water and just throw it in the oven/smoker!) and I like the salty texture of the meat a bit more that the soaking/steaming steps remove. This was a very fun adventure and I was sure glad I tried it, the presentation blew my buddies away.
I started with a 4.5 lb corned beef brisket I got at my local Aldi (a little under $4 a lb, pretty good deal). I soaked it overnight in water to remove the salt and coated it in the good stuff:
Musturd
fresh ground pepper (tons)
fresh ground coriander
fresh ground mustard seed
garlic powder
onion powder
I let it hang out for an hour+ while I prepped my smoker
I smoked it (at 270) for 4 hours totally uncovered (about 160 degrees) before putting it on a rack in pan with some beef broth to steam. I let this ride about 3 hours and then put it back on the smoker to crisp up the bark (to a temp of about 200). You can see below the finished product- the bark was perfect.
I ran it through my slicer the next day - so tender! much of it just fell apart.
I thin sliced some onions with some swiss cheese and regular yellow mustard...
finished product!! It is just so tender it is hard to describe.
Verdict-
The crust and pepper flavors are fantastic without being overwhelming. I will say in the future I will stick with regular corned beef. It is easier to prepare (stick it in a pan with water and just throw it in the oven/smoker!) and I like the salty texture of the meat a bit more that the soaking/steaming steps remove. This was a very fun adventure and I was sure glad I tried it, the presentation blew my buddies away.
