# Corned Beef & Turkey Pastrami From Scratch - Q-View-mania



## thoseguys26 (Apr 19, 2012)

I haven't had pastrami for close to 10 years and to be honest it wasn't that memorable for me.  A new friend I made here on SMF convinced me that I absolutely have to make some pastrami. Not only did she convince me, she gave me her recipe for beef & turkey pastrami, homemade mustard & a DIY pastrami kit she put together with her own hands! Her kit came with the spices & cure for the brine, a super nice sealing container to cure it in and the dry rub to use before smoking. 

So, thank you *Smokin Vegas* for opening my eyes to Real Pastrami! 

*Beef & Turkey Pastrami*

*Cure Brine*

1/4 Cup          Kosher Salt

2 tsp               Cure #1

1/2 Cup          Brown Sugar

1 Tb                Garlic Powder

2 Tb                Pickling Spice (I recommend Ivie's - link above)

8 Cups            Spring Water

Trim your meat of thick pieces of fat. Beef Tri-tip is what I used and I'll be sticking to that cut because it was perfect. Mix all ingredients well and add your meet and make sure it's all covered by the brine. Inject some brine into the meat in a few places just to help the process.

Place in the fridge. Let beef cure in the brine for 10 days and the turkey for 5. I put my turkey breast in with my tri-tip for the last 5 days so I could smoke them together.

Remember to shake the container as often as you go in your fridge and each day it helps if you flip the meat over.

*Dry Rub*

Take the meat out. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry. I soaked mine in water for 40 minutes just to make sure it wasn't going to be too salty but I don't think it was necessary. 

Rub some extra virgin olive oil over the meat and then rub on Ivie's pastrami spice mix nice and thick.

*To the Smoker*

I smoked my 2 lb tri-tip around 230° for 5 1/2 hours and an IT of 160°. Now, I live at 5,400 ft altitude so if you're closer to sea level then your time will be quicker.

The turkey breast cooked at the same temp but only took about 3 hrs to reach 180° IT.

I used cherry wood dust in my A-Maze-N-Smoker.

I let both sit for a few minutes to see if any juices were going to run but nothing did so I sliced them up right away.

They are obviously different animals so they have a whole different flavor profile. Tri-Tip wins for me. The turkey was awesome too but I'm a red meat kinda guy. The complexity of all of the levels of flavor was amazing. The light smokey, rich beefy flavor was meant for the spices.. it really was so complex in flavor but everything made more then perfect sense. 

I'm no rookie when it comes to eating food all over the world and this was some of the best food I've eaten.

I highly recommend you go find some tri-tip and make some pastrami!  The ten day wait is not fun!

_*How bout some Q-View? !*_

Tri-Tips








Dry Spices all measured up. Smells so good it's starting to make the mouth water... well it watered for 10 more days...







The perfect brine container with a tight rubber seal.







Mmm







Inject the brine in the center of the meat throughout the whole piece.







Ready for the fridge.







I had to chop off a little hunk of another tri-tip and throw it on the grill to test it out... alongside was some garlic bread, garlic mashed taters & white wine, cream caper sauce.







Day 10! I almost took a bite out of it right then. 6 lbs of Elk jerky is ready for the smoker too!







Turkey Breast looks great.







Tri-tip looks great.







Rinsed and soaked for 30-40 minutes.







Coated with EVOO and used a special pastrami spice mix for the rub







Got the AMZNS going with cherry dust.







Turkey is done!







MMmm







Unreal..







Scooted the tri-tip up top so my elk jerky could join in the fun.







I hope this wasn't the result in beginners luck because it was *perfect!*







Dark Forest Rye, Habenero Havarti, yellow mustard & sauerkraut. Plus some cornichon's.







so good I had to make another..







jerky also came out great as usual.







Lisa from Vacuum Sealers Unlimited sent my pack of vacuum bags just on time.

These bags with the zip lock on one side are super cool! and perfect for jerky.


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## s2k9k (Apr 19, 2012)

Looks like they came out really well! How do you like the turkey? I did some last weekend and didn't really care for it.


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## thoseguys26 (Apr 19, 2012)

S2K9K said:


> Looks like they came out really well! How do you like the turkey? I did some last weekend and didn't really care for it.


I thought it was a great piece of meat but maybe not worth the 5 day effort. We made a wrap, sandwiches, &  topped our salads, etc with it and it was really good but I think I'll stick with regular smoked breasts because they're quicker and easier.

The tri-tips were one of a kind deeelicious. I just wish I did all three and not just the one!


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## s2k9k (Apr 19, 2012)

thoseguys26 said:


> I thought it was a great piece of meat but maybe not worth the 5 day effort. We made a wrap, sandwiches, &  topped our salads, etc with it and it was really good but I think I'll stick with regular smoked breasts because they're quicker and easier.
> 
> The tri-tips were one of a kind deeelicious. I just wish I did all three and not just the one!


I agree, I will eat it but it just didn't seem like pastrami. I will stick with beef for that but I did do some pork and though it wasn't really strami either it does have a great flavor.


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## thoseguys26 (Apr 20, 2012)

What else does everyone do with their pastrami?


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## jrod62 (Apr 20, 2012)

LOOKS GREAT ! :drool


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## thoseguys26 (Apr 20, 2012)

jrod62 said:


> LOOKS GREAT !


Thank jrod62, It's all gone already....
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   Next time it'll be elk pastrami since I still have two elk from last December in my freezer.


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## thoseguys26 (May 12, 2012)

It's back on.  1 & 1/2 tri tips just started today in my magical brine. The GF said I should clear out the freezer(s).. I thought... sure that's my number 1 chore!  = smoke time!


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## dennis s (Jun 3, 2012)

Your pastrami looks awesome. I love tri tip, it's my favorite. What type of rub did you use? This is a must try, I've never thought to use tri tip.

Thanks


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## thoseguys26 (Jun 5, 2012)

Dennis, Thanks. The TT makes some amazing pastrami. I've only done it twice and both times it was insanely good...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/122134/beef-pastrami-tri-tip-drool-view

I'll get the rub for you and get back on here to post.


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## dennis s (Jun 5, 2012)

Thanks, that would be awesome.


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## smokinhusker (Jun 6, 2012)

Looks awesome!!! Especially those sammies. 

On a side note, ivyandherbs.com doesn't seem to exist any longer.


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## africanmeat (Jun 6, 2012)

love the color


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## thoseguys26 (Jun 8, 2012)

Dennis S said:


> Thanks, that would be awesome.


It was pickling spice, Dried Ginger root, juniper berries, cinnamon stick, all spice and black peppercorns. All ground up in a spice grinder.


SmokinHusker said:


> Looks awesome!!! Especially those sammies.
> 
> On a side note, ivyandherbs.com doesn't seem to exist any longer.


Thanks, I ate 1-2 of those sammies each day until it was all gone....  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





   I edited this thread and took down the links for now.


africanmeat said:


> love the color


It's a beautiful thang!


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