pastrami point or flat

prunoki · October 2014

Hello,

I bought a brisket today and I have a friend who would like to make pastrami. I found lots of recipes, no problems there, but I would like to know if we should use only the flat for the pastrami or we can use the whole brisket?

Regards,

Krisztian

Shiff · October 2014

I use the whole brisket. I use a dry cure and to make it easier to work with I generally cut the brisket in half. One piece will be all flat and the other piece will have both flat and point. They both come out great.

radamo · October 2014

Make sure to post the process. I definitely want to do one this winter. Good luck with yours.

Shiff · October 2014

I used the info in this post to make mine. Montreal Smoked Meat is an excellent type of Pastrami. I use a dry cure called Tender Quick from the Morton Salt company. In our area, many of the markets carry this product as do most of the Amish bulk food stores.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1128140/ultimate-montreal-smoked-meat-recipe/p1

prunoki · October 2014

Thanks guys, I will make some photos and I will be back in a week, I plan to smoke this beast in 5-6 days. It weighs 7 kilos by the way.

Shiff · October 2014

prunoki said:

Thanks guys, I will make some photos and I will be back in a week, I plan to smoke this beast in 5-6 days. It weighs 7 kilos by the way.

How are you going to cure it? It usually takes about 10 days to cure either by a wet or dry process.

Little Steven · October 2014

In most of the delis I know of you get a choice between "fat" and "lean". The former being the point.

prunoki · October 2014

Shiff said:

prunoki said:

Thanks guys, I will make some photos and I will be back in a week, I plan to smoke this beast in 5-6 days. It weighs 7 kilos by the way.

How are you going to cure it? It usually takes about 10 days to cure either by a wet or dry process.

This is where I got started:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9FCceVoKog

I thought about doing something similar. This guy had a 7 pounds flat, which is roughly the half of what I have. He cured the meat for 3 days, which was not enough, I would give it 5-6 days. It is double in weight, not double in thickness, that was my logic but I would be glad if you would comment on that, even if you prove me wrong. This is my first go at this and I do not have much experience in smoking either, but what the heck, one has to start somewhere. Though it would be nice to get something edible :-)

Shiff · October 2014

Even if it is not pink all the way through it will still taste about the same. I have used a wet brine but found it more difficult to handle. I generally do 2 full packer briskets at a time since I give portions of the pastrami to my kids as well as keeping some in my own freezer. The dry cure method takes up less room in the refrigerator and is easier to handle.

The one in the video didn't seem very well rinsed and I would have expected it to be very salty even though he said it wasn't.

I use more pickling spice but that is just a matter of my taste.

Experiment and develop your own recipe - just remember to write down what you did so you can make changes on your next attempt.

Let us know how it comes out.

prunoki · November 2014

I am back. The brisket spent a week in the brine and it is in the egg right now.

dldawes1 · November 2014

@PRUNOKI.....Awesome...I've never tried brining and starting from scratch. When I first started egging brisket ( sounds like I've been doing it a while....really only 10 months ), I bought corn beef brisket flats or caps at Kroger to smoke. I did not know a full packer from a turkey !!!!!!!

But I smoked the corn beef briskets with a rub as usual with a normal brisket.....awesome pastrami results...!!!!!!!

I need to do another the same way now....love that salty brined taste !!!!!!

Hope all works out well for you. And please, document and post pics....I want to do a full packer , as you are some day soon .

Thanks,

Donnie

prunoki · November 2014

Well, I am at 72 Celsius internal (161 Fahrenheit). The grill temperature varies between 110 and 122 (220-251), it is quite windy outside. I put oak and cherry between the charcoal. Going to post some pics when I open it.

dldawes1 · November 2014

prunoki....how did it turn out my friend ????

There will probably be a stall around 165-170F IT and it will need to just ride on through. It may stay there for a while, but will eventually raise on up to finished IT temp.

Wind shouldn't be a problem...I guess if there is nothing blocking it from your bottom vent it could be....but I have never had a issue.

Let us know how it went !!

DD

prunoki · November 2014

The stall was around 173 and it lasted for a good 3-4 hours.

When the meat reached 185 IT I took it from the egg, wrapped it into some foil and towels and put it into a cooler bag. The end result is a bit dry, but the flavour is really intense, I love it.

What I am going to change though:

- The family knows what to put under the tree (DigiQ :-))

- I am going to buy a point and cut it into 3 pieces, one to cook in the egg without foil, one to finish in a pressure cooker, one to put into foil when the stall arrives. Have to experiment a bit to see the best method with these belgian beefs.

prunoki · November 2014

And the result.

nolaegghead · November 2014

Looks like you didn't have sodium nitrite in your brine.

fishlessman · November 2014

the pressure cooker really adds to the cook. egg til 160, wrap and foil and chill overnight, then pressure cook 20 minutes and slice

prunoki · November 2014

Yes, my friend who did the brine did not want to put sodium nitrite in it so I let her do it her way.

prunoki · November 2014

And yes, the pressure cooker is one thing I will try the next time, but I need to have a smaller piece of meat, because my pressure cooker is surely not big enough to hold an entire brisket. Also I wanted to conserve the bark. But when I think about it, it comes to me that my pressure cooker has a small piece which lets you have about 1 centimetre of water under the meat without actually putting the meat into the water. That way you are cooking in vapour.

Shiff · November 2014

prunoki said:

The stall was around 173 and it lasted for a good 3-4 hours.

When the meat reached 185 IT I took it from the egg, wrapped it into some foil and towels and put it into a cooler bag. The end result is a bit dry, but the flavour is really intense, I love it.

When you removed it at 185, did it pass the "buttah" test? 185 seems a little low for that - it is usually tender between 195 and 205.

prunoki · November 2014

Shiff said:

prunoki said:

The stall was around 173 and it lasted for a good 3-4 hours.

When the meat reached 185 IT I took it from the egg, wrapped it into some foil and towels and put it into a cooler bag. The end result is a bit dry, but the flavour is really intense, I love it.

When you removed it at 185, did it pass the "buttah" test? 185 seems a little low for that - it is usually tender between 195 and 205.

What is a "buttah" test? I found 185 for the brisket at a lot of places, that was my only reason to remove it at 185.

Shiff · November 2014

The "buttah" test is when a probe is inserted into the brisket when it seems to be near the end of the cooking. I start testing when the IT is about 190 degrees. When the probe inserts like the brisket is as soft as butter, it is ready. This usually happens between 195 and 205. Most people here refer to it as the "buttah" test. Brisket is cooked until it is tender, not for a particular time or temperature.

pastrami point or flat

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