Pastrami advice, short on time!!!

Smoker317 · December 2014

I have read about two dozen pastrami threads and need some specific opinions for my situation.

I have two 4 # store bought corned beef briskets flat point soaking in water since 7:30 EST. I got suckered in today to make pastrami for the office Christmas party on Monday morning at 10:00 AM.

I have read where these things need to soak for at least 48 hours with multiple changes of water. I don't have that much time. I pulled them out of freezer at 5:00 PM today and let them set on counter until I put into water. So they are probably still thawing at this point, they have soaked for just over two hours.

I also read where after the 48 hours of soaking, it is advisable to dry, put on a dry rub and let set in fridge for 24 hours.

So I have to comprimise somewhere. I have to use the egg on Sunday afternoon to early evening.

QUESTIONS:

1) When should I stop soaking and apply the dry rub since I don't have the ideal 72 hours I keep reading about?

2) Should I smoke until about 145-150 and then finish in the pressure cooker and then put in fridge overnight?

3) Or should I smoke until 150 and then put in pressure cooker Monday morning?

Wanting to take in for a large sandwich tray with some horse radish.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Smoker317 · December 2014

I failed to mention, I do have 3 quartered potatos in the water to soak up salt. Do I need to change potatoes every time I change out water?

smasch · December 2014

Rub in coarse ground black pepper and smoke at 250 until IT of 195-200. May not be fully soaked but I have never had a complaint with them.

bill37 · December 2014

According to Charcuterie youneed to brine for 3 days but since you do not have that much time, brine as long as you can take it out and rince it real good and put a heavy coat ofcoriander and pepper. 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds and 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns in a spice mill of coffee grinder and corarsely grind. Hot smoke the beef to 150 degrees. smoke at a low temp so you are able to get as much smoke on the beef as possible until it reaches that 150 degrees.

To prepare the pastrami for serving heat the oven275 degrees. Place the beef ia an inch of wqter in a stock pot. Bring the water to a simmer, cover the pot, place in the oven and slow-roast 2 to 3 hours, until fork tender.

This is from Charcuterie pages 91 and 92

Carolina Q · December 2014

This is the only way I've ever done it. Doc says I can't eat that much sodium any more so I'll probably never eat pastrami again. Same with ham. Sigh.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/05/beef-pastrami.html

I don't think you have enough time to do a proper job of it. Do yours the right way and go to a deli for Monday.

Zmokin · December 2014

I would cut the time on the dry rub, and maximize the time on the water soak.

Yes on 2) smoke, then pressure cook, then chill over night.

slice in the AM, got a meat slicer, no problem, no meat slicer, just slice as thin as you comfortably can with a knife going across the grain.

if you want to serve warm, give it a quick re-heat in the microwave.

Legume · December 2014

@Smoker317‌ here is what works for me
#1 breathe
#2 You're not brining, you're removing brine since you started with a corned beef, 12 hours with potatoes should be fine. More doesn't hurt, but you're fine. 48 hours to me sounds crazy, I wouldn't go more than 24.
#3 trim any hard fat, trim the rest of the fat down to what would be just a little more than acceptable for your finished product.
#4 put your rub on and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours (doesn't have to be overnight or uncovered
#5 smoke ~250 until 160-180 if you have a pressure cooker, otherwise take it up toward 200 to get the tenderness you want.
#6 if you have a pressure cooker, steam it for 45 min or so (less if you stopped at 180, more if you stopped at 160)
#7 let it cool a bit, wrap tightly again in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for a couple of hours
#8 slice thin
#9 eat all of it with some really good mustard

Smoker317 · December 2014

Thanks for the tips. I will report back on how things turn out.

Smoker317 · December 2014

OK. The two briskets soaked approximately 30 hours with four water changes, I did not change out the potatoes. I used the rub from the attached link that was posted above.

I smoked for about 5 hours until 155 for each brisket, one was 157 the other was 154.

I put each in the pressure cooker over three whole potatoes and two cups of water. I do not have a grate to keep the meat out of the water so I used the spuds. I let the first brisket cool and sliced. Not salty at all, however, I went too heavy on the pepper rub. The second is still in the pressure cooker.

Problem is I do not taste any smoke what-so-ever. I used four chunks of hickory. I lit my fire in the center and let it get hot. Put the four chunks on the side of each wall, am using up BGE lump until it runs out,

put plate setter legs down,

two fire bricks laying flat to raise the grid about an inch above the gasket.

I did have water 1" water in pan under grate. So the grate is setting about 1/2" over the cookie pan wihch I foiled. For this XL, the cookie sheet does not extend over the edges of the plate setter nor do the fire bricks; so there shouldn't be a lack of air flow since I could hold temp???

I say I don't taste smoke, but then again I maybe I don't know what pastrami is supposed to taste like? All I taste is yummy, moist corned beef that will make a great rueban. Still not what I was going for. I could have just pressured cooked the briskets and saved a lot of time and effort.

Suggestions???

Legume · December 2014

Do you like how it tastes?

The color looks off to me, every time I've made it, the meat has a strong pink color from the cure and yours looks pretty pale. Here's the color I usually get.

I never get a strong smoke flavor, but it's there, definitely there.

I would try either less soak time, maybe 12 hours and/or a different brand of corned beef. I soak 8-12 hours, no potatoes and I've yet to have one that's too salty for my taste.

Shiff · December 2014

I also think the color isn't quite right. The soaking wouldn't affect that since the color comes from the curing which was done before you soaked it. Possibly the company didn't put the right amount of curing salts in the brine.

Your next challenge would be to start with a packer brisket and cure your own. This will give you a much better final product. I can't explain why yours wasn't smoky enough since it sounds like you used the right amount of wood,

My last Pastrami cook can be seen at:
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1173178/pastrami-from-scratch

Smoker317 · December 2014

Thanks for the advice, the second brisket was a dark pink like your pics. I am not sure of the difference, both were very similar in weight. The second brisket was incredibly tender. I have one more frozen corned beef in the freezer that I will try next month.

Zmokin · December 2014

I smoked it yesterday, I sliced it today.

So I'm curious, what do you use for a dry rub? I buy a pre-corned beef. I soak in water to reduce saltiness, then I make my own rub from juniper berries, coriander seeds, & black pepper.
I grind the rub from dried berries, whole coriander seeds and a very coarse black pepper. After my coffee mill grinding, the black pepper isn't as coarse any more, but still coarser than my pepper grinders make it. This time I smoked it with chunks of pecan and a small handful of hickory chips.

Smoker317 · December 2014

I followed the rub in the below link that Carolina Q posted.

Carolina Q said:

This is the only way I've ever done it. Doc says I can't eat that much sodium any more so I'll probably never eat pastrami again. Same with ham. Sigh.

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/05/beef-pastrami.html

I don't think you have enough time to do a proper job of it. Do yours the right way and go to a deli for Monday.

Pastrami advice, short on time!!!

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