Pastrami

Squeezy

Found a nice little corned beef brisket at a grocers this morning.

Pickling spice had been rinsed off and I have it rubbed with black pepper, juniper berries, and coriander.

 Wrapped in plastic and will smoke it on Tuesday with hickory most likely.

Results and pix to follow ...

Squeezy

Have an internal of 150º at this time ... going for 160º ... looks and smells great!

Will update tomorrow with pix ... Gawd .. I love my egg!

Squeezy

Took it out at 154º foiled and rested until evening, then in the fridge until this morning. A bit chewey, but to be expected with good flavor. I would keep it on longer next time.

Here are the pix as promised;

 

 

 

 

 

 

ChokeOnSmoke

Looks really good.  I still haven't tried one of those but have been meaning too.  Maybe this weekend.

Shiff

Looks good.

Briskets usually don't get tender untl they get up above 190 degrees internal.  Stick it with a fork and twist and if it gives easily, it is usually ready to remove.

gdenby

You can reduce the chewiness by steaming the thinly cut pieces right before eating. The steam breaks down some of the residual collagen, and liquefies the gelatin that already there.

Squeezy

My plan is to simmer the slices in some wine sauerkraut tonight ... should be good!

javabreath

I have gotten good results cooking the pastrami in a pressure cooker for twenty minutes after smoking and giving it an overnight rest before slicing and reheating in a chinese aluminum steamer.

gerhardk

It looks really good, I will have to look for it next time I go to the butcher shop.  It looks like you did not use the plate setter, is there a reason not to?  I would have thought indirect heat would have been better for what you were doing.

Gerhard

Squeezy

I kept a very low temp. and didn't feel the need to use a plate setter, thinking about it now, I see no reason not to use one. My only problem was not thinking it all the way through, hence rushing it. I know I can do better.

Didn't eat any last night ... went out to a new burger joint last night ... should have stayed home ...

Shiff

Sometimes I boil the corned beef before smoking it which makes  it tender, then the BGE just adds the smoke flavor.  I use this when I don't have a lot of time and can boil it the day before, then apply the rub once it cools and let it sit overnight. 

Squeezy

Not a bad idea ... in fact, I may try that next!

Shiff

I should mention that when I boil it, I add pickling spices to the pot.  I tried corning my own brisket once and it came out great. I'm going to try again soon.  The pre-corned briskets in the store are usually not very good quality and if you start with a plain brisket you'll get a much better yield of meat.

banzaitoyota

Alton Brown did an excellant episode on good eats about making corned beef and pastami