Holy Grail Pastrami

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I'm not 100% there yet but this post can be a living document as I progress. I can say I got damn close with this one and would only make a few tweaks to the next one. I got my inspiration from a pizza place (stick with me) that makes their own pastrami. Their pies are some of the best in the city but it's their pastrami that has become more famous, and rightfully so. Once I set out on this quest, I knew who to check with first- TFJ (the wife)  She does a lot of the curing in the house and she used to do this venison backstrap pastrami that was out of this world. We did it for caterings and parties and I couldn't stop sneaking bites every time I walked by. She told me where to get the recipe:

http://manvsmeat.com/blog/2013/9/2/pastrami.

The brine below is from Modernist Cuisine by Nathan Mhyrvold (this is his credit to Mhyrvold on his site. I copied and pasted)  

The Brine :

4.5 l water

290g brown sugar

150g salt

30g Pink salt #1 (nitrite) 

Boil 1 l of the water with the dry ingredients to dissolve them and then add the rest of the water. Cool, then add: 

Coriander seed 7g

Black peppercorns 5g

Mustard powder 5g

Cinnamon stick, toasted and crushed 1g

Fennel seeds 2g

Cloves, whole 1g

Chilli flakes .5g

1 bay leaf, torn up. 

I used a 6 lb Meyer All natural Brisket but here was plenty of brine for a full size packer. Knowing I was going to Sous Vide after the smoke, I cut the brisket in half right at the Pont/flat junction and put in the brine for 7 days. Every single thread I've read out there says to desalinate the brisket. TFJ was adamant not to do that as it's not in the instructions in this recipe and she had made the backstrap several times without desalinating. I deferred to her and it was the right call. The balance was probably perfect for most, I could have used more salt (I'm a fiend).

After 7 days in the brine, I threw it in the fridge for 2 days to allow the brine to equalize. It was uncovered and got pretty dry and tacky. I was going to do 24 hours but life got in the way and it turned to 48. No discernable damage done. Since it was so dry, I used a mustard slather to hold the rub. No taste came through in the finished product but since it's pastrami, I figured it wouldn't matter if it did.

The Rub:

Grind together the following ingredients to make the coating for the outside of the pastrami: 

Salt 150g

Sugar 150g

Black peppercorns 144g

Coriander seeds, toasted 84g

Juniper berries 20g

Chilli flakes 13g

The rub was excellent. I don't see a need for straying from this one. perfect peppery/coriander pastrami flavor.

After the rub, I started making things up and using different suggestions from different sites. Man Vs. Meat says to cold smoke for 10 hours and then SV at 143 for 72 hours. We did this with the backstrap with excellent results but I wanted a big black bark and bold smoke. Chef Steps says smoke it at 150 degrees on an electric smoker then SV at 155 for 24 hours.  Johnny don't do electric smoke so I set my egg up at 200 with the Cyber-Q with oak and cherry chunks. Didn't seem to be getting a lot of smoke or color on the bark after a few hours so I bumped it up to 225 and that made a difference. More smoke, more color. It was still a little light in spots after 8 hours so I bumped it up to 250 for 30-45 min and that got me the color I was after. Brisket internal was 160-170ish.

I pulled it, let it cool a little then vac sealed it and dropped in the the bath at 155 for 24 hours. I got his time and temp from Chef Steps and their "Smokerless Brisket" Video. As stated above, Man Vs Meat says go 143 for 72 hours.  I've seen 100 other variations out there but I knew I didn't want to wait 72 hours so I took the Chef Steps route. After 24 hours it didn't feel quite  ready so I left in in another 6 for a total of 30 hours at 155. After the bath, I rapid cooled it and threw it in the fridge for 24 hours. When it was time to serve the next night for dinner, I pulled it from the fridge, let it come up to room temp, then steamed it until it probed like butter. It softened up like crazy in the steamer. As you can see in the pics- the fat was rendered perfectly and it was super juicy. The flavor was out of this world and was probably the 2nd best I've had (still chasing Pious but rapidly gaining ground):

I read a review in Tx Monthly by Daniel Vaughn (https://tmbbq.com/pastrami-at-pieous/) saying Pieous smokes it 14 hours then puts in a C-Vap oven to steam. This is pretty much what Franklin does with his briskets. All I know is after steaming this one, I'm going to be steaming by next whole brisket somehow, some way. I also loved how this came out of the fridge the next day and served up like a gooey marshmallow once it was steamed. May be on to something here.

Where I got my inspiration: 

The brine, the rub, the idea to SV after a smoke and the basic framework- Man vs. meat blog

http://manvsmeat.com/blog/2013/9/2/pastrami

The idea to hot smoke instead of cold and to use my egg over the dishwasher- Meathead.

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/close_to_katzs_home_made_pastrami.html

He said that charcoal smokers give the best color to the bark. I believe he is correct. Last one was in the dishwasher with 100% oak logs and the bark was still pretty brown. I smoked it all the way though too (No SV finish). The cold smoked backstrap from the man vs meat blog didn't darken up as much as I would have liked so I went with meathead on this one.

The time and temp for the SV part of the cook- Chef Steps (with an adjustment from me based on feel)

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/smokerless-smoked-brisket

So here are some pics:

Point and Flat just off the egg:

In the bath at 155 for 30 hours:

Testing for flavor and texture after the SV and a night in the fridge (still cold, before the steam). This is when I thought we might be in for a treat. When this thing came up to room temp, it was buttery and delicious. Not a bad cut of meat either! Meyer All Natural Choice

After the steam and ready to serve. I can't express what a difference the steam made. All the fat turned to goo, the meat was so moist and it even set and darkened the bark a little. never would have thought that.

And finally, to the chef go the spoils. A few burnt ends as a cutting board snack as I sliced. These were special.

otter

Boy, hats off! That turned out really good. Please explain your water bath, what kind etc. How did you steam it? Thanks 

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otter said:

Boy, hats off! That turned out really good. Please explain your water bath, what kind etc. How did you steam it? Thanks 

waterbath was an Annova sous vide circulator and a bus tub. Since it was cut in to 2 smaller pcs I was able to steam in my large stove top pressure cooker. It has a steamer basket that sits above the waterline. I left the lid loose so it did not pressure cook, just steamed.

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I can see @caliking puckering up over the excess food saver bag usage now.

Photo Egg

Awesome, over the top post...mouthwatering!

BJM2932

I feel like a underachiever after my pastrami post now.  Looks incredible!

caliking

And again, the burnt end pics made me change my pants. 

You would be proud of me though. Bagged up a brisky last night... With a foot of extra bag at the end!!! 

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caliking said:

And again, the burnt end pics made me change my pants. 

You would be proud of me though. Bagged up a brisky last night... With a foot of extra bag at the end!!! 

Did you cry a little? 

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Photo Egg said:

Awesome, over the top post...mouthwatering!

Thanks D! 

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BJM2932 said:

I feel like a underachiever after my pastrami post now.  Looks incredible!

It was very good but there is definitley something to be said for starting with a good corned beef. This is a lot of work. Pretty fun once its done though. 

DoubleEgger

This right here folks is what makes this forum great. I'm inspired again. Thank you brother. 

bgebrent

Absolutely fantastic brother Cen Tex.  Great post.

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bgebrent said:

Absolutely fantastic brother Cen Tex.  Great post.

Thanks Brent. It was fun but an ass-whip for sure. Just glad I got one in the win column. The first one was not so great.

gdenby

Great post. Ton of good info.

"Not a bad cut of meat either! Meyer All Natural Choice," I've never seen any brisket so marbled where I live. Spectacular.

If I understand correctly, the equalization period of the brining balances the salinity.

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JohnInCarolina

Thanks for taking the time and effort to detail this.  I'm guessing you'll soon discover the degree to which imitation is the finest form of flattery.

Austin Egghead

If you are talking about pastrami at Pious, and you are that close, we are coming over with our forks.  Looks good enough to slice thin and devour.
His fruit pies anit too shabby either.
Oops should have read further...You are reference Pious.  We will be over!!

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Austin Egghead said:

If you are talking about pastrami at Pious, and you are that close, we are coming over with our forks.  Looks good enough to slice thin and devour.
His fruit pies anit too shabby either.
Oops should have read further...You are reference Pious.  We will be over!!

It was close but not quite there. Very happy for my 2nd try

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JohnInCarolina said:

Thanks for taking the time and effort to detail this.  I'm guessing you'll soon discover the degree to which imitation is the finest form of flattery.

I hope everyone who tries it hits it out of the park. Definitely fun and much more involved than the typical wings and basic stuff we do all the time. This is a process. 10-12 days from start to finish!

Legume

Hell yes!

I may just have to copy you, with some plate ribs.

DoubleEgger

GATraveller

You freaking rock. Thanks so much for taking the time to detail this journey. Lot of time and effort for the benefit of others. Awesome! 

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lousubcap

A far cry from some of your more significant prior posts...  An extremely comprehensive write-up and comments throughout.  You can tell that you and TFJ have a wealth of food preparation knowledge and the ability to get it into a forum where others can benefit.  What an end-result right there.  Congrats.  Those slices and burnt ends say it all.  

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lousubcap said:

A far cry from some of your more significant prior posts...  An extremely comprehensive write-up and comments throughout.  You can tell that you and TFJ have a wealth of food preparation knowledge and the ability to get it into a forum where others can benefit.  What an end-result right there.  Congrats.  Those slices and burnt ends say it all.  

I was sober so that helps.

lousubcap

I may have to try that approach sometime.  

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I just ordered this for my steam table so I can do a whole brisket.   I'm fired up about holding my next brisket in the steamer instead of a cooler. I'll keep everyone posted

SciAggie

Absolutely fantastic. I appreciate your earlier comments wondering if it's worth the effort. For my money, as a once a year treat, this recipe is on my list brother. I made pastrami during winter going to far less pains and I liked the result. Your method will take it to the next level. Thank you for such thorough and complete documentation as well. My hat is off to you my friend. 

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SciAggie said:

Absolutely fantastic. I appreciate your earlier comments wondering if it's worth the effort. For my money, as a once a year treat, this recipe is on my list brother. I made pastrami during winter going to far less pains and I liked the result. Your method will take it to the next level. Thank you for such thorough and complete documentation as well. My hat is off to you my friend. 

Definitely worth having in the tool kit. Fun cook for special occasion or if you are bored and looking to do something outside the norm. 

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Finally Sliced up the flat today. Was just as good as the point. Check out all the gelatin on my slicer! Gooey goodness abounds. And check out the marbling in the flat. Meyer All Natural briskets are legit (and this was choice). 

I do feel that i will never be able to use this slicer again without a tiny speck of black pepper or corriander getting on whatever i'm slicing. I cleaned it for 30 minutes and they are still coming out of every crevace.