Lapsang Souchong tea cured beef navel pastrami

smokingal

My first effort to make pastrami was about 6 years ago and used a meaty, thick slab of beef
short rib.  It was a refreshing change from the store bought stuff that is typically made from
top round and devoid of all the fat that makes authentic pastrami enjoyable.  For this effort,
I wanted to use the original cut for pastrami – beef naval.

 

 

I carved up two pieces of naval, totalling 9.5 lbs, and thoroughly covered them in Morton’s
TenderQuick.  I used to use Morton’s Sugar Cure but apparently the FDA has pulled that
stuff off the market.  The cure was applied at a rate of 1/2 oz per pound.

 

 

I switched up the typical seasoning by adding fennel pollen and Lapsang Souchong, a type of
Chinese black tea which is smoked over pine.

 

 

 

I added another 1/4 cup of tea to this blend.

 

 

I didn’t realize that I had left out garlic and onion powder, however, I planned on using sous
vide to ‘steam’ the pastrami and would make sure to use plenty in the rub prior to doing so.
The aroma of this blend reminded me of Christmas.  It smelled like pine trees and gingerbread
cookies.  The meat slabs were liberally covered with the seasoning, vacuum sealed in Food
Savor bags and left in the fridge to cure for 3 weeks.

 

 

Once the cure was complete, the meat was rinsed thoroughly and then soaked for 12 hours,
with the water getting changed out every 3 hours.

 

 

At this point I took note of the difference in the size and thickness of the two slabs.  They were
not going to cook evenly or at the same rate.  They would also take up a lot of space on the
BGE.  I decided to merge the two pieces into one using transglutaminase.

 

 

The transglutaminase was liberally applied to the meaty side of both pieces, which were then
pressed together, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and vacuum sealed in a FoodSavor bag.

 

 

The bonding process takes a number of hours. I let it do it’s thing overnight. The next morning
I unwrapped it to see how the bonding fared.  It had become one solid piece, so I placed it
on a dry rack in the fridge to air dry where it formed a pellicle overnight.  Behold, the
Frankenstrami:

 

 

The rub consisted of pickling spice, onion powder, garlic powder, Lapsang Souchong tea,
pepper and brown sugar.  The meat was covered and wrapped in parchment paper, which
was then placed in a FoodSavor bag in preparation to be sous vided for 48 hours.

 

 

When I would remove the lid to check on the water level, I could smell a faint odor of
strongly brewed black tea.  After it was done, it was shocked in an ice bath and placed in
the fridge overnight.

 

 

Prior to smoking, a heavy layer of fresh cracked black pepper was applied. I pulled the
pastrami from the smoker when it hit 190F.

 

 

The pastrami was placed in the fridge once it had cooled and the next day I cut into it.

 

 

I made a pastrami, egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast.

 

 

For lunch, I made a standard sandwich.  I sliced it thin and steamed it to help render out more
fat.

 

 

A batch of homemade sour cream was used to whip up some onion dip and lunch was served.

 

The pastrami was lusciously tender, fatty and perfectly seasoned.  The smoked black tea
was more of a nuance as opposed to a pronounced flavor.  Next time I’ll use a lot more in the
cure and rub.  This was definitely good eats.

Spaightlabs

Just WOW!