Corned Beef & Pastrami Tips

thirdeye

St Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, so I thought this might be a good time to share some general corned beef & pastrami tips:



1. Both regular corned beef and pastrami are good as a main course meat. One of each makes for a wonderful meal (and this leaves you with plenty of sandwich fixin’s for later)
The traditional sides like cabbage, boiled potatoes, etc., go well with both corned beef and pastrami.

2. If you are corning your own beef, a brisket or big chuck roast works great. You will need to plan ahead if you are going this route.

3. Most of us will be using store-bought corned briskets…..Start shopping now for the best selection. You will see plenty of “off brand” corned briskets at sale prices, but stick to a name brand that you trust. (my personal favorite are the Grobbel’s brand which my Sam’s Club carries, but there are plenty of other fine brands out there.) I like flats in the 4 pound range, because sometimes points will be pretty fatty. If you’re cooking for a big group, get one of each, or buy two flats and one point.

4. A soak out is needed before making regular corned beef, or pastrami. This will reduce the saltiness of the finished product. Just find a plastic container that will fit in your fridge, fill it with cold water and submerge the corned beef. Change the water several times during the soak period. Even a few hours of soaking is better than none, I prefer 24 to 30 hours, some folks that are salt sensitive will go 48 hours.

5. Following the soak out, resting the corned beef in the fridge allows the liquids which were mobile within the meat to settle down. A few hours of resting helps a lot. I rest overnight.

5. Even though you will find a little packet of seasoning in the store bought corned briskets, discard it and use some of your fresh pickling spices for making regular corned beef. If you are going with pastrami, toss the spice packet and make your own rub for that.

Okay, now you have a plan, and some soaked and rested corned beef…..let’s move to the cooking.

6. Standard methods for preparing regular corned beef include boiling, stovetop simmering, oven braising and pressure cooking. I refuse to boil them, simmering is okay, braising works better for me, but pressure cooking is my favorite. Which ever you choose, cook until tender. Some folks will cook the cabbage and potatoes in the same vessel as the corned beef. The broth will have a high fat content and the potatoes will absorb salt from the broth, so I do mine separately. I prefer to remove some of the liquid for flavoring and cook the cabbage separately as well, then bringing everything together on a serving platter, or in an electric roaster.

7. Pastrami starts off as corned beef, but following the rest it is smoked then finished off. Again there are plenty of standard pastrami techniques, (some starting from scratch with fresh beef like brisket or chuck) and others using the store bought corned briskets I have been discussing. I like to tag the finish methods as follows……

A pit (or dry) finish, a wet (or braised) finish, a steam finish (in a steamer) and a pressure finish (in a pressure cooker). For a pit finish, you can smoke the pastrami until tender, which is around 165°-175° internal (corned brisket behaves differently that fresh brisket). You can probe it with an ice pick to test tenderness. It will need to rest, then is sliced and served.

A wet finish involves smoking the pastrami until the internal is 150°, then moving into a foil pouch or covered pan and braising until tender.

I have only done a steam finish a couple of times, trying to duplicate a deli-like product. I must not have the right equipment or did not use the correct amount of heat over time….it was similar to my braise finish.

A pressure finish (on a four pound flat) requires a twenty to twenty-five minute pressure cook (with natural release) following smoking. Currently, this is my favorite finish method.

Big'un

That was very informative. Thanks. I'm getting ready to do both a pastrami cook and a corned beef. Great timing and Thanks for your effort!

TheDirtyBurger

Thirdeye,
There is a bbq place by me that sells smoked corned beef. I tried doing it on my ECB and it turned out horrible. I think I might have better luck with the egg and the guidance of wise eggheads. Any suggestions? I really want to get this right
thanks
tim
ps the smoked corned beef this dude sold was the best corned beef I have ever had and I grew up eating corned beef

thirdeye

Oh, I can get you a lot closer than Horrible. Heheee. I got a lot of help from barbecuists as I was working out my pastrami.

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

If you want to go from scratch, Old Dave's method is delicious.

http://olddavespo-farm.blogspot.com/search/label/Corned%20and%20Pastramied%20Beef

Davekatz

Thanks for the tips. I have a batch on at this moment.

Dave

Carbonizer

Dirty: Ever been to Mannie's on Jefferson just north or Roosevelt for Pastrami? Un-believible taste.

Desert Oasis Woman

:ohmy: now that photo is just CRUEL

screen doesn't taste anything like that should taste!

Mainegg

Very nice post and thank you for all the info! That was a lot to share. I think I might need to give it a try now. have always done corn beef together with potatoes and cabbage. I might have to try your way now.

BobS

Great post. Thanks!!

TheDirtyBurger

No but I have heard great things. As a matter of fact I do not think I have ever been to any deli joints in Chicago except for little south side Italian ones. I will have to check it out though
thanks
tim