Here’s My Homemade Pastrami Process

Since I had pictures of my homemade pastrami from the brisket challenge, I figured I’d post my process for any interested.

Brisket is the ultimate cut of meat for pastrami, but you can use a cut like eye of round, which is good if you have a slicer and can slice it. The process is the same, but depending on how big the meat is, you may need an extra day or two in the cure to make sure the interior gets cured.


Brisket soaking in cure.


Begin with a brisket, trim it like you would for smoking.

Then make a brine/cure with 1 gallon of water, 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons Prague powder, 2 jars pickling spice. Mix well. You may need a second or third batch, depending on the size of your soaking container. You don’t need to add more picking spice to the second or third batch, unless you want.

Use an injector to inject the brisket with the cure. This will speed up the curing process and cut the number of days you need to soak.

Soak the brisket in a large container in the fridge for 4 days. Use a plate or something similar to help weigh down the brisket. More than likely, 2 days would be enough time, but I know 4 works (if you inject it first). You have to make sure the cure works it’s way into the center of the meat, which takes time.



A great picture of a cured brisket. A fresh brisket is on the top and the 4-day cured brisket is on the bottom. (The nitrite in the water causes met myoglobin which turns the meat brown.)

Remove the brisket from the brine, let it sit for half an hour or so to drain and rub with cracked black pepper. Smoke the brisket the same way you smoke any brisket. I like 250 degrees for 10-12 hours, generally - wrapping in butcher paper half way through.


The cooked pastrami.

Once the brisket is cooked, you can slice it and serve it warm, or (once cool) wrap in Saran Wrap and refrigerate for several days before slicing.


The sliced pastrami.

The pastrami turns pink because of the nitrite. The nitrite reacts to the heat in the cooking processes, causing a pink pigment.


How I sliced it.


This is the fresh brisket (not cured) from the picture above. You can see the color of the brisket is not pink because there was no nitrite.