re: Here’s My Homemade Pastrami Process

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I'd love to hear how you fully cure your pastrami. Please share, we are waiting...

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This is why no one likes you on this board


Here's my 1st and only time making pastrami from scratch, which I did for the cheese challenge like a year ago. If only I had known the would be a brisket challenge.



I knew when the challenge was announced I wanted to make some kind of weird mac n cheese, and a Reuben is my favorite sandwich, so it seemed like a great combo. The impending hurricane probably should have deterred me from curing something in the fridge for 2 weeks, but I am nothing if not stubborn, so I proceeded as planned. I started the cure Saturday before the storm and originally planned to smoke it on Labor Day (10 Days). When the challenge was extended, I decided to push it 2 full weeks.

To make the corned beef, I portioned kosher salt, Prague Powder #1, and brown sugar. Poured it into boiling water and let it dissolve. The water turned a beautiful dark pink hue. Hard to get good lighting to show the exact color.




Next toast, the spice blend for the brine. It was allspice, cardamom, coriander, clove, bay leaves, cinnamon, black pepper, and red pepper.



After a minute or two, remove from heat and grind up spices with garlic and ginger. Once ground, place in water and cut the heat.




Next I put ice in my brine container and poured the brine into it, then set in the fridge to cool completely. I think it took about an hour. While that was cooling, I trimmed my brisket. This was originally 14.9 lbs, I was hoping to find a 11-12 lb cut, but this was the smallest in the store. I ended up trimming 4.5 lbs of fat off, for a net of 10.4 lbs. I left about 1/4 fat cap on the top.




Placed in brine container and waited patiently, flipping it once per day. You can see why I wanted a smaller brisket, but the plates kept it submerged with no issues.



Fast forward 2 weeks, and it is time to turn this corned beef into pastrami. I removed it from the brine and soaked it in ice water for about 90 minutes to get the salt off. After that I removed it from the water and left in the fridge uncovered for another 90 minutes while I lit my fire and got the smoker ready.





For the spice rub, I used coriander, black pepper and paprika in a 4:3:2 ratio. Ground it all up then rubbed my meat.





Once my smoker got up to temp (and the game day wings were on) I placed the beef in the top rack and let it go until 203 degrees.



Rested and ready to eat. I had a slice fresh, but the majority of the pastrami eating will come later. So I cut enough to eat on this week and vacuum sealed the rest.

Do you ever do coriander with the pepper? I thjnk That’s usually traditional Pastrami seasonings.