RCBaughn
TVWBB Super Fan
Well here is my fourth pastrami I've done on my mini WSM. The first pastrami I did was a flat I corned myself and that was a lot of work and didn't turn out all that great, so these last three have been the pre-corned points from Walmart and I really like them a whole lot. I always go with a point for the extra fat, I think beef fat is the bomb and if you're gonna eat pastrami may as well go all out and not skimp on the caloric intake. I only soaked it for about two hours before rubbing and smoking but it wasn't overly salty, but it sure didn't need any salt in the rub I'll say that. I like them a bit saltier I guess. Don't have to add any to the rub or the sandwiches you make.
I smeared it with mustard to get the rub to stick better and make a really good bark. That first pastrami I did the rub didn't stick too well so I tried it with a real light mustard coating and found it didn't change the flavor at all. I rubbed it down with a mixture of a little onion powder, garlic powder, fresh and coarsely crushed coriander, a touch of ground coriander, and a heaping ton of coarsely cracked black peppercorns. I didn't really measure anything and just eye balled it. I've started doing this on most of the stuff I cook besides my breads and I have been getting some good results. Free-styling is a lot more fun that having to keep looking at the phone for the recipe. It's not in the picture, but I also decided to throw in probably a tablespoon of brown sugar just to make sure I'd get a whole lot of bark caramelization. Probably not traditional for pastrami but once again it kinda turned out like the mustard and didn't provide extra flavor, but I think it did help with keeping a good firm bark even after foiling.
Put it on the mini though and smoked it at 225 for about 5 hours till it hit 160 then foiled it and let her go till she hit 195 then I did the poke test and it probed a bit tough so I let it go a bit longer, not sure how long but it hit 203 before it "butter" probed. Pulled it off the smoker, left it wrapped in the foil on the counter till the next morning and then slid it in the fridge to get cold so it would slice really easy and well.
Sliced it thin the next day, bought some Cobblestone Mill rye bread and swiss cheese, nuked the pastrami in the microwave to knock the cold off and get it warm so it would pre-melt the cheese a bit, put on a lot of barrel-made sauerkraut, and gave it a smear of grainy dijon mustard and some horseradish spread I had and gave it a good browning in a HEAVILY buttered pan till the cheese was melty. Mom had one and I had one with french fries, and I ended up having to finished hers. They were awesome. The pastrami was juicy and smokey, but I guess you can tell that from my greasy slick fingers! This is probably the closest I'll ever get to the real thing from New York and Katz.
I think I'm getting the hang of brisket. It isn't about temp really, it's all about the probe. I'll just use the temp as a guide for the probing. May try not foiling down the road and see if I can nail that technique, although I figure it's a WHOLE lot harder to get tender and juicy like that.
I smeared it with mustard to get the rub to stick better and make a really good bark. That first pastrami I did the rub didn't stick too well so I tried it with a real light mustard coating and found it didn't change the flavor at all. I rubbed it down with a mixture of a little onion powder, garlic powder, fresh and coarsely crushed coriander, a touch of ground coriander, and a heaping ton of coarsely cracked black peppercorns. I didn't really measure anything and just eye balled it. I've started doing this on most of the stuff I cook besides my breads and I have been getting some good results. Free-styling is a lot more fun that having to keep looking at the phone for the recipe. It's not in the picture, but I also decided to throw in probably a tablespoon of brown sugar just to make sure I'd get a whole lot of bark caramelization. Probably not traditional for pastrami but once again it kinda turned out like the mustard and didn't provide extra flavor, but I think it did help with keeping a good firm bark even after foiling.
Put it on the mini though and smoked it at 225 for about 5 hours till it hit 160 then foiled it and let her go till she hit 195 then I did the poke test and it probed a bit tough so I let it go a bit longer, not sure how long but it hit 203 before it "butter" probed. Pulled it off the smoker, left it wrapped in the foil on the counter till the next morning and then slid it in the fridge to get cold so it would slice really easy and well.
Sliced it thin the next day, bought some Cobblestone Mill rye bread and swiss cheese, nuked the pastrami in the microwave to knock the cold off and get it warm so it would pre-melt the cheese a bit, put on a lot of barrel-made sauerkraut, and gave it a smear of grainy dijon mustard and some horseradish spread I had and gave it a good browning in a HEAVILY buttered pan till the cheese was melty. Mom had one and I had one with french fries, and I ended up having to finished hers. They were awesome. The pastrami was juicy and smokey, but I guess you can tell that from my greasy slick fingers! This is probably the closest I'll ever get to the real thing from New York and Katz.
I think I'm getting the hang of brisket. It isn't about temp really, it's all about the probe. I'll just use the temp as a guide for the probing. May try not foiling down the road and see if I can nail that technique, although I figure it's a WHOLE lot harder to get tender and juicy like that.
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