Pastrami-Wet Cure

Wet curing some pastrami. I have done the dry rub recipe posted on this site with good results, thought I would try the wet cure. Last time I just used the flat and thought it was a little dry...this time I have a packers brisket. Left the point on thinking it would add some some flavor and help keep it more moist. Trimmed about 4 lbs of fat off of it for a total of about 12 lbs. I used Ruhlman's pastrami recipe, but reworked it a bit because all I had on hand was tenderquick and no pink salt. I hope the cure can penetrate this piece of meat. I'm going to let it go for 7 days. I guess we'll see....I have pics, but I don't have any idea how to post them.

Beef is a bit denser than pork or poultry, so depending on your brisket thickness and curing temps, 7 days may be questionable.

The point won't keep the flat moist. Moistness has to do with doneness. Underdone and overdone with both seem dry.

See here on the pic issue.

At what point are you pulling off the flat and/or flat/point? Are you taking it to an specific internal temp?

Cure effectiveness is a matter of meat thickness, density (as j notes) and, importantly, fridge temps. Do you know your fridge temp?

7 days might be fine. Might not. If your fridge temps are fine you can certainly cure longer to be sure. No harm in that.

I'll have to check the fridge temp, I'm not sure what it's at. I wasn't planning on separating the point and flat at all. The 'plan' was to cure for about 7 days, smoke to a 150 internal, wrap it and rest it for a day or so. Then put it on the slicer and have sandwiches. Last time I did the flat only and it would have been better tasting (I thought) if it had a bit more fat in the meat. I said in my earlier post that it was dry, but what I meant wasn't so much that the meat was dry, but that it could have used a bit more fat in it. My thought was if I left the point on and then sliced the meat it would provide that fattiness. So I trimmed the brisket of the exterior fat to help the cure penetrate and left it in tact (the point and flat together) I'm not exactly a newbie to homemade pastrami/corned beef, but this process is definetely experimental. Any thoughts or pointers are certainly welcome. Thanks guys.

Thoughts:

Check the fridge temp.

Because the point is usually much thicker than the flat were I doing a whole packer I'd likely increase the cure time by a good 50%.

At typical smoking temps, a finish of 150 can definitely result in a sense that the meat is dry or 'could have used a bit more fat in it' because 150 - even 160, as is often seen - is insufficient to allow for sufficient collagen gelatinazation and rendering, necessary for a moist, tender mouthfeel. (If you could hold at 150 or 160 for a significant period of time the meat will eventually get there but this is usually impractical.)

Taking the meat to a higher internal or stretching the cook so sufficient rendering occurs is important. Me, I remove when the meat is in the 160s, cool, chill, wrap then fridge. Because, imo, it's still not done yet, for service I steam the meat to finish it, i.e., get it to its most moist and tender by further cooking. Depending on timing needs, equipment at hand and how much I'm serving, I either steam whole or in large pieces on top of the stove or in a tightly covered roaster in the oven, or I 'steam' sous vide by vac-packing all or a large chunk and immersing it in 180-190? water in a pot for a few hours.

Have to second what Kevin said. IMO that steaming (second cooking) makes ALL the difference.
I've had good success with slicing after the first cook/cool cycle, package, and then then steam as needed.

Thanks Kevin. I will try the process that you suggest. I will also increase the cure time just to be sure. After the cure, I'll smoke to 160 internal, remove, cool, wrap and rest for a day or so, then steam before slicing. Using that method I can also freeze a few chunks and then just steam as needed. I'll figure out the picture thing and take some once it comes out of the cure and through out the smoking process. Thanks again, I appreciate the help.

Fridge temp is 42. I just turned it down a bit. Also, I took the reading with a probe thermometer and left it in for about 5 minutes. Not long enough for the fridge to cool all the way down after opening. I'll have to get a permanent thermometer for the fridge.

38-40 is good, no lower. Slowing occurs lower than that through about 36 but stops below that.

As I failed to mention but Marc clearly notes, you can slice before steaming. You have to be a bit more on it - too lengthy a time and the meat can hit overcooked - but that's easy. I tend to go with larger chunks or whole because I usually need a quantity and need to use the steaming time to do other things so that's what I do most often.