Pastrami Help Question


 

Vinny G

TVWBB Fan
Hello all
I want to make a Pastrami in my wsm. Soaking and flat piece,I am very confused? I see Nathens packed ones. Good or Bad Idear? I have copied down rubs and internal temp and times per pound. It looks like everybody has something different to say.
HELP!!!!!!
 
I'm not sure what the question is. Never mind with time/pound though. Have no idea what 'Nathens packed ones' means.

What is it you want to know?
 
Ok
I bought a 4lb flat brisket from Costco. When I unwrapped ,it had a lot fat on the bottom. Do I leave it on? Do I need to soak it and change the water two time or is that for a different type of meat? I know to put the rub on it and wrap it over night. Do I smoke to internal temps of 185 -195? I want pastrami not corn beef. Know you see how confused I am.
 
Try Chris's recipe. As for smoking and finish, you can take it to the temp he recommends (165), you can take it to a higher internal, or, as I do, you can take it to 165 then steam to finish (til tender). Or you can foil at 165 and finish in the foil.

His recipe will give you procedural details.
 
Hello K Kruger
Thank you very much for showing me the link. I didn't know that it was that easy to find on this site. I feel kind of stupid
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Next weekend I am going to make this and a pulled pork. My wifes friend just gave birth to a 7lb boy. She love my pulled pork and I told her I would make it for her. So I will let you know how it come out. Hay and thanks again for the guidance.
 
It didn't cure to red. It taste ok, saltly, but ok. I had it in for 3.5 days.Question: I followed Chris dry cure but I used an air tight bag. I put the dry cure in the bag and took the air out and sealed it with the machine. Cauld that be why?
 
What is the temp of the fridge you used in the location the meat was - do you know?

Did you soak the meat in cold water after curing?
 
Kevin
I don't know the temp. I will find out and tell you later. Yes I soak the meat an hour before the smoke and changed the water 2 times.
 
I've found Chris' recipe to be pretty spot-on as to what I'm looking for in a a pastrami. I don't know if it was necessary to use a vac sealed bag to cure your flat but I can't really see how it could've hurt.

For dry cures, you're supposed to overhaul the bag once a day. That is: flip it around and end-to-end to redistribute the juices and solids that the curing process has released from the meat. Perhaps a vac-sealed bag wouldn't allow that redistribution?

I'm not sure how you went wrong, to be honest. Did you re-rub the flat after rinsing it? That is a very important step in getting a lot of flavor besides salt flavor into the final product.

You said the brisket flat had a lot of fat on, and that it didn't cure to red. These two factors are almost certainly related if you didn't trim the fat. Cure can't penetrate fat, or at least, not as efficiently as it penetrates lean meat.

One problem I've had with flats from costco is that they're mechanically separated from the point, I believe, and that several flats I've bought are actually a flat with a decent sized portion of point attached. You can "trim" the surface of the point but if you don't take it all the way off and trim that fat between the flat and the point there's no way the cure will penetrate the fat vein between them.

Give it another shot, following Chris' recipe to the letter, and see if it doesn't turn out better.
 
Hi Dave
Thank you for your help. I did flip it every day. I also rub the meat after the hour soak. The meat hat a very thin piece of fat on its bottom. Mortan quick, could not find that I used an other tenderiser. Maybe thats it? I reheated some of the slices last night and it wast to bad. Just not red and tasted somewhat like pastrami.I still have to figure out the temp of the fidge. Didn't get a chance yet.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vinny G:
Mortan quick, could not find that I used an other tenderiser. Maybe thats it? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I would put money on it. TQ is a combination of salt, sugar, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. Meat tenderizers are normally papain with or without salt. If you used something like Adolph's with salt, you could have gotten somewhat of a cure from the salt, but it's surprising that 3+ days in a tenderizing enzyme didn't turn the meat mushy. Although TQ can have a limited tenderizing effect, it is not sold as a tenderizer. Walmarts used to sell it in the salt section, but I haven't seen it there it a few years now. I get mine from a big Asian supermarket.
 
That was definitely the problem. (It would still be worth finding out your fridge temp for future reference.) I'm also surprised that the meat didn't turn to mush but there could be several reasons for that.

I don't use TQ for anything. Instead I buy 'pink salt' - sodium nitrite mixed with salt - and make my own mix. Either works, though using for one the other in a given recipe means making adjustments as they should not be used 1-for-1. Both are available here.
 

 

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