Making Reuben sandwich


 
Kristof Jozsa

Kristof Jozsa

TVWBB Fan
I'd like to ask for some pieces of advice regarding Reuben sandwiches. I tried to search around but the net is full with tons of misleading (and often non barbecue related) information on the topic. Some seem to make it from chuck roast, some from brisket (not mentioning the cases using store beef ham..). What seems to be common is using sauerkraut and the meat (pulled or sliced?) in buttered toasted rie bried along with some other stuff - which seem to vary again as well. Now we got to the source of my confusion.. :)

Is there a Reuben sandwich recipe you use and recommend? Ideally I'd need to know the type of meet, preparation/dry brining, rub, preferred smoke wood, target core temperature, estimated smoking time and the other ingredients which should go into the sandwich.. I would like to suprise my card partners on Tuesday with the results. Thanks a lot!
 
Most of the reubens I've seen were made with corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and 1000 Island dressing. I don't care for kraut or the dressing so mine turn out to corned beef and Swiss on rye. With mustard.;)

If you're making them for this coming Tuesday you're going to be pretty much out of luck if you're wanting to make your own corned beef, but a good brand from the store will work fine. Also, pastrami works well in case you want to offer your friends a variety.

Grill the sandwiches indirect with a mild smoke wood (the bread will really soak up the smoke) until the cheese starts to melt, and then finish them direct to toast the bread. Then enjoy!
 
I agree with everything Brad said. I prefer Corned Beef on Rye with Swiss and Mustard. Not a big Thousand Island fan but Thousand Island and Sauerkraut make it a Reuban.

Brad covered a grilled Reuben so I'll address just making a Reuben without grilling.

To make your own Corned Beef it involves brining a Brisket for up to 2 weeks. 10 days will work just as well. I don't know what's available in Sweden but store bought Corned Beef cooks up well. The Beef is sliced for a Reuben. How long it takes depends on temperature of the cooker and size of the meat. I would cook at 250 to 275 and 1.5 to 2 hours per pound. Slice the meat cross grain for your sandwiches. I've never had a Reuben with buttered and toasted bread. Any kind of Rye bread is acceptable.
 
What Lew said.

Russian dressing is actually the 'authentic original' dressing, but most seem to use 1000 island these days.
 
Shawn W said:
What Lew said.

Russian dressing is actually the 'authentic original' dressing, but most seem to use 1000 island these days.
Click to expand...

I posted a Russian Dressing recipe today: https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?71109-Russian-Dressing-amp-Dip

it's easy & good.

The other guys have the sandwiches covered pretty good. Do they have pastrami or corned beef at the deli counters near you? Pastrami & swiss sandwiches are good too.... Pastrami kicks butt on top of a burger as well, if you happen to have some extra.
 
not sure if you want any more help on this ... but here are some basic instructions for a 'standard' Reuben sandwich to give you a starting point:

rye bread
thin sliced (but not shaved) pastrami or corned beef, enough for at least 1/2" (or as much as you would like) on the sandwich
sauerkraut, about 1/4C per sandwich
Swiss cheese
Russian or Thousand Island dressing


  • grab two pieces of bread from the loaf together
  • butter the outsides then set them down with the butter sides together
  • put the meat and sauerkraut on a heated griddle (fryping pan on the stove, or a frying pan or griddle on a Weber cooker etc), let them heat through and even brown a little bit
  • put the two pieces of bread butter side down on the griddle
  • on one piece put the meat on then the sauerkraut
  • on the other piece put the dressing then the swiss cheese
  • once the bread is brown assemble and slice the sandwich
 
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I have made several attempts at a Reuben - my favorite so far:
(Probably not authentic, but I thought it was pretty darned tasty.)

-Use Pumpernickel bread instead of rye (or light, un-seeded rye)
-Sliced Corned Beef (pulled if home-made and tender or sliced thin if store-bought)
[Pre-heat it a bit with the cheese on-top before assembling the sandwich]
-Bavarian sweet-style Kraut (drain it - you do not want a soggy sammie!)
-Aged Swiss cheese
-light shot of spicy brown mustard, instead of Rus / or T.I. dressing

Grill it on both sides like a grilled cheese sammy
Enjoy with your favorite cold beer!
 
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Thanks a lot guys, very helpful!

As of this Tuesday, Brad is right, I was out of time already making corned beef, so I'll save these hints for next time. For today, I picked up an aged angus brisket instead, it's my first attempt with such, wish me luck!
 
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