Pastrami from an 8 pound flat


 
DanHoo

DanHoo

TVWBB Olympian
making plans, looking for suggestions and ideas.

I cut this 8 lb flat from a 17.4 lb packer and its vac sealed in the freezer.

I'm planning the brine and the timeline, reading about wet and dry and right now I'm leaning towards meathead's brine.

I don't think I have anything large enough to soak this in and I think I want to keep it whole so that's a to-do.

I've never used Prague Powder #1 so I need to get some. Are they all the same? any brands better or worse.

The rub will be the same as my last cook, pastrami from wagyu corned beef but I'll likely smoke this to a little bit higher finish temp since the wagyu corned beef was a round and this will be brisket flat.

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Prague powder and instacure are the same thing. It’s ~6.25% sodium nitrate. This does 2 thinks, gives the meat its reddish color and inhibits bacteria formation during smoking/cooking.

i use it regularly. Readily avail from amazon.
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DanHoo said:
Thanks for sharing that (again).
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Read her recipe explanation as to how this recipe was modded. Some pastramis are very salty. Her recipe addresses that which also changes the cure time length.

Looking forward to yours and pics.
 
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Brett-EDH said:
Read her recipe explanation as somehow this recipe was modded. Some pastramis are very salty. Her recipe addresses that which also changes the cure time length.

Looking forward to yours and pics.
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If it turns out well, maybe santa will leave a frozen cryovac on your doorstep for Hanukkah. No promises it's kept kosher as I don't know the rules
 
Oh! Red number 3....yummy.......
Not sure if Cali banned it yet but they were talking about it back in the spring of this year..........it's in tons of things but I don't think it's something you want to eat a lot of.
Seriously though, I know nothing of the brines, my last one was wet and it didn't fully soak through.....the final product looked like pastrami on the outside but had a multi colour on the inside, it was for sure a let down as I had company over.....possibly something to do with missing the salts or something?????
I would however like to read more about the wet brines.....will check those links out.
 
Darryl - swazies said:
Oh! Red number 3....yummy.......
Not sure if Cali banned it yet but they were talking about it back in the spring of this year..........it's in tons of things but I don't think it's something you want to eat a lot of.
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Most of the brines include Prague Powder #1 (aka cure #1) and I did a bit of reading about the sodium nitrite/nitrate and FD&C red #3.

I will say there is an abundance of writing with little useful information. My main takeaways are (1) to carefully measure the amount of cure for the amount of water and (2) to follow the time calculators to ensure the cure penetrates properly based on thickness of the meat.

After that the desalination soak is a must-do, and no different than if buying a commercially cured corned beef.

And, yes CA passed a law going into effect in 2027 banning FD&C #3, but I don't know the details and would rather not go there in this thread.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a chemist, a doctor or a lawyer but I watch them on TV.
 
The amount of #3 red is so minute, just enough to dye it pink so you don't confuse it with table salt or sugar.
I think it's like a tablespoon of cure for 5# of meat? The amount of red dye is only a speck.
 
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