Pastrami question


 
Gregg I made a pastrami about a week ago and even after letting it get to 168 it was still so tough I couldn't bite into it. I ended up pulling it from the smoker and steaming it for about 20 minutes in my Presto cooker. I know that isn't the prime thing to do, but it made it edible although it was way to tender and couldn't be sliced and had to be torn and pulled instead. And another bad thing was that it made it extreme stringy and a bit dry, no gelatin at all really in the meat. This really has scared me away from brisket. I don't know if I will ever try to smoke that cut of meat again. Seems too temperamental.
 
Please don't get turned off brisket. It is trickier than other cuts and you do sometimes just get bad ones but when it works (which is most of the time) it's really worth it. My first brisket was a full packer and fantastic, second was a small flat, turned into a gnarly thing I didn't even feed to the dogs, third was another small flat with different technique (foiled with liquid for half the time) and pretty good.
 
In my opinion, Katz' Deli is the best pastrami there is. I prefer to make my pastrami from the point in order to better approximate the fork tender, hand cut texture of Katz'. Between the smoking and the steaming, I like to get it to 190*.

Bill
 
John that may have been my problem. The cut was very thin, only around an inch thick, definitely not thicker than that. It was well cured and not salty, it stayed pink throughout the cut even after hitting the Presto cooker to tenderize it. I think next time I am just going to forgo trying to make pastrami and just try to perfect cooking a brisket more simply by just smoking it Texas style I guess. Guess you need to get the simple down before you jump into more technical things like cured meats. It was a fun process though, and it only cost about $15 for the whole experience.
 
Yeah, small briskets seem to be difficult to cook low & slow. I remember reading a comment that a small brisket was one of the few cuts of meat that could manage to be be undercooked and overcooked at the same time. If you cook it long enough to break down the connective tissue (so it won't be tough) it dries out and gets tough. The options seem to be :

(a) don't cook it for too long (a lot of the braising recipes seem to suggest cooking to 160F or so)

(b) foil it with liquid around 150-160 then cook to 195,

(c) get a big honkin' brisket and cook that instead ;)
 
Haha, I have never been able to find a thick brisket around my area, and I've checked everywhere. About all I can find is this flats and those prepackaged already corned ones. Don't really want to mess with the already corned ones ever.
 
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