I just made my first home-cured pastrami, using American Wagyu brisket that I was able to get for $6.50/lb. (Sorry, forgot pictures -- next time).
Received a 11.3 lb. packer brisket. I was using the Charcuterie book's recipe. Since it called for a 5 lb. brisket, and a 3 day cure, I was concerned about the cure penetrating a much larger brisket. So I separated the point from the flat. Even from the outside, the meat was clearly heavily marbled. The point almost fell apart in my hands when raw - it was like an accordion. Not too bad with surface fat; I trimmed about 2 lbs.
Prepared the brine according to the recipe, and put the point and flat in separate 2.5 gallon ziplocs, then into fridge. I was still nervous about the 3 day cure, and googling (including this site) pretty much convinced me a week was more like it.
Since I had no firm guideline for cure time for a 10lb brisket, and I had decided to "go long," I also decided on a freshwater soak for a day at the end of the cure.
At night after the soak, I dried it off and applied the toasted, cracked peppercorn/coriander rub. Charcuterie calls for 1 tablespoon of each. I used 5 of each, plus a good shake of garlic powder. Back into the fridge, uncovered, to dry a bit.
Memorial day morning, I fired up the WSM (22"), Minion method, with applewood chunks. (While I was at it, I also smoked 4 racks of ribs in the lower chamber). Smoked at 230-250 for about 6 hours. I had planned to let it go longer, but it got up to 160 after about 5 hours!
Most recipes call for taking it off between 150-170, to finish either wrapped or steamed in an oven. But my brisket didn't have much of a bark look to it yet (the point was pretty dark, but the flat was still light grey). Also of note is the point was reading 170 at this point. I surmise that the much higher fat content of the Wagyu was getting it up to higher temps much quicker.
Decided to leave it on till it read 175. I then took it off and foiled it, then into a cooler for 3 hours. After that, into the fridge. On Tuesday, I steamed it for 3 hours, allowed to rest, and sliced.
It was, without a doubt, one of the best pastrami's I'd ever had. Very spicy, very good flavor on the meat, and ridiculously moist.
The problem was, it was so heavily marbled that it was almost TOO rich. I made a sandwich (on Rye, with Mustard), but mixed the point and flat slices (point alone was just oozing fat -- delicious, but still....). Now, I didn't make a deli style 1 lb. of meat sandwich -- probably 6 ounces. Even so, I felt like I just finished Thanksgiving meal. It was delicious, but really too intense to eat a lot of.
Next time, I'm going to try Prime grade (I'm avoiding choice for now, since most commercial pastrami I've had in the past decade, even from good delis, is just too dry).
I'll definitely make it again -- it's really not difficult (had to source the Pink Salt online), and it's light years better than supermarket stuff.
Received a 11.3 lb. packer brisket. I was using the Charcuterie book's recipe. Since it called for a 5 lb. brisket, and a 3 day cure, I was concerned about the cure penetrating a much larger brisket. So I separated the point from the flat. Even from the outside, the meat was clearly heavily marbled. The point almost fell apart in my hands when raw - it was like an accordion. Not too bad with surface fat; I trimmed about 2 lbs.
Prepared the brine according to the recipe, and put the point and flat in separate 2.5 gallon ziplocs, then into fridge. I was still nervous about the 3 day cure, and googling (including this site) pretty much convinced me a week was more like it.
Since I had no firm guideline for cure time for a 10lb brisket, and I had decided to "go long," I also decided on a freshwater soak for a day at the end of the cure.
At night after the soak, I dried it off and applied the toasted, cracked peppercorn/coriander rub. Charcuterie calls for 1 tablespoon of each. I used 5 of each, plus a good shake of garlic powder. Back into the fridge, uncovered, to dry a bit.
Memorial day morning, I fired up the WSM (22"), Minion method, with applewood chunks. (While I was at it, I also smoked 4 racks of ribs in the lower chamber). Smoked at 230-250 for about 6 hours. I had planned to let it go longer, but it got up to 160 after about 5 hours!
Most recipes call for taking it off between 150-170, to finish either wrapped or steamed in an oven. But my brisket didn't have much of a bark look to it yet (the point was pretty dark, but the flat was still light grey). Also of note is the point was reading 170 at this point. I surmise that the much higher fat content of the Wagyu was getting it up to higher temps much quicker.
Decided to leave it on till it read 175. I then took it off and foiled it, then into a cooler for 3 hours. After that, into the fridge. On Tuesday, I steamed it for 3 hours, allowed to rest, and sliced.
It was, without a doubt, one of the best pastrami's I'd ever had. Very spicy, very good flavor on the meat, and ridiculously moist.
The problem was, it was so heavily marbled that it was almost TOO rich. I made a sandwich (on Rye, with Mustard), but mixed the point and flat slices (point alone was just oozing fat -- delicious, but still....). Now, I didn't make a deli style 1 lb. of meat sandwich -- probably 6 ounces. Even so, I felt like I just finished Thanksgiving meal. It was delicious, but really too intense to eat a lot of.
Next time, I'm going to try Prime grade (I'm avoiding choice for now, since most commercial pastrami I've had in the past decade, even from good delis, is just too dry).
I'll definitely make it again -- it's really not difficult (had to source the Pink Salt online), and it's light years better than supermarket stuff.
