Chris in Louisiana
TVWBB All-Star
This week I tackled Chris's dry cured pastrami recipe, with a few glances at Meathead's close to Katz's recipe. The results were pretty darned good.
My inspiration was the pastrami sandwich I had at Katz's Deli in NYC a couple years ago. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten. That meat was ridiculously good. Here is a pic, with a bite out. The sandwich in the background is (regular) brisket, which was okay, but nothing compared to the pastrami.
Started with about 5 lbs. of brisket flat from Sam's.
Sam's was nice enough to hide a couple of surprises inside. Thanks for those useless scraps at $4.68 per lb.! The other side had a little more fat, but not much trimming was needed.
Applied the dry brine. Then bagged it in a 2.5 gallon zipper bag. The zipper got rub in it and refused to seal no matter how good I cleaned it, so I ended up double bagging it.
Put it in the fridge for a week (Saturday to Saturday), turning a time or two per day.
Here it is before bagging.
Day 7. Pic of the brisket that’s been on dry brine all week.
Saturday morning I rinsed, soaked, then dried the brisket. Rubbed it with fresh cracked peppercorns and coriander seeds (used a spice grinder), plus granulated garlic. I added a little paprika, onion powder, whole mustard seeds & mustard powder per Meathead's recipe.
Here it is after the cook rub was applied.
Chimney of lit, half a chimney of unlit on top. For wood, I wanted to use pecan like Chris recommended, but I was out. Meathead said his best results were with cherry. Went with a mix of oak and cherry.
Cooked in 225°F range with H2O in pan. Brisket reached 165°F after 4 hours. Chris said wrap it and put in chest for a rest at that point. Meathead said for best crust smoke to 203°F. I let it get through the stall, which took the 5th hour, then let it go through 7 hours while I drank beer and enjoyed the weather. The fire was low, and even needed some charcoal added, so it was only about 200 for the later stages.
After 7 hours, the meat was anywhere from 175 to 200+, depending on where you put the Thermapen probe (which went in pretty easily). I wrapped it in HD foil and then a towel, and put it an ice chest for 2 hours.
Here it is just before wrapping.
It sliced up nice, with good texture and color. Nice smoke flavor that made a great sandwich. Well worth the time.
Used Jewish rye bread, Creole mustard, and Swiss cheese for a multicultural experience.
Got out the fancy china for the occasion.
I also have a corned beef in the fridge that will get the Quick Pastrami treatment in the coming weeks. I don't usually notice these in stores. It looks like they are in stock now for St. Patrick's Day, so throw one in the freezer if you want to try it later.
It's 7:00 a.m. on the day after. After looking at these pics, I think I'll have a pastrami sandwich for breakfast.
My inspiration was the pastrami sandwich I had at Katz's Deli in NYC a couple years ago. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten. That meat was ridiculously good. Here is a pic, with a bite out. The sandwich in the background is (regular) brisket, which was okay, but nothing compared to the pastrami.
Started with about 5 lbs. of brisket flat from Sam's.
Sam's was nice enough to hide a couple of surprises inside. Thanks for those useless scraps at $4.68 per lb.! The other side had a little more fat, but not much trimming was needed.
Applied the dry brine. Then bagged it in a 2.5 gallon zipper bag. The zipper got rub in it and refused to seal no matter how good I cleaned it, so I ended up double bagging it.
Put it in the fridge for a week (Saturday to Saturday), turning a time or two per day.
Here it is before bagging.
Day 7. Pic of the brisket that’s been on dry brine all week.
Saturday morning I rinsed, soaked, then dried the brisket. Rubbed it with fresh cracked peppercorns and coriander seeds (used a spice grinder), plus granulated garlic. I added a little paprika, onion powder, whole mustard seeds & mustard powder per Meathead's recipe.
Here it is after the cook rub was applied.
Chimney of lit, half a chimney of unlit on top. For wood, I wanted to use pecan like Chris recommended, but I was out. Meathead said his best results were with cherry. Went with a mix of oak and cherry.
Cooked in 225°F range with H2O in pan. Brisket reached 165°F after 4 hours. Chris said wrap it and put in chest for a rest at that point. Meathead said for best crust smoke to 203°F. I let it get through the stall, which took the 5th hour, then let it go through 7 hours while I drank beer and enjoyed the weather. The fire was low, and even needed some charcoal added, so it was only about 200 for the later stages.
After 7 hours, the meat was anywhere from 175 to 200+, depending on where you put the Thermapen probe (which went in pretty easily). I wrapped it in HD foil and then a towel, and put it an ice chest for 2 hours.
Here it is just before wrapping.
It sliced up nice, with good texture and color. Nice smoke flavor that made a great sandwich. Well worth the time.
Used Jewish rye bread, Creole mustard, and Swiss cheese for a multicultural experience.
Got out the fancy china for the occasion.
I also have a corned beef in the fridge that will get the Quick Pastrami treatment in the coming weeks. I don't usually notice these in stores. It looks like they are in stock now for St. Patrick's Day, so throw one in the freezer if you want to try it later.
It's 7:00 a.m. on the day after. After looking at these pics, I think I'll have a pastrami sandwich for breakfast.
