I have just made some corned beef pastrami now I wont to do the same with chicken
Q1 : what is the best part of a chicken to use breast or thigh
Q2 : I am going to cure the chicken I have the Bradley's and #1 cure which would be best ??
Q3 : how do you tell when the meat is cured
Any help would be great thanks :)
I have not done chicken pastrami, but here is one way. Make sure you read the note at the bottom about adjusting the cure amount for weight.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5239291_make-chicken-pastrami.html (http://www.ehow.com/how_5239291_make-chicken-pastrami.html)
You can use chicken. I don't cure chicken for pastrami anymore, because the breast are too small, as are the legs and thighs. You can either cure with just salt or use cure #1. It mainly depends on what type of flavor you are looking for. I like the thigh for additional flavor and texture, but you don't get as large of slices when you use the breast. Knowing when the chicken is cured, follow the guidelines in the recipe. Poultry really firms up so it is easy to tell. As far as which cure to use; it is a personal choice. Cure #1 gives you a base to build any flavors. The Bradley cures are already flavored so your choices of additional seasonings may be limited.
The link provided by SS, is questionable. Not that it would not be safe (it has enough salt), but one teaspoon of cure #1 is not going to do much of anything in one gallon of water. I don't think that amount would even contribute to any color. The warning giving at the bottom of the page is the amount you use while applying a dry cure.
For any poultry you can use this recipe:
Turkey Pastrami (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?785-Turkey-Pastrami&p=1187#post1187)
Thank you all for the info :)