Cheesy pastrami

Ka Honu · March 10, 2010, 03:52:53 PM

Yesterday I finally got around to smoking the cheese I bought last month and had room to include a St. Pat's Day corned beef turned pastrami.

Cheeses included Gouda, Aussie Boxing Cheddar , Irish, Sharp Cheddar, Extra Sharp Cheddar, and Jack. They love me at Costco. Corned beef (4 pounds) soaked for two days and rested in rub for three more. After three hours of cold smoke...

... rested the cheese while I steamed the pastrami in the oven (275 ° to IT of 170°). Then rested the pastrami for a couple of hours and put in fridge to slice today.

Hand-sliced a couple of pieces for "tasting" (probably should have trimmed a bit more fat off before adding the rub)...

...and then let the slicer do its magic (was surprised at the difference in marbling as I got further into the brisket)...

It didn't seem that there was much "color" added to the cheese but since there was a nice smoke flavor to the pastrami, I'm going to guess that the cheese got its share.

OU812 · March 10, 2010, 04:04:14 PM

That all looks good.

I just seen a sale flyer today that had corned flats for $2.49/lb I hope they get cheeper the closer we get to St. Pattys day.

dbondy · March 11, 2010, 06:16:37 AM

Looks great, I need to make some.

seemore · March 11, 2010, 06:54:57 AM

Looks great, KH!
Mrs

KevinG · March 11, 2010, 09:18:36 AM

Someone call Wisconsin, KH cleaned em out. Get those cows a milkin! Looks good KH.

classicrockgriller · March 11, 2010, 09:44:36 AM

Looks Dang NICE!

That is a Bradley full of cheese.

My next cheese smoke, I am gonna pre-cut the large hunks

So I won't have to re-package after the aging time.

Ka Honu · March 11, 2010, 01:13:23 PM

Quote from: classicrockgriller on March 11, 2010, 09:44:36 AM... I am gonna pre-cut the large hunks so I won't have to re-package....

It also gives more surface area for smoke adherence. That's my story, it's a good story, and I'm sticking to it.

HCAO · March 12, 2010, 01:24:09 AM

how do you store that cheese to keep it from getting moldy? that is probably more than a year's worth of cheese for me.

Ka Honu · March 12, 2010, 06:27:15 AM

Quote from: HCAO on March 12, 2010, 01:24:09 AMhow do you store that cheese to keep it from getting moldy?

Multiple choice answer:

a. It's cheese! It's supposed to get moldy (Just scrape it off).
b. It goes faster than normal because everybody wants some.
c. Vacuum-packed in the refrigerator.
d. All of the above.

ps - The correct answer is d although some people disagree with a. Buy a FoodSaver.

KevinG · March 12, 2010, 09:52:40 AM

I remember when I was in grade school, the teacher had us do an experiment and grow some mold on food. We looked at it under the microscope - it totally grossed me out, I haven't been able to eat anything with mold on it since.

Ka Honu · March 27, 2010, 06:36:58 PM

Well the pastrami is long gone but we opened some of the Gouda and sharp cheddar last night (16 days after smoking). It was terrific, especially the Gouda. I love being me!

OBTW, no time to smoke* for a while (buying and moving into a new (to us) house) so I prepped a corned beef for pastrami (making sure to use smoked paprika), wrapped it in 5 layers of foil, and baked in the house oven today for 5 hours at 240°. In the fridge for 24 hours and will unwrap and give it a 15-minute finish at 400° tomorrow or Monday. First time I've tried this method and will be interested to see how it comes out. Will report with photos (if SWMBO hasn't packed the camera somewhere already) when done.

* I actually do have time to smoke; I just don't have time to set up, tend, and clean up.

classicrockgriller · March 27, 2010, 08:00:04 PM

Quote from: Ka Honu on March 27, 2010, 06:36:58 PM
Well the pastrami is long gone but we opened some of the Gouda and sharp cheddar last night (16 days after smoking). It was terrific, especially the Gouda. I love being me!

And we're just glad there is only one of you! ;D

Congrats on the "New to You" House.

Ka Honu · March 28, 2010, 10:29:43 AM

Now I know why they tell you to wrap in 5 layers of foil - it steams juice out through three of them.

Anyway, the finished product with test slices...

All things considered, both taste and texture are really good but I do miss the smoked flavor.

It's going to be a long month without using the smoker or TBE. Luckily I'll be in New Orleans for a good part of it.

squirtthecat · March 28, 2010, 05:11:26 PM

Looks good to me...

What if you vacuum sealed it, then wrapped that in n layers of foil? What is the top end of the temperature range for FoodSaver bags??

What I'm getting at is something like sous vide.

Auber makes a PID for controlling these 'water ovens' - that's the first time I've ever heard of sous vide..

Ka Honu · March 29, 2010, 09:48:15 AM

Probably 90% of the juice was still inside the inner layer of foil so I don't think the vacuum pack is necessary. I'll try sous vide one of these days but I still haven't come up with a plan to convince SWMBO that I need that particular whole new set of ~~toys~~ tools. Also, I think FoodSaver only recommends using their bags for sous vide up to about 165^o - not hot enough for brisket or pulled pork.

Cheesy pastrami

squirtthecat