Corned Beef on Sale....How do I make Pastrami

[OTB]

Now that St Patty's day is almost over, they have corned beef briskets for really cheap.  I was hoping to pick a few up, the kind with the spice pack separate, and maybe make pastrami this weekend.  Since the meat is already cured can you just use Habanero's suggested rub overnight, smoke a few hours, then cook until 165 IT, cool, slice, eat.....

I have read a couple of folks that tried this and had funny meat in the center (grey) due to the factory curing process, or fat cap issues (better to trim off then lay back on top for self basting)

Suggestion????

[Ka Honu]

Here's how I do it:

Ingredients:

1 corned brisket

Rub:
    2 tablespoons peppercorns
    1/2 tablespoon onion powder
    1 teaspoon paprika
    2 teaspoons coriander seeds
    1 teaspoon thyme, dried
    1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions:

Discard the seasoning packet, drain the juice from the package and rinse. Soak brisket in cool water in a nonreactive container or zipper top bag in the fridge, no less than overnight or up to 48 hours, changing water at least two or three times.

Make rub by crushing peppercorns & coriander (with mortar & pestle) and mixing with other ingredients.

Dry the brisket, lightly score the fat side with a knife or insert a toothpick to mark the grain direction, apply rub to all sides, and wrap in cling film. Set in the refrigerator at least 24 hours. On cooking day, bring brisket to room temperature; re-season all sides with a sprinkle of rub.

Now you have at least two choices:

    1,  Smoke 3 hours (fat side up) at 225^o to an internal temperature of 165-170°.  Saran wrap & FTC (fat side up) for 2 hours; refrigerate for one day. Slice thin, against the grain, or...

    2.  Cold smoke 3-4 hours, foil wrap, and and steam in 270^o oven to IT of 165-170^o (my preference).

You can also experiment with partial hot-smoking and then steaming, etc.

[Habanero Smoker]

OTB;

You can use my rub, and follow the smoking/cooking directions in that recipe with commercial corn beef.

Try toasting the whole spices first (except for the mustard seed), that is what I do, and it makes a huge difference (I need to update my recipe). If you look at the bottom of the recipe you will see a link to how I steam my pastrami.

If you every get a chance, cure your own brisket flat for pastrami.

[OTB]

Thanks for the replies.

Has anyone tried using a wet or dry cure on the corned beef to further cure it before cooking?  Also what is meant by steaming it in the recipe above.  I assume you just put liquid of your choice in the foil when it goes into the oven?

[Ka Honu]

I put it on a rack over a pan of water and seal the whole thing with foil (except for the hole made by the temp probe which allows a bit of the steam to escape).  I know people who wrap in several layers of foil w/o extra liquid and bake at 240^o for about 5 hours which also seems to work.

[OTB]

Why would you cook with the fat cap down?  Most meats cook with it up so it self bastes the meat?

[Ka Honu]

It's Murphy's fault. I have no idea how that got in there.  It must have been a post-Guinness, pre-oblivion leprechaun trick (note date of post).  Corrected.

[OTB]

But even in Habanero's recipe, it says to cook with the fat side down??

[Ka Honu]

This may be one of those Lilliputian "big end, small end" things.

[Habanero Smoker]

You don't want to cure it further, especially if your corn beef was cured with sodium nitrite or potassium nitrite. If you are thinking of adding additional flavors then inject non-salt flavorings, because the meat will have enough salt taste.

There is actually a reason for the fat being placed towards the heat source. The concept originally was for charcoal or wood burners, to have the fat towards the source of the heat. In the Bradley I use it for another reason, I don't want too much fat left on the meat when it is finished, but I don't want to trim it too much prior to smoking/cooking. So I place it fat side down, towards the heat source. Since you are only taking the brisket to 160°F - 165°F, there is plenty of marbling to protect the meat. You can leave it fat side up if you like a lot of fat on your pastrami.

Steaming instructions were linked in my Pastrami recipe. It is located at the bottom of the page. I smoke the pastrami to an internal temperature of 150°F, let it age 1 - 2 days then steam. I like to steam them, because as the contract they plump up.

Here is a direct link to the procedure I use: Steamed Pastrami.

[OTB]

You don't want to cure it further, especially if your corn beef was cured with sodium nitrite or potassium nitrite. If you are thinking of adding additional flavors then inject non-salt flavorings, because the meat will have enough salt taste.

There is actually a reason for the fat being placed towards the heat source. The concept originally was for charcoal or wood burners, to have the fat towards the source of the heat. In the Bradley I use it for another reason, I don't want too much fat left on the meat when it is finished, but I don't want to trim it too much prior to smoking/cooking. So I place it fat side down, towards the heat source. Since you are only taking the brisket to 160°F - 165°F, there is plenty of marbling to protect the meat. You can leave it fat side up if you like a lot of fat on your pastrami.

Steaming instructions were linked in my Pastrami recipe. It is located at the bottom of the page. I smoke the pastrami to an internal temperature of 150°F, let it age 1 - 2 days then steam. I like to steam them, because as the contract they plump up.

Here is a direct link to the procedure I use: Steamed Pastrami.

Thanks!  I wonder why in your directions you say to cook to 150, let cool for couple of days, then steam.  Does this make the meat more tender than if you just smoked for a few hours, then steamed until IT of 165?

I have my corned beef soaking in water right now so I still have a couple of days to figure this out.

[OTB]

Here is where I think I am going to head with this one.  I am actually going to try to get my wife to prepare this one to get her involved (since she is not a big smoke fan).   I reduced the amount of smoke and combined two different recipes, with options for her to choose what rub sounds best to her.

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK...please

This is a combination of recipes/techniques from Habanero Smoker and Ka Honu

Ingredients:

1 corned brisket

Rub (option 1):
     2 tablespoons peppercorns
     1/2 tablespoon onion powder
     1 teaspoon paprika
     2 teaspoons coriander seeds
     1 teaspoon thyme, dried
     1 teaspoon garlic powder

Rub (option 2):
     3 TBS. coriander seeds
     2 TBS. black peppercorns
     2 TBS. yellow mustard seeds
     1 TBS. white peppercorns
     2 TBS. of granulated garlic


Instructions:

Discard the seasoning packet, drain the juice from the package and rinse. Soak brisket in cool water in a nonreactive container or zipper top bag in the fridge, no less than overnight or up to 48 hours, changing water at least two or three times.

Make rub by crushing peppercorns & coriander (with mortar & pestle) and mixing with other ingredients.

Dry the brisket, and if necessary, remove excess fat cap leaving 1/4 inch fat on top.  Lightly score the fat side with a knife or insert a toothpick to mark the grain direction, apply rub to all sides, and wrap in cling film. Set in the refrigerator at least 24 hours. On cooking day, bring brisket to room temperature; re-season all sides with a sprinkle of rub.

Smoke 40 minutes with Oak/Apple at 230F (fat side up), remove from smoker, add to roasting pan, on wire rack, add 1 inch of water to bottom of pan.  Bring water to boil on stove top before placing in 270F oven.  Cook tightly covered with lid or foil wrap, to IT of 165F.

Let cool to room temp before wrapping in plastic wrap and placing in refrigerator for 1-2 days before slicing thin against the grain.

[Ka Honu]

Looks like a good starter plan which you can adjust as you see what works best for you.  My only comment would be that if you're going to partially hot smoke, I'd do it to an IT (I'd guess somewhere around 145-150^o) rather than for a set time & box temp.  You want to make sure the meat is "in the zone" for whatever smoke penetration and adherence you're going to get.

[OTB]

Looks like a good starter plan which you can adjust as you see what works best for you.  My only comment would be that if you're going to partially hot smoke, I'd do it to an IT (I'd guess somewhere around 145-150^o) rather than for a set time & box temp.  You want to make sure the meat is "in the zone" for whatever smoke penetration and adherence you're going to get.

I assume your "in the zone" refers to food safety...or are there specific temps that cause the smoke to penetrate/adhere better?  I know 40 minutes is not much time in the smoke, but I am trying to ease my family into the smoked flavor.  They insist they don't like it...but they loved the turkey breast I did last weekend for lunch meat, so I figure I will keep doing a little at at time.    ;D

[Ka Honu]

In this case, since it's already processed beef and you're going to steam it in the second step, there shouldn't be any safety problem.  As I understand it, meat absorbs smoke better in certain temp ranges and you want it to get to those ranges (this from a guy who cold smokes pastrami so take it for the very little it's worth).

I wouldn't worry about the family not liking too much smoke taste.  In  pastrami it's usually more like a hint of smoke; the "signature" flavor comes from the rub (especially the coriander and pepper).