Corned Beef (wannabe pastrami)

[weedenb]

Newbie here on the other red meats,

As promised over in the fish section, I was going to do something with a chunk of 'eye of round' I had in the freezer. Finally thawed it out and was wanting to do some pastrami but ended up trying a basic corned beef instead. Went straight from Ruhlman's book with a couple of exceptions. Didn't have any fresh garlic so I did 2 tsp of powder instead and my pickling spice was out of a jar and a bit dated? Smells like I might have too much garlic and not enough spice but I'm going ahead anyway.



Didn't have the right sized pot so I split the 5lbs in half and put them in 1gal ziplocks.



Couple of questions, since this isn't a brisket (still looking for one up here  :() and it is a bit thicker, how much longer than 5 days should I plan on pickling?

This will be my baseline study as I plan on doing Habanero's recipes once I get serious! I figure if I can get a decent corned beef then maybe I can move onto pastrami.

Thanks...........

[cgaengineer]

1 day per 1/4" of thickness measured from inside out.

I have found that for corned beef just about any cut of meat will work...the last two I did were sirloin tip roasts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[weedenb]

Thanks cgaengineer,

It was about 5" in diameter so I suppose I better go at least 10 days? The ziplocks seem to be working okay, the meat just seems to float in the middle and if you poke them around a bit it stirs things up pretty good. As far as cuts of meat go, you guys on this forum (and others) seem to have popularized brisket to the point that us poor folks can't get any. What are the pro's and con's of other cuts that are more readily available (to me) for something like this? Lets not even get into pork belly's, I'll save that for another rant!

Thanks......

[cgaengineer]

Yes, at least 10 days...don't worry, it won't over cure...the wait is the only thing that hurts!

Yeah, I don't buy brisket much anymore due to the high cost...I buy what's on sale! When chuck roasts go on sale I'm gonna try one of them next, last two weeks it was the sirloin tip roasts.

Yup, pork bellies...hard to get and rather pricey considering the cut...much like brisket it really not a primo cut of meat but like you said...they have become popular! Brisket is no longer turned to GB and pork belly to sausage!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cgaengineer]

I'll put my cb recipe here tomorrow...it's pretty dang good if I don't say so myself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[La Quinta]

I go two weeks for corned beef...everytime...brined rinsed...in the smoker for 4 hours...finish in the oven...comes out fabulous every time...

[Habanero Smoker]

To make beef pastrami you need to make corned beef, then to make corned beef into pastrami you just highly season the meat prior to cooking. As mentioned above, you can you different cuts, but I like to stay with brisket or round since they give you more beef flavor. I have some cured top round that will be pastrami. They should have gone in the smoker on Monday, I got to get them in today.

The way you put them in sealable plastic bags, I'm not sure how well they will cure. When you are wet brining you should have a container that doesn't bunch up the meat, and enough brine to cover the meat, and if the meat floats you place a heavy plate on top. One gallon sealable bags are good for small cuts like small half turkey breast, drum sticks etc; but the round looks too crowded, and you may not have enough brine in the bags to cure the meat.

If anything is over 3.5 - 4-inches thick I inject with 10% brine. When you cut them in half you should have split them length wise so that they would be about 2.5-inches thick. The longer cure times, with a wet brine you won't over cure, but the meat can become saltier, but on the other hand saltiness is a matter of personal taste.

[3rensho]

After the beef is corned then rinse, dry and cover densely with a 1:1 mixture of coarsely ground black pepper and coriander seeds.  Then smoke that sucker.  Makes out of this world pastrami.  I find the simplest is the best - don't need any pastrami seasoning packages at all.

[cgaengineer]

After the beef is corned then rinse, dry and cover densely with a 1:1 mixture of coarsely ground black pepper and coriander seeds.  Then smoke that sucker.  Makes out of this world pastrami.  I find the simplest is the best - don't need any pastrami seasoning packages at all.

No garlic? :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[weedenb]

Thanks everyone for the input,

In hindsight, cutting it lengthwise makes alot more sense as habanero suggested but I'll use this as an excuse to finally buy and injection pump. They aren't really as crowded as the photo makes it seem and I did use the full batch of brine but I'll be sure and play with them everyday to keep things distributed.

Once you start down this road there really isn't an end to it is there?  :-\

[3rensho]

No garlic? :)

Already in the corned beef - at least the way I make corned beef.  Can add more if desired.  Hard to get too much garlic.  I'm a kimchee fanatic too  ;D ;D

[micman]

As Habs said Inject them to 10 percent of the meats wieght, I have done to briskets now as corned beef, both were injected as per members here, they turned out great. I would like to try pastrami, but in this house it gets eaten before I can even get to that stage. :-[

Mick

[Habanero Smoker]

As 3rensho states coarse ground is the way to go.

Here is my Beef Pastrami seasoning: (I no longer use white peppercorns)

Dry Rub Ingredients:
?3 TBS. coriander seeds (4 TBS. if you don?t have white peppercorns).
?2 TBS. black peppercorns
?2 TBS. yellow mustard seeds
?1 TBS. white peppercorns
?2 TBS. of granulated garlic
Makes enough rub for one brisket flat up to 7 lbs.

Directions:
Toast coriander seeds. Combine the first four ingredients, and coarsely grind in a spice grinder or coffee grinder; grinding each spice seperately works better. Pour ground mixture into a bowl, add the granulated garlic and remix. Apply the dry rub to the brisket generously, working the rub into the meat by pressing it in with the palms of your hands. Air dry in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours, or overnight before before placing it in the smoker.

[weedenb]

Thanks Habanero!

I was going to wimp out and just boil them up as corned beef with some cabbage and potatoes but now I have to go for broke and do the pastrami thing! All I have on hand for smoking is Alder and Hickory, I assume the Hickory pucks will do? If not I seem to have alot of time to go yet so I could order in something different?

Thanks again!

[squirtthecat]

Hickory works!