Pastrami Advice

[josbocc]

Hello Everyone,

I have two beef briskets brining in the refrigerator at this very moment, that are destined to become pastrami this weekend, after they have a chance to go visit the Bradley.  I used Habs recipe from the recipe site, and did the wet brine.  Habs suggested two hours of Pecan, followed by an hour of Apple for his smoke of choice.

I have neither Pecan nor Apple in my stockpile of pucks.  (Not really sure how that happened, and it will definitely be corrected).  My question is what flavor smoke to use.  What I do have at my disposal are the following:  Mesquite, Hickory, Alder, Pacific Blend, Special Blend, Maple, and Jim Beam.

Any, and all suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff

[tskeeter]

Jos, I'm not too familiar with the flavors of pecan, Jim Beam, and maple, but I'm thinking that in your position I'd try replacing the pecan with the Jim Beam and the apple with the maple.  And maybe use an hour 40 of the JB and an hour 20  maple.

Hopefull someone who is a specialist in the smoke flavors will be along soon to give you some better advice.

[Habanero Smoker]

Pecan is my go to smoke for most meats and vegetables. It is very similar to hickory, but a milder and a bit sweeter. For pastrami I don't like much smoke, but almost any flavor and or combination will do except mesquite. Maybe 1:20 hours hickory, and 1:40 hours maple bisquettes.

Lately for pastrami and other beef products I've been going back to using oak, especially when a couple of years back pecan began to get harder to find. So another possibility could be the Jim Beam for the full smoke or as tskeeter suggested, maybe use that in combination with the maple.

[josbocc]

Skeeter and Habs,

Thanks much for the input.  I am a Hickory fan, and the smell of the Jim Beam when the smoke is rolling is incredible.  I'm going to experiment a little bit and try a combination of the two. 

Jeff