Pastrami is always a good idea!

[AllDayFoodie]

I decided to play around with a pastrami this last week.


I took a 5lb brisket and corned it in a brine for 3 days, rinsed it off and realized I didn't trim it very well  :-[ A little fat never hurt though right... So I toasted some coriander, peppercorns and grinded them anyway, then rubbed it on my newly corned beef brisket!


Then I smoked it with applewood at 200 until it hit about 150 IT. Took about 3 1/2 hours.Then pulled it and bumped the temp to 275, put it on a roasting pan with some water and wrapped it. From there it took about another solid 3-4 hours.







It came out pretty good I would say, pretty juicy. I would say it was a little tough still though. I am thinking after I refrigerate and splice it on the slicer real thin it will be pretty amazing. I cut a pretty thick slice to try...I don't know what do you think?

[Edward176]

Sliced thin or thick, No complaints here bud, I love Corned Beef/pastrami and this one really look good, I mean nice and lean and spiced up, hell I can almost smell it from here :)
I'm so impressed I'm almost temped to run out to my butcher and grab a brisket right now, but I'll wait till he opens, thanks.

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm still waiting for the cost of brisket to drop down to a more reasonable price, before I make pastrami again.

Your pastrami looks good. Looking at the photo of the cut piece it seems you are almost cutting along the grain. Besides cutting it thinner, also cut it across the grain.

[Johnny]

Looks delicious! Nicely done.

[Roget]

I'm still waiting for the cost of brisket to drop down to a more reasonable price, before I make pastrami again.

Absolutely.
I keep looking at briskets & walking away without one.

[AllDayFoodie]

I'm still waiting for the cost of brisket to drop down to a more reasonable price, before I make pastrami again.

Your pastrami looks good. Looking at the photo of the cut piece it seems you are almost cutting along the grain. Besides cutting it thinner, also cut it across the grain.

Habanero, I totally cut it with the grain you where right! Much better

[AllDayFoodie]

I'm still waiting for the cost of brisket to drop down to a more reasonable price, before I make pastrami again.

Absolutely.
I keep looking at briskets & walking away without one.

Roget, I picket it up around $30 for 5.1Lb brisket, then went to my local Sams Club and found a 5Lb brisket for about $22, I had already had it Corning at that point but what kind of price range do you guys look for?

[Grouperman941]

I'm still waiting for the cost of brisket to drop down to a more reasonable price, before I make pastrami again.

Absolutely.
I keep looking at briskets & walking away without one.

Roget, I picket it up around $30 for 5.1Lb brisket, then went to my local Sams Club and found a 5Lb brisket for about $22, I had already had it Corning at that point but what kind of price range do you guys look for?

I have not shopped lately, but before Christmas, I was getting packers for $2.05/lb at GFS.

[cherrybergher]

very nice and great information

[Smoker John]

That is looking really good

[Habanero Smoker]

The price range varies a great amount; depending which store you shop at. The average price is about $4.50/lb., but a couple of stores sell only the flat for as much as $7.89/lb. My local Wal Mart sells them for $2.69/lb. They are the Excel brand, but they have a ton of fat on them. Most of the time they are graded choice, sometime you don't see a grade on them. When they are marked choice, I will purchase them on occasion, but don't really care for them. The last time I checked my Sam's Club, they occasionally will carry the flats, and the price was about $4.50/lb.

[Roget]

I won't pay $6.00 lb. for beef (as much as I love beef) when I can get good cuts of pork for less than $3.00 lb.
I'm not a poor man but I soon would be if I ate beef all the time.
If I could get a decent brisket for $4.00 lb I would  buy it.
Until then I will eat, & enjoy, my pork loin, pork butt, ribs, pork chops, etc.  :)

[TedEbear]

The price of a brisket flat was $7.29/lb at my local store the other day.  I guess I'll keep smoking pork butts and cheese for now.  The sale on the filet mignon at $15.99/lb was rather tempting but I passed.  It is normally $28.99/lb.

[Salmonsmoker]

You might try your local Costco for brisket. The stores in my area (Puget Sound) almost always have prime packer briskets and If I remember correctly, around $3-$3.25/lb.

[Grouperman941]

I'm still waiting for the cost of brisket to drop down to a more reasonable price, before I make pastrami again.

Absolutely.
I keep looking at briskets & walking away without one.

Roget, I picket it up around $30 for 5.1Lb brisket, then went to my local Sams Club and found a 5Lb brisket for about $22, I had already had it Corning at that point but what kind of price range do you guys look for?

I have not shopped lately, but before Christmas, I was getting packers for $2.05/lb at GFS.

I got a really nice one for St. Patrick's Day corned beef for $2.65/lb. The same ones that were so cheap back in the fall.