Pastrami- first time making it

Finally took the plunge to try my hand at pastrami from scratch...that is, from a whole packer brisket.

Never made pastrami from grocery store corned beef packs either, so I figured if I was going to give pastrami a try, might as well go all the way!

Got a 14LB packer at the grocery, standard regular price, no deals no spikes. That's what they go for here in beef country nowadays, $1.89/lb ...



Also picked up some TenderQuick and the spice mix for the brine. Everything else I had at home...



Crushed the spice seeds (juniper, peppercorns, mustard seed) with a rolling pin. Put them in the pan with the rest of the spices (garlic, bay leaf and coriander not shown) and some water to simmer....



As soon as it started simmering I cut off the heat and covered the pan. Let the oils come out of the spices for about 20 minutes, then strained the seeds out...



The liquid was put back in the pan with TenderQuick, brown sugar and garlic powder. Brought to a simmer, then off and mixed well. Into the fridge it goes till tommorrow, when I inject the trimmed beef....



The smell of the brine is ALL PASTRAMI, all good! Wow. Going for a traditional taste here, during my first try. I'll tweak the next time.

More pics tommorrow morning of the trimming, injecting and sealing the flat for the 7 day brine. Going to make burnt ends with the point, so I will post pics of that too.

Thanks for looking!

Day 2

So this morning I took the packer out of the fridge and separated the point from the flat and trimmed most of the fat off. Some folks say leave 1/4 inch cap on, I decided to go lean. Ended up with a good 4+ pounds of fat from the cut, so we end up with what looks like 10 pounds meat-

After trimming, I made the rub. Looks and smells real nice.

After the rub, I brought out my new $2.49 Ace Hardware Meat Injector I bought yesterday. It held up beautifully and with care will last a long time. That's good to know since I'd read a lot of bad things about cheap plastic injectors. Anyway, managed to inject about 3 cups into this huge flat~ It's big, and here's a pic of it all injected and puffy looking-

After that, I rubbed it all over. Thought I ran a little short on the rub, but let it go. It's a big flat, but next time if it's that big I'll increase the recipe by half again-

After that, brought out the sealer and vacu-sealed that baby! Into the fridge it went to be massaged and turned twice a day. Mrs Rivet thought that was funny, but agreed to help massage and turn since I work early!

It will stay in there until next saturday when I smoke it over alder, recommended. I'll definitely post pics of that.

The point will get rubbed and smoked into burnt ends probably tommorrow. If they come out okay I'll post pics of that too. Thanks for taking the time to look at my cooking!

Edited by rivet

Rivet, I'm not seeing the photos in the last post???? RD

Edited by Rockydog

Rivet, Got it now! Damn, I love pastrami too, wish I lived closer. You'd have a visitor. RD

okay, here's the point VacuPak'd. My plans changed so I don't know if I'm gonna smoke this puppy tomorrow or next saturday, so we're sealed and ready for either contingency!

Rubbed it with my "house rub" specialty for beef, and packed it up. It'll be good regardless!

Now with the pics I am even more jealous then I was..lol...looks great rivet and can't wait for the finished pics

Pastrami Hash perhaps??? I make roast beef hash with leftover beef roast and the potatoes, carrots, onions and gravy that were in the pan when roasting. Makes the canned stuff look like Alpo in comparison. Fry it until it's brown and crispy on the outside, too good. I bet the Pastrami might work too. RD

yowza - that looks incredible. i'm a believer!