Pastrami

I don't know if its traditional, but I like it. Note the brine process is 2 weeks and the cook time is 6-8 hrs.

Ingredients

3-5lb Beef Brisket with excess fat trimmed off.

Brine:

8 Cups Water

50g Salt

80g Sugar

15g Pink Curing No. 1

2 Tbsp of Minced Garlic (Or more)

2 Tbsp of Whole Coriander Seeds

1 Tbsp Whole Peppercorns

2 Tsp Whole Mustard Seeds

8 Cups Ice+Water

Rub:

1/4 Cup Ground Coriander (Ideally, toasted and fresh ground)

2 Tbsp Fresh Ground Pepper (You can toast and grind this with the coriander)

2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika

Specialty Equipment

Smoker (Optional)

Deli Slicer

Note: The brining process takes 14 days to do. Also you need a container that will hold the brisket in your brine. I either use 2+ gallon sized 'zip-top' bags (Double bagging it), or I have some plastic containers from a kitchen supply store if it won't fit. You also can cut up your meat to split it up, but minimize the cuts you make. You want some space on all sides of the meat. Plan ahead!

Note 2: Be careful with Pink Curing Salt No 1. It is toxic raw, so do NOT put it on your food. You need to let it process for a few days if you use it. Since it looks like Himalayan pink finishing salt, make sure its clearly labelled.

So this is a compilation of everything I've pulled together from numerous different sites. To give credit where it is due, https://toriavey.com/homemade-pastrami/ was the best source. As I've iterated, This is where I landed, though I am very flexible on the brine. I am guessing my measurements above. You want a lot of garlic, whole coriander and whole peppercorns. I also really like the mustard seeds in there too. I list the salt by weight, not by volume because I typically use 'pickle and brine' salt, since it dissolves easier in water.

You can add other stuff. I did juniper berries a few times and they were nice. Keep the rub simple though.

Traditional pastrami is cooked two ways, first by smoking, then by steaming. I have found you only need to do one of them, but both is a bit better. If you decide to go one way, just follow the instructions below for that, but then make sure to extend the time until your meat is to temperature (200F). I find just smoking it leads it to be a bit dryer. If you just steam it, you won't get as nice of a crust.

Finally, Pastrami is best sliced thin, thus why I say you need a deli slicer.

Instructions

1. Pour the 8 cups of water into a big pot, your pot needs to comfortably hold a gallon of liquid. Set it to boil.

2. Add the rest of the brine ingredients to the pot while it heats up.

3. Once the water starts to really boil, turn off the heat, stir to make sure the sugar and salt is dissolved.

4. Pour in the 8cups of Ice water to cool off the brine. Place in the refrigerator to cool down to fridge temperature.

5. Once its cooled, place your brisket in your container. As mentioned above, I will either double bag it in two 2.5 gallon bag, or place it in a plastic container. I then will carefully pour it in. You want to fill up the bag or container. You want to have space on all sides of the meat. If your cut is too big, slice it in half and split up the brine.

6. Seal your meat in and leave it in the fridge for 12-16 days. Flip the meat every day.

7. On the day of cooking, Mix (and ideally freshly grind) your rub.

8. Smoker: When you are ready to start cooking, start up your smoker at 225F. I like Hickory or a generic wood blend for this.

9. Take your brisket out of the brine, rinse it off in cool water and pat dry.

10. Liberally (And I mean Liberally!) coat the brisket in the rub. Get as thick a layer as you can on all sides.

11. Smoker: Place the brisket in the smoker for 3 hours.

12. Steam: Get a deep roasting pan with a roasting rack where you can pour in at least 1" of water in without it hitting the bottom of the meat on the rack. Less and you'll likely have to refill the water part way through. You might want to do this in the oven so you don't have to move it. Otherwise preheat your oven to 300F.

13. Steam: Place the brisket onto the rack. If you have a remote meat thermometer, make sure to add it in now.

14. Steam: Take two pieces of aluminum foil that are longer than the roasting rack, the same length. Heavy Duty is better. Lay them alongside each other and fold down one of the long edges an inch or so, then fold it again. Crease it well. Spread the foil out but don't let the crease pull apart. Lay this over your roasting pan and pinch it up under the edges so you seal everything in, but don't let the foil touch the meat if you can help it, otherwise minimize that contact. This is called 'tenting' if you want to look up a better explanation.

15. Steam: Place your brisket in its tented pan in the oven for about 3hrs. You are aiming for an internal temp of 200F. You can go over in time if you don't have a meat thermometer you can leave in and see, because I know its annoying to take the tent on and off.

16. Once you are done cooking, let rest for 30-45 minutes under a towel. Then, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to finish cooling. Feel free to cut off some pieces to try.

17. When you are ready to slice, place it in the freezer for about 30min to an hour. Then pull it out and slice it. The freezer makes slicing a LOT easier.

Serving:

Make a sandwich from the slices on Rye bread, sliced Swiss cheese (If you aren't kosher), and a pickle. Enjoy.

Freezing

I find if you tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, then put it into a freezer bag, you can freeze this perfectly fine. You can even slice it first, then split it up and wrap it. The curing salt and brine will preserve it for a while.