Pastrami
User Reviews
5.0
3 reviews
Excellent
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Prep Time
20 mins
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Cook Time
10 hrs
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Rest Time
7 d
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Total Time
10 hrs 20 mins
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Servings
6 people
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
American
Pastrami
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Pastrami is the very popular highly seasoned smoked beef prepared especially from shoulder cuts, that is first brined, then smoked, and finally steamed.
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Ingredients
For the corned beef
- 4 lb beef brisket , or navel (plate), boneless short rib meat, flank steak, tongue, or round
- 4 quarts water
- 8 oz. kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons Prague powder #1
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons pickling spices (mustard seeds, allspice, coriander seeds, clove, ginger, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, cinnamon stick)
- 4 cloves garlic , pressed
For the Pastrami rub
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
For the pastrami
- 4 lb corned beef (recipe below or store-bought, brined uncooked)
- 8 tablespoons pastrami rub (recipe below)
- rye bread
- brown mustard
- Pickles
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Instructions
Corned Beef
- Clean a container large enough to hold the brine and the meat, such as a large glass container.
- Mix the Prague Powder #1, brown sugar, pickling spices and garlic cloves. Add to the water and stir until the powder and ground ingredients are dissolved.
- Add the meat to the curing solution. Since it will probably float to the surface, use a glass or plastic bowl filled with brine on top of the meat until it submerges.
- Make sure there is enough brine to cover the meat by at least 1 inch. Refrigerate.
- Let it cure for at least 4 days (ideally 6), depending on the thickness of the meat. Move the meat every day to stir up the curing solution.
- At the end of the brining, the outer layer of the meat will be light gray. The inside should look just like raw meat, slightly pinker.
Pastrami rub
- Toast the coriander and mustard seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Grind the seeds with a mortar with a pestle or in a spice grinder until you have a rough sandy texture.
- Combine the ground spices with the pepper, paprika, salt, sugar, and garlic.
Pastrami
- Desalinate by placing the corned beef in a pot slightly larger than the meat and cover it with cold water in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
- Rinse the meat, and place it on a large plate.
- Apply the spice rub generously. Press the rub onto the meat surface so that it can adhere. Use less rub on thin parts of the meat cut.
- Place the plate in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 days uncovered.
- Preheat the smoker to 225 F / 107 C. Use any wood, such as cherry wood.
- Place the meat in the smoker. Smoke the with indirect heat until it reaches about 160 F / 70 C.
- If you do not steam the smoked meat right away, wrap in foil and and keep it refrigerated for up to a week.
- In a large steamer (or in a large pot or pan with a wire rack), place the meat, making sure that the meat is not in contact with the water.
- Put the steamer on the stove at low to medium heat. Steam for two hours or until the meat is heated through to 203 F / 95 C. Add hot water as needed, to make sure the steamer never dries out.
- For a firm crust, place on a hot grill, in the oven or under the broiler for a few minutes.
- Cut the meat by hand with a sharp knife in thin slices, about ½ inch thick, perpendicular to the grain.
- Spread brown mustard on two slices of untoasted rye bread.
- Serve pastrami between the slices of rye bread, with pickles and coleslaw on the side.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
3 reviews
Excellent
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