I'm making my first attempt at pastrami today. I'm using store bought corned beef that I've been soaking in water for a couple of days to remove some of the salt. I bought points because they were half the price of the flats and I like the point on a brisket better anyway. I rubbed each corned beef with 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper, 1 tablespoon cracked white pepper, 1 tablespoon cracked coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon coarsely ground freeze dried garlic, 1 tablespoon paprika for color and 1 teaspoon onion powder. If you've ever wondered what makes pastrami uniquely pastrami it's definitely the coriander. It has a very pastrami like smell.
I'm cooking on the FE100. Cooked the first 2 hours on smoke setting which fluctuates between 160 and 180 on my cooker. Just turned it up to 240. That is all...
The picture above is the Pastrami after 4 hours in the cooker. It's starting to look pretty tasty !!
Six hours 151 degrees and humming along.
After 8 hours the Pastrami was 175 Degrees. I removed it from the smoker let it cool and refrigerated overnight. On Easter Morning I steamed the brisket for 3 hours to complete the process. The end product was moist, tender and very flavorful. This was my first try at making Pastrami and other than pressing the rub into the meat more so it will adhere better I can't really think of any way to improve it.
