food Jeff's Flog- homemade pastrami

Dang it has been a while since I updated this thread.
 
 
 
Last night we did some blackened chicken with red beans and rice. Turned out very good.
 
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Copious amounts of butter slathered on the chicken with a zesty dry rub and that cast iron was screaming hot. I had the vent on pretty high just to keep up with the smoke. :rofl:
 
 
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grantmichaels said:
That's a nice plate ... looks great. Nice color on the blackening, too.
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That is because I used butter and not oil. :D :D :D
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Okay, tonight's Mexican word is Carnitas.
 
Yeah, a pork dish, but Booo, :shame: it is slow cooked not smoked from what I read. Well, at least it can cook while I'm at the office all day.
 
 
Slashed the 8 lb butt pretty deep a few times to get more surface area for the rub and then slathered on a wet rub--> onion, garlic, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, brown sugar cider vinegar and some salt and probably something I forgot.
 
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And on to the crockpot for 10 hours with about a cup of water.... (in hindsight, no water next time, it created too much of it's own juices without it)
 
This was after I cleaned the butcher block, but we had some fun with the cleaver. :rofl:
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and back into the crockpot while I make the condiments.
 
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and the new puppy eats everything in site. Here she is trying to nibble on herself after trying my fingers, the table, my sock, my phone, my beer....A little exhausting.
 
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Slaw, corn pico and guac at the ready.
 
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and Bam.
 
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I learned a couple of things from this: The fat cap doesn't render down like it does on the smoker. I ended up pulling it out when I pulled the pork, mostly intact. If I do this again, I'll just trim it. Also, I was wishing for a smokey flavor despite all of the flavor profiles in here, my wife preferred it without. Maybe a few hours on the smoker and then into the crockpot for 4 hours might be just about perfect.
 
Danielle dislikes the taste of smoked meat, and is pressuring me to classic grill more food, and low and slow a bit less ... so I get it. Great looking final tacos, condiments included.

CHEERS!
 
grantmichaels said:
Danielle dislikes the taste of smoked meat, and is pressuring me to classic grill more food, and low and slow a bit less ... so I get it. Great looking final tacos, condiments included.

CHEERS!
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I know, I know. More grilling and less low and slow right?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
or not. :dance:
 
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I missed the sale at Sams Club but I still found one at a reasonable price at our local specialty store. The sell by date is 10/3. :eek: What did they do, just cut it off of the cow yesterday? I don't think I've ever seen a sell by date a month after it was on the store shelves.
 
 
Now, the 4 of us do not need 11 lbs of brisket so I'm thinking of cutting off 4 lbs of the flat and making pastrami. I've never done that before so it should be interesting. Need to dig up a good corned beef recipe first. I want just something simple. Salt pepper and a few key spices.
 
Working on it a little today.
 
 
Brining solution. The brisket will sit in here for a week before I smoke it.
 
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3-4 pounds of the brisket getting all cozy in the brine.
 
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The other 5 pound chunk that just goes in the fridge for a week to sit will the corned beef is made with the other half.
 
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All told, I trimmed about 1-1/2 pounds of fat off of my 11 lb brisket. I left about 1/4" as near as I could tell.
 
 
I'll smoke them next Saturday.
 
grantmichaels said:
Looks great!

Watching closely on this one ... planning to take a crack after you ...
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tctenten said:
Yes. Just what I need. A step by step. I will be watching as well.
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Alynne said:
I'm watching as well...
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Thanks guys. I don't have much time to post all the pics (and the burnt ends are still on the smoker), but here is a small update.
 
The brine, among other ingredients, was 3/4 cup salt to 1/2 gallon of water. It was probably a little too much salt. So the next step was to soak in cold water for about 4 hours, changing water every 30 minutes or so. Why? because the youtube videos said it would get the salt out. No photos of that step, but you get the idea. Then a dry rub on the pastrami and the brisket and let them sit overnight. (this was yesterday).
 
Pastrami [SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Dry rub[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]2 tbsp Black pepper (coarse)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]1 tsp garlic powder[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]1 tsp onion powder[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]1 tsp paprika[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]1-1/2 tbsp Coriander[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Brisket dry rub[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Pepper[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Salt[/SIZE]
 
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]
20150918_191527.jpg
[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]Red oak and Apple getting ready for the minion method. [/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]
20150919_074102.jpg
[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]This was the target temp. Trying for a fairly fast cook since the flat is already cured and the point is going back on for hours more anyway. [/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]
20150919_083316.jpg
[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]A couple hours in to the smoke[/SIZE]
 
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]
20150919_162702.jpg
[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]ohhhhh, pastrami. :dance: :dance: :dance: [/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.666666666666666px]3-1/2 maybe 4 hours. Took it to about 190 deg, then chilled it for 4 hours before this photo. [/SIZE]
 
grantmichaels said:
Glorious.
 
Be lookin' forward to those slices, eventually ;)
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Hurry up. If you start today, you can have slices in a week. :D
 
 
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I didn't use salt peter so it doesn't have that red look that store bought pastrami does, but it sure tastes one hell of a lot better than store bought. Pungent aromas from copious amounts of fresh chopped black pepper, coriander, hot paprika and that oak and apple smoke.
 
With all the fat trimmed off and the pastrami all sliced, I netted 2 pounds.
 
A little salty, may drop the salt content next time. 1/2 cup per 1/2 gallon is probably fine.
 
 
Next up, what happened to the point?
 
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Took it to 200 degrees and sure looks tender but it isn't. Needs more time. tons of fat to render still.
 
 
 
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All chopped up and ready to back on the smoker.
 
grantmichaels said:
Cool!

I prefer the flat myself.

I guess I like filet and flat, and others like ribeye and point perhaps ... lol.
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I prefer the flat too, but my flat piece got used for the pastrami. ;)
 
 
 
 
3 more hours on the smoker. Just about done. Look at all of that rendered fat in the corner.
 
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There was a little bit of the flat left and the wife requested that I pull it.
 
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And we ended up with burnt end tacos and pulled brisket and Gouda over homemade fries.
 
Hers:
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and mine.
 
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First - that's gorgeous ... love the colors, and everything looks crisp and fresh ...
 
What I was getting at was that since I have to break a packer apart to cook, I've come to prefer just buying two flats at the store and skipping the point altogether =) ...
 
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