I'm wanting to make home made Pastrami this year..

[DougGuy]

I found a seemingly simple enough recipe:

http://girlcarnivore.com/smoked-steamed-homemade-pastrami/

I guess they are starting with an already corned beef, which is what pastrami is before it is smoked.

Ingredients

4 lbs corned beef
4 tbs fresh coarsely ground black pepper
2 tbs coriander powder
1 teas mustard powder
1 tbs light brown sugar
1 tbs smokedpaprika
2 teas garlic powder
2 teas onion powder

Recipe

Two nights before ready to smoke: place the corned beef in a large pot of cold water and place in the fridge to draw out excess salt.

Combine the black pepper, coriander, mustard, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder in a bowl. Remove the corned beef from the water and pat dry. Rub the corned beef with a thick layer of rub, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The day of: prep wood chips by soaking in water at least 2 hours. (I used hickory). Prep smoker for 225 degrees F. Add water to the water pan and let the corned beef sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Place corned beef, fat side up in smoker and smoke until internal temperature reaches 190 degrees F. Remove from smoker, wrap in aluminum foil and cool completely (I placed in the fridge overnight).

When ready to serve: Steam. Place pastrami on a steamer rack, or metal wire rack above simmering water in a large pan on the stove top, making sure the meat does not touch the water. Cover with lid or aluminium foil and steam for 2 hours, adding water as needed, or until the meat reaches 200 degrees F.

Slice and serve.

[MaryB]

I do this quite often, very tasty.

[waksupi]

I've done it with elk, came out great.

[Lloyd Smale]

Make sure you do soak it to get rid of some of the salt and ill even suggest when you make your corned beef to let it sit in the brine about a 1/2 a day less then suggested. Ive never smoked it but have made corned beef a few times and used differnt recipes and it came up a bit to salty each time. If i do it again im going to salt it and put it in the fridge for two day rather then the 3-4 most recomend and then rince it well before cooking.

[rush1886]

If you want to go the whole nine yards, and start from scratch, not storebought corned beef, look up cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com

You may have to poke around a bit, but she has the whole routine spelled out, and its good.

[MT Gianni]

I brine it overnight then soak in fresh water for 4-6 hours. I like to slice it before I reheat for serving.

[Lloyd Smale]

you must inject the brine then as it wouldnt penetrate completely a muscle that quickly just soaking. If i inject brine i feel ok letting it sit for 24 hours and then smoking. My brine mix is 1 oz of cure to 1/2 cup of sugar and one cup of kosher salt to one quart of water. I mix that much for every lb of meat im doing. I inject the meat until it weighs 10percent more then it id without brine then using the rest of the brine i put the slab of meat in a plastic bowl and sit it in the fridge. Doing that your suppose to let it sit for 2-4 days but even two days and its a bit saltier then i like. I think the 2-4 days is more realistic if you using a dry rub instead of injecting.Make sure you soak it and rinse it well before cooking. I also like to do a dry rub of brown sugar, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder before i put it in the smoker.
I brine it overnight then soak in fresh water for 4-6 hours. I like to slice it before I reheat for serving.

[MT Gianni]

I don't have a pump but do have some deep shot needles. I soak and inject with them. For Pastrami it is generally thin enough I seem to get deep enough penetration. I also don't like really salty foods so try for just the minimum for a cure.

[texassako]

I have done it a few time. Y'all are just marinating if it is in the liquid for just a day or less, not actually curing the meat. I use Alton Brown's corned beef method, 10 days in the brine. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/corned-beef-recipe.html If I want pastrami, I put on a dry rub like the OP lists and smoke it.

[Lloyd Smale]

same way i do it. All i have is a needle
I don't have a pump but do have some deep shot needles. I soak and inject with them. For Pastrami it is generally thin enough I seem to get deep enough penetration. I also don't like really salty foods so try for just the minimum for a cure.

[Lloyd Smale]

a day or less probably isnt curing it totaly. I agree there. But it sure doesnt take 10 days either. If you inject the brine the meat will have a nice red colar in two days, three if your talking a whole hind quarter off a deer and that shows the cure has penetrated the meat. If its still white or gray in the center its not done curing. Even if the cure doesnt completely penetrate the meat if your cooking or smoking till you get an internal temp of 180 as you should be the fact its not cured doesnt matter much unless you plan to store. I think most here pretty much eat it right up or refrigerate the left overs for not more then a couple days anyway and are doing a cure more for taste then as a preservative or to kill parasites.
I have done it a few time. Y'all are just marinating if it is in the liquid for just a day or less, not actually curing the meat. I use Alton Brown's corned beef method, 10 days in the brine. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/corned-beef-recipe.html If I want pastrami, I put on a dry rub like the OP lists and smoke it.

[Moonie]

This is what I've done in the past, makes a great pastrami:

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Pastrami.pdf

[fattires]

This thread has me wanting to make pastrami again, I usually do it about like the recipe in the first post.
Pastrami and Swiss on rye is one heck of a good sandwich.

[MaryB]

I make pastrami reubens, steam the sliced pastrami over the sauerkraut. Butter one side of a piece of french bread and put it butter side down on the pan. Top each slice with swiss then on one side add the pastrami with thousand island dressing smeared on top of that. On the other side add the kraut. Fry until the bread is toasted, flip the meat side on top of the kraut side and serve with more thousand island on the side.

If you have a panini press you can fully assemble and cook it that way, I do it if I have company and need to make a bunch at once. For just myself the pan is a lot easier to clean.

[Shiloh]

If you want to go the whole nine yards, and start from scratch, not storebought corned beef, look up cowgirlscountry.blogspot.comYou may have to poke around a bit, but she has the whole routine spelled out, and its good.

I also would do it from scratch. Commercial corned beef is very salty. You could control what you are making, and my guess would be that you would have a superior product. I did a store bought corned beef last Sunday, and was once again reminded why I don't have corned beef. Even though I soaked it for a bit, I woke up twice in the middle of the night dying of thirst.

Shiloh

[yoter]

Like your idea how to draw some of the salt out of the corn beef before smoking.