Dry Cure Pastrami Recipes

Steps:

• For the brine: Add 1 gallon of water to large pot. Add salt, sugar, garlic and curing salt and stir until it dissolves.
• Put navel in brine fully submerged. Leave in refrigerator for 5 days.
• For the pastrami: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and remove the navel from the brine. Stir together the allspice, coriander, pepper, brown sugar, garlic powder and dry mustard in a bowl. Sprinkle the rub all over the navel until fully covered. Place in a roasting pan and cover with foil. Bake until a fork can easily pierce through, about 1 hour. Slice when ready.

Steps:

• NOTES TRIM MEAT AND WEIGH, THIS IS WHAT YOU BASE YOUR MEASUREMENTS ON USE A KITCHEN SCALE, MEASURE AND MIX CURE TOGETHER. APPLY ½ TO MEAT COATING COMPLETELY , PLACE MEAT INTO TUPPERWARE CONTAINER AND INTO FRIDGE LET STAND IN FRIDGE FOR TWO DAYS.. REMOVE FROM FRIDGE AND CONTAINER APPLY REST OF CURE COATING THE MEAT AGAIN . THEN BACK INTO CONTAINER AND FRIDGE, TOTAL CURE TIME IS 7 TO 9 DAYS FROM FIRST APPLICATION OF CURE. AT THE END OF THE LAST DAY OF CURE,,, PULL MEAT AND RINSE,, LET DRY AND PREPARE RUB,, APPLY RUB TO THE MEAT AND BACK INTO FRIDGE OVER HIGHT, SMOKE. NO MORE THEN 4 HR, @ 225, STOP SMOKE AND COOK TILL AN I.T OF 155 F

Steps:

• For the brine: In a large stockpot, add half of the water, the brown sugar, kosher salt, curing salt, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, juniper berries, chile flakes, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and star anise and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 30 minutes. Add the remaining water with some ice to chill the brine.
• For the rub: Grind the peppercorns, coriander and juniper until crushed but still a little chunky. Add to a mixing bowl. Add the salt, brown sugar, chile flakes and granulated garlic and stir to combine.
• For the pastrami: First, clean all the fat off the brisket including the "V" between the two muscles, then follow the fat between the two muscles and separate them making a flat and a cap.
• Transfer the brine to a large hotel pan or roasting pan. Add the brisket and refrigerate at least 5 days and no more than 10 days. Make sure the brisket is stirred once a day to get an evenly brined brisket.
• After a minimum of 5 days, prepare a smoker for 225 degrees F.
• Remove the pastrami, rinse it and blot dry with paper towels. Thoroughly rub the brined brisket with the pastrami rub. Place in smoker and cook for 8 hours until the internal temperature reaches 210 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.

Steps:

• In pot large enough to hold brisket, combine 1 gallon/4 liters of water with kosher salt, sugar, sodium nitrite (if using), garlic and 2 tablespoons pickling spice. Bring to a simmer, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled. Place brisket in brine, weighted with a plate to keep it submerged; cover. Refrigerate for 2 days if it's thin, a third day if it's thick. Remove brisket from brine and rinse thoroughly. Refrigerate it for another day uncover. So this is what I do when I want both smoke and long slow cooking. I smoke the meat for a couple hours. Then I transfer it to a 200 to 250 degree oven to finish. With this pastrami, I would cook it in the oven for 30 to 60 minutes to bake the smoke on, and then cover it with foil and 1/2 cup of water and cook it for another 2 to 4 hours till it's tender (the water is to make sure there's plenty of steam).