Homemade Pastrami From Brisket on a Smoker
Those pre-corned plastic containers of corned beef might be calling your name at the grocery store, but nothing compares to making your own homemade pastrami. Brining a brisket and smoking it low and slow creates the smoky, peppery pastrami that makes a great deli sandwich. If you can smoke a brisket, you can easily make pastrami from scratch. It just takes a little more time. Here’s how to make homemade pastrami at home.
An Ode to Pastrami
I love celebrating St. Patrick's Day, but not in the modern/traditional sense. I'm too old, and mostly irritable, for the amateur hour tour de force of green beer and over indulgence. I am, however, all about getting up for a Guinness breakfast, sipping some Irish whiskey, or enjoying an Irish stout or four. I also consider St. Patricks' Day a gateway to Spring. I'm all about celebrating anything mentioning warmer weather!
In terms of grilling, it might come as a surprise, but I've never corned my own beef or worse, smoked my own pastrami. I have "grilled" corned beef, but I "cheated" and bought my beef already brined. In hindsight, I have had my St. Patrick's Day priorities reversed.
No more!
What is Pastrami?
Homemade pastrami starts with a cured brisket, develops flavor in the smoker, and finishes tender enough to slice thin for sandwiches.
Smoked Pastrami
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large pot, add the brine ingredients.
- Heat the brine just to a simmer, stirring until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely, preferably in the refrigerator.
- Submerge the brisket in the brine. Use a plate or other item to ensure the brisket stays submerged. Store sealed in the refrigerator for 5 – 7 days.
- Remove the brisket from the brine. Rinse with water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Using a spice grinder, grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds, and mustard seeds until coarse.
- Cover the brisket with the spice mixture.
- Prepare the smoker for indirect low heat, 200º to 250º F. Add several apple or cherry wood chunks to the coals. Once the smoke starts to generate clean wispy blue smoke, add the brisket.
- Smoke the brisket over indirect low heat until the internal temperature reads 150º F with an instant-read or remote thermometer, about 5 to 6 hours.
- Remove the brisket from the smoker and allow to rest.
- Preheat the oven to 275º F. Fill a large dutch oven with about an inch of water. Place the brisket in the water and on the stovetop, heat until the water just begins to simmer. Cover the dutch oven and transfer to the oven.
- Roast the brisket in the oven until probe-tender, around 195º to 203º F, about 3 hours more.
- Remove the brisket from the dutch oven, allow to rest one hour, then slice against the grain and serve.
What is corning?
It's just a matter of salt.
Corning is an older term for a wet brine. "Back in the day," salt crystals were described as cereal grains, resembling corn kernels, thus corning, the process of soaking meat in a salt water solution is a brine. A brine is an easy way to add moisture to meat and in the case of corned beef, traditionally made with beef brisket, early immigrants to the United States found it a delicious yet cheaper alternative to pork.
Corned Beef vs Pastrami
Corned beef and pastrami are kissing cousins. Corned beef is cooked in a water bath, pastrami is smoked or as the fantastic Michael Ruhlman opines, pastrami is "corned beef under a smoky crust." Yes, smoke!
It's just a matter of time.
Brines can range anywhere from 5 - 10%. Most of the brines I found were somewhere in the middle. The only difference between brine percentages is time. A lower percentage brine might need more time. A higher percentage, less.
I opted for a 10-pound brisket flat and a higher percentage brine. As with all things salt, a "salty" brine yields a salty piece of meat. Although pastrami is smoked to an internal temperature of 150° F, it is often finished by either being slowly cooked in water or steamed. A middle approach would be to use the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker (WSM) and take it to a final temp of 200° F. Since the WSM is a purist low and slow approach, I opted for the traditional hot smoke/water. Also, since I didn't desalinate the meat ahead of cooking, I found the water bath as a more efficient substitute. If the plan is to WSM the whole way, cut back to a 5% brine.
How to Make Homemade Pastrami
In a large pot, add the brine ingredients.
Heat until it simmers and then stir occasionally until the ingredients have dissolved. Here's the most important part, remove the brine from heat and allow to cool....as in very cool. Preferably in the refrigerator. The meat needs to be added to the brine so it "brines" and not cooks.
Submerge the beef in the brine. It needs to be weighted down to ensure maximum surface coverage. Store sealed in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
Once the time is up, remove the beef from the brine. Rinse with water and pat dry with paper towels.
Place the peppercorns, coriander seeds, and mustard seeds in a spice grinder and grind till coarse.
Cover the brisket with the rub.
Smoking the Pastrami
Homemade pastrami is surprisingly achievable on a backyard smoker.
Prepare the smoker for direct low heat, 200°-250° F. Add several large wood chunks, in my case, a mixture of apple and cherry.
Smoke the brisket until it reaches an internal temperature of 150°F, which takes about 5-6 hours.
Remove from the smoker and allow to rest.
Slow-Roast
Heat the oven to 275° F. Fill a dutch oven with about an inch of water. Place the beef in the water. Heat the dutch oven on the stove top until the water begins to simmer. Then, cover, and transfer to the oven.
Slow roast for 3 hours.
The slow-roast does two things, it ensures a tender pastrami and helps to remove some of the salt from the brining process. Yes, I know using an oven is sacrilege. However, since the dutch oven is covered, using the grill isn't adding anything. With that said, if you still have plenty of heat left, the grill is a great option. For me, I have to use the oven at least once a year, so I remember how. This seemed like as good of time as any!
With the pastrami fork tender, remove from the water, and allow to rest for an hour. Slice against the grain, and serve!
This recipe drew heavily on the works of Michael Ruhlman, Taylor Boetticher, and Toponia Miller. I give them all many thanks!