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Pastrami

Main Dishes
Author: Dale
This recipe takes some time and attention to details, but it is SO worth it!
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Ingredients

  • 1 6-8 lbs brisket flat, fat cap trimmed to 1/8" - 1/4"
  • 2-3 fist-sized chunks of smoking wood: pecan, oak, hickory or whatever you prefer

Dry Cure

  • 5 Tbsp Morton Tender Quick
  • 2 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp ground coriander
  • 1-2 Tbsp granulated garlic, according to your preference
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • 1 tsp ground bay leaves

Cooking Rub

  • 3 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp coarsely ground coriander
  • 1 Tbsp granulated garlic

Instructions

Dry Cure

  • Stab meat on both sides in 1" intervals using a knife or meat fork. This step helps the dry cure to get into the meat.
  • Mix the dry cure ingredients and rub the mixture on every surface of the brisket: top, bottom and sides. Use all of the dry cure mixture.
  • Put the brisket in a large resealable plastic bag or oven roasting bag. Seal the bag, put it on a rimmed sheet pan and refrigerate.
  • Turn the brisket over twice a day for 6 full days.

Cooking the Meat

  • This process begins on day 7.
  • Remove the brisket from the plastic bag and wash off as much of the dry cure rub as you can with running water. Put the brisket in a large container, fill it with water and soak the meat for 30 minutes. Dump out the water and repeat the soaking process one more time. Pat the brisket dry with paper towels.
  • Mix together the ingredients for the cooking rub then coat the entire brisket with all of the rub. Again, coat the top, bottom and sides.
  • Following the smoking directions that came with your grill or smoker, heat it to 225° F. (see notes). Add the wood chunks and wait until they ignite and produce smoke. Put in the brisket, fat side up, and smoke until it is 165° F. in the thickest part of the meat. This process can take approximately 4-6 hours, Remove the meat from the grill or smoker, wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and let it rest for 2 hours.
  • At this point in time, you can refrigerate it overnight and steam it the next day or proceed right to the steaming process.

Steaming and Slicing the Meat

  • This process adds back some of the moisture that was lost during the smoking process. Steam the pastrami (see notes) over low heat for at least 3 hours, or until it is tender. The water should gently simmer. I like to steam the entire piece of meat and then, in the unlikely event of leftovers, freeze what's left. If you prefer, you can steam only what you plan to eat.
  • Thinly slice the pastrami against the grain.

Notes

I highly recommend you buy and use a thermometer that measures the internal grill temperature.  An external-reading one eliminates the need of opening the lid (and losing smoke) to obtain a reading.   Thermometers that are built into the lids of grills can be highly inaccurate.
To steam the whole pastrami, I use a roasting pan long enough to fit it and put the meat on a wire rack.  The important thing is to keep the water level below the meat, so you may have to add water during this process.
Pair it with homemade rye bread for sandwich perfection!