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Old 11-04-2012, 10:55 AM   #1
This is not your pork!
is one Smokin' Farker
 
Join Date: 04-24-12
Location: Linz, Austria
Angry 23rd Q: This is NOT Pastrami! [w/ pr0n]

Lessons learned this time:
  • For applying the curing salt do NOT follow the instructions of the manufacturer! It was way too little curing salt, so the brisket did in fact not turn into Pastrami at all. At least the ingredients prevented the beef from spoiling during it's 12 days sitting in the fridge wrapped tightly in plastic foil.
  • If you take the beef to IT 175°F on the smoker, steaming a sliced portion for 30 minutes is NOT enough to further break down the connective tissue! It had way more bite than we had wished for. For the second meal we had it steaming for more than 2 hours, then it was nice and tender.
But see for yourself:

A rather small breast core of young Austrian bull with just 7.19 lbs



It had a nice looking flat, but a really tiny point



Rubbed in curing salt according to the instructions of the manufacturer and wrapped tightly in plastic foil for dry curing



And here we are 12 days later



It did NOT get that nice reddish throughout, the curing salt only penetrated the top layer and partly not at all, resulting in grayish spots



Firing up minion style with some buried apple wood



Beef on



The tiny point was ready after 3 hours 11 minutes







The point went into the cooler for resting, and on it went for the flat. Here is an overview of the cooking area.



Flat ready after 6 hours 4 minutes





Tiny point after resting



Flat after resting



Closeup of the sliced point





Closeup of the sliced flat



And on it went to getting steamed



It can't be denied, that the flat is just looking beautiful



So here we are after steaming for 30 minutes



Steamed beef closeup



Our Essence of Q Sauce



And the resulting sandwich



All in all it was a huge disappointment! Not Pastrami like at all, but a 12 days dry cured brisket, which does not come any close to the better briskets I have produced so far.

Pastrami production will have to be revisited after some time passing by, but then I will use the curing salt at my own discretion.
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