Abelman
Full Fledged Farker
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2009
- Location
- Littleton, CO
Well, since it's getting to be that time of year for St. Patty's Day, corned beef is easy to find and on sale. So, I figured I'd take a shot at some Pastrami. On a side note, the butcher at our grocery store owes me some money. I bought a corned beef labeled as a "flat" and priced like one. When I opened it up, it was a "point". Anyway, I soaked it in water for 24 hours and changed the water 3 times to remove the salt since I didn't cure it.
I also found some shoulder clod/filets in the freezer that were cyro packed and about a year and a half old. So, I figured I'd throw them on for some sandwich meat. They only took an hour and a half and really sucked up the smoke. Even had a good smoke ring on them in a short amount of time.
I set up the BGE at 225° with pecan wood. For the pastrami, I used Jeff's rub less the KS. The shoulder was marinaded in some pepper corn solution in the bag so I just went with it.
After the hour and a half, the shoulder is done:
Well, since I was working with a brisket, it acted like a brisket. It was only 4 lbs to boot. So, I had a plateau at 141° which is a first for me. That lasted 3 hours. Then, I hit another at 152°
. I figured, WTH, it should be nice and tender. Well, after 11 hours, I wasn't so happy. It finally hit 190° and I was ready for the rack. I didn't bother to even cooler it for an hour. I threw it in the fridge and went to bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
So, I got it all sliced up today and saved the liquid gold in the foil. For my first time, I was very pleased. It came out very tender, not salty and some bite with the rub. Reuben's are on the menu as you might imagine. The rest got vacuum packed and into the freezer for a later date.
So, I'll do this again but pray for a shorter smoke or give myself more time. Never imagined a 4lb brisket would take 11 hours. That is a new record for me that I would just assume not have.
I also found some shoulder clod/filets in the freezer that were cyro packed and about a year and a half old. So, I figured I'd throw them on for some sandwich meat. They only took an hour and a half and really sucked up the smoke. Even had a good smoke ring on them in a short amount of time.
I set up the BGE at 225° with pecan wood. For the pastrami, I used Jeff's rub less the KS. The shoulder was marinaded in some pepper corn solution in the bag so I just went with it.
After the hour and a half, the shoulder is done:
Well, since I was working with a brisket, it acted like a brisket. It was only 4 lbs to boot. So, I had a plateau at 141° which is a first for me. That lasted 3 hours. Then, I hit another at 152°
So, I got it all sliced up today and saved the liquid gold in the foil. For my first time, I was very pleased. It came out very tender, not salty and some bite with the rub. Reuben's are on the menu as you might imagine. The rest got vacuum packed and into the freezer for a later date.
So, I'll do this again but pray for a shorter smoke or give myself more time. Never imagined a 4lb brisket would take 11 hours. That is a new record for me that I would just assume not have.