Home cured pastrami meat

[bbqgeekess]

Bought a brisket to cure for pastrami (in the past I've done beef shoulder clod and it worked out well).

I cure it with a dry rub cure of 3% salt, 1% brown sugar and .25% cure #1. Also part of the cure consists of a good amount of coriander seed & black pepper (1.5 parts coriander, 1 part black pepper).

My question is, other than trimming the fat caps and cuting out the sinew (hard fat), should I do any more prep to the brisket before curing? I plan on curing for a month so it should penetrate through everything fine. Should I separate the point from the flat?

I can't fit the entire brisket into the 3 gallon zip lock bags I bought.. thinking about cutting off the thin end of the flat if I don't separate the point from the flat.

Need some ideas.. how would you trim your brisket for pastrami ?

[erock1320]

In the past I have trimmed off the excess fat. After a month soak it turns into a weird gel/paste consistency anyway. Definitely not good eats. As far as fitting it all into a bag I used the same pot that I brewed up the brine in (stainless uncoated). Let it cool for a day or ice it down, toss the brisket in and lid it up in the bottom of the fridge. Make damn sure your fridge is under 40 degrees. I shoot for 34 degrees n not because I like cold beer. Its been a couple years but the x loved a dry age brisket for a month then brine for a month. Long wait for a sandwich but so worth it!!

[IamMadMan]

Have you tried the food safe storage bags made for hotel pans? Yhey will work even without a hotel pan.

As far as the fat, I do trim the brisket well, but I would separate the point if only for the fact of an almost even thickness for a consistent cure. But that's just me...

[bbqgeekess]

Okay I got a 6 1/2 pound piece of trimmed brisket curing now. It is fairly even thickness and will cure for about 3 weeks (coriander seed and black pepper included). After that, I'll bbq it then take a photo of it being sliced.

[IamMadMan]

Looking forward to the pictures....