The case of the never ending pastrami (need advice)

[Ron_L]

I posted this in the weekend cook thread, but its probably buried in there where no one will see it...

Well, my beer-bathed brats came out great. Simmered them in a nice oatmeal stout, then rolled them on a hot grill until nice and brown. Served them with grilled onions, chipotle mustard, homemade bread and butter pickles and potato salad.

I also cooked (or tried to cook, see below) my pastrami for tomorrow's dinner. I took a store-bought corned beef brisket (3 1/2 lbs) and soaked it in water for 24 hours (three water changes). Then I rubbed it with black pepper, cardamom seeds, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder and let it sit overnight. I put it in the WSM at noon, intending on cooking it to 180 internal and then refridgerating it until tomorrow.

I finally lost my patience at 8:30. It had been in the WSM for 8 1/2 hours, and it was still at 154 internal! I checked it with three thermometers, and they all read 154 farking degrees! Based on the resistance I felt when inserting the probe, I believe the temp. I just don't understand it! Its only 3 1/2 pounds, and after 8 1/2 hours, its still only at 154! The cooker was at or around 230 at the dome for almost the whole time. At one point, the temp did slump down to 200, but it was only for about 15 minutes...

So, my plan at this point it to chill it overnight and then finish it off in the oven by steaming it over a water bath until its 180. (I was going to slice it thin and steam it to warm it anyway...) What do you guys think?

 

[Qczar]

Hmmm, .......... sounds like it might have dried out at that length of time?

I stumbled on to a pastrami type idea years ago when my girlfriend would`nt eat traditional corned beef and cabbage. Easy as pie to make to. I boil the corned beef as usual, and as long as usual, then put a light covering of butter (or equal) on it and cover entirly with cajun seasoning. Then blacken on a very hot skillet outside a few minutes each side. Comes out remarkably like pastrami, but less fat.

 

[The_Kapn]

Ron,

A little (no a lot) late, but:
Did you foil or crank the heat up??

Those are my two "go-to" methods for breaking one loose when I am running out of time.

Works wonderful for me :grin:

TIM

 

[Ron_L]

Both, actually... I opened all the vents and wrought the WSM up to 265 (as high as it would go without adding more lit charcoal) and foiled, but it was stuck!

As Qczar said, it may be dried out, but it didn't feel like it. If it is, its dog food, so anything I do to it to try to save it can't hurt!

 

[icemn62]

Is it me, or does it seem that lately a lot of people are posting they are having trouble breaking thru the stuck zone with the smaller cuts of meats. It seemd every week somebody cooked a butt, or roast that was less than 4 lbs and it gets stuck and stays for abnormal lengths of time.

I would go ahead and finish in the oven as you planned, you invested this much time into it that you can not give up now.

 

[Ron_L]

Well... i put the pastrami on a rack in a deep roasting pan and added water up to the bottom of the rack. I covered it in foil and stuck it in a 300 degree oven. 90 minutes later, I checked it and it was at 182 internal! Woo hoo! We were still 45 minutes from dinner, so I dropped the oven temp to 185 and held it for a while. When I took it out of the oven and sliced it, the meat was nice and tender and very moist. Whew!

We had pastrami ruebens and home made cole slaw. Great stuff!

A couple of notes... I used a store bought Black Angus corned flat and soaked it for about 36 hours with three changes of water, and the pastrami was still on the salty side. The rub I used didn't have any salt, purposely. It did have a lot of crushed black pepper, however, and I should have scraped off the rub before slicing. The rub was quite hot!

Overall, I'd do it again. The next time, I am going to cure a fresh brisket, then smoke it. the brisketsw that I cured before came out great, but I served them as corned beef, not pastrami.

Here's a pic of the pastrami before and after slicing.

 

[rookiedad]

wow! that looks great. makes me remember my childhood days in brooklyn! i would slice it paper thin on a rotary slicer though i think you would like it if you gave that a shot, but it sure looks great all the same!
phil

 

[Neil]

Ron,
When I make Pastrami, I always soak it for three days changing the water every eight hours. Never use a rub with salt and it will turn out perfectly. BTW, looks very good.

 

[kcquer]

Good looking eats Ron!!

 

[Qczar]

Good save Ron. When ever I get a portion of meat that may have been over cooked or dry, it is not hard to rehydrate it. Just might have to revise your cooking to do it, as you have done. Looks good!

 

[VitaminQ]

Lookin' good, there, Ron!
I gotta try cooking some pastrami!