Short-cut Pastrami in the Cookshack Smokette by MainelyDave

Short-cut Pastrami in the Cookshack Smokette	MainelyDave
On the Cookshack Forum, I kept seeing threads about "Fake Pastrami". After seeing instructions on the forum and the wonderful pictures from Doxie, I just had to give it a try. I started this one at about 7p.m. at night, and had wonderful Pastrami ready in time for breakfast!	Click image to enlarge
Visited the local WallyWorld, and picked up a USDA Point Cut Corned Beef Brisket. I thought maybe I could find a deal, with St. Patricks Day long gone. Nope. $1.41 a pound seems a bit expensive for this type of meat. It weighed in a 5.49 pounds.
I filled up a vessel with a bunch of water and let it soak, trying to get rid of the saltiness. I changed the water after a 1/2 hour, and then let it sit in the refrigerator for another hour before draining and drying it.
While that was going on, I grabbed a bunch of spices and mixed them up. I'd love to provide measures, but I didn't make any. Lots of cracked peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander, garlic powder, and onion powder. I also used what was in the little packet contained with the corned beef.
After drying off the brisket, I pushed the rub on. I read about people actually pushing the rub on over time, with a weight. I'll try that next time. I think it has some merit.
As you can see, when I loaded it into the smoker, some of the rub had fallen off. I put the fat side on top. I was concerned about it drying out. Next time, I'll make the extra effort to trim some of the fat. And I'll put it at the bottom. I've got to remember that most meats won't dry out in the Cookshack Smokette. I put the meat in the smoker at about 8:30 p.m. Closed the door, turned the dial to 225 degrees, watched the end of Survivor, and went to bed.
I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and checked the temperature. It was at 178 degrees. I bumped the thermostat up to 250 degrees. Came back out at 5:50 a.m. and it was done, at 185 degrees.
Instructions on the package of the corned beef brisket explain the proper way to trim. However, I couldn't really transpose the picture with my piece of meat.
What the heck. Take my best stab at it. The meat melts with the knife. It smells wonderful. What a breakfast to be had! I wish I had an electric knife or something. I just can't cut the meat thin, although it hardly matters right now. I try to cut across the grain, but its difficult to tell where it is. Guess I need to invite a meat cutter over to enjoy some bbq to teach me this stuff.
Final Conclusions - This is a keeper of a recipe. Unbelievably good. I enjoyed mine with some mustard. I'm on the Atkins diet, so had to pass on the rye, but once I meet my target weight, I will spring the carbs to try that out. I wish I had my own slicer to be able to slice it nice and thin. Owning a Cookshack Smokette is like any other hobby. Buy the smoker, than the accessories kill you! Let's see, I need a foodsaver, a food slicer, a freezer, another refrigerator..... Ah... life is good! Thanks Woodburner, Tom, Doxie, and others who contributed to my new knowledge of Pastrami. I'll doing this piece of meat often.
If you have any questions or comments, send me a message.
Return to Index