Pastrami Cook

[Bruce B]

Found two 4lb corned beef' in the freezer Wednesday morning and they have been soaking for 24 hours. Today I took them out of the water, made the rub and plastic wrapped them and placed them in the refrigerator until Friday. Here's some pics of the rubbed corn beefs which will be pastrami tomorrow sometime.

I'm also trying out the mod that has been discussed over on TVWB called the Piedmont Pan, this is where you bolt two Brinkmann charcoal pans together leaving a 1/2" space between them (I left 3/4") then you just place foil over the top pan to catch the drippings. No sand or water. According to people who have tried this, temps are very easy to control and you don't have the radiant heat issues some experience with sand or the mess with water. Here's a link to a thread about this mod.

http://tinyurl.com/yn8zms

http://tinyurl.com/yk3kea

Both flats rubbed, after 24 hour soak.



More pics tomorrow during the cook.

Rub recipe posted in the appropriate section.

 

[Bill The Grill Guy]

MMM, go Bruce. I love smoked corned beef.

 

[wittdog]

Loves me some smoked Corn Beef...that's on the list of things to do next week...

 

[Nick Prochilo]

Looks like your off to a good start Bruce! Can't wait to see the finished pictures!

 

[john a]

I've done Pastrami from corned beef, it's awsome. Post those pic's.

 

[Bobberqer]

my favorite meat from the smoker, corned beef .. yum yum

 

[Cliff H.]

I am interested in that mod. Will be interested to know how it goes.

 

[Bruce B]

I took the flats out of the refrigerator this morning and let them sit for about 30 minutes while I prepped the smoker for the cook, Then I added another dusting of rub to them.



I wrapped the pan in foil leaving an indentation to catch any drippings.



I loaded the charcoal ring 1/2 to 3/4 full with Royal Oak Lump, and started about a 1/4 chimney full of lump and when it was lit I poured it over the unlit. I used 1 chunk of oak and 1 chunk of pecan wood for this cook.




I placed the meat on the cooker at 12 noon and by 12:17pm I was up to temp and the temps at the end of the first hour stayed between 235-245.

More updates and pics to follow, so far I like the results from the Pan Modification, I did, however, let the temps come up too high. My fault, not the pan's. More later....

 

[wittdog]

All right Bruce can't wait for more pics....BTW we have a recipe in the Sasuage and Cured meats section that you can make Pastrami from scratch...I made some once it was awsome and much better than using a store bought corned beef...just something to think about for next time.

 

[Cliff H.]

Looking good my man. 8)

 

[Puff1]

look'in good bruce. what are the 3 thermometer monitoring? i see one for grate temp and one in a brisket. where's the third?

Dome temp maybe??

 

[Bruce B]

Here's the results of my Pastrami cook. First off, until I get another chance to try the Piedmont Pan, I will take the blame for the problems I had with this cook. I found that the temps rise very quickly with this set up and using, perhaps, too much lit lump in the chimney probably added to the problems.

As I said earlier the temps were very stable for the first hour to hour and half, then for some unknown reason they began to climb on me until the lid temp (yes Puff that was the third probe) climbed to 311 and my grate temp settled in at 261, while not outside the range of BBQ temps, it was higher then I wanted to cook at. I could not get it down, I eventually added water to the top pan and even then it came down only slightly to 256.

I then encountered a plateau from the meat at 152º which stayed steady until 5pm the 5th hour of the cook. I then decided to foil and by 6pm both flats were at 166, at which time I removed them for pictures and then refoiled and put in refrigerator.

Conclusion: I am intrigued by the Pan Mod, however, it must be watched closely or the temps can get real high real fast. I'll try it again on my next cook. Tried a piece of the pastrami...got a little wang to it from the rub but other than that it tasted great.

Here are the final pics:

 

[ScottyDaQ]

Man B... That looks (censored) Awesome !

 

[Puff1]

Awesome....see you tomorrow

 

[Griff]

Now that looks good.

Griff

 

[Nick Prochilo]

That looks real good Bruce! I love pastrami! Now a little bit of that mustard I was telling you about in between 2 pieces of rye and man you have a meal!

 

[Bruce B]

It just so happens that I have to go to the store I bought it from tomorrow, I'll make sure I pick up a jar.

 

[Green Hornet]

Man-o-man that looks great! :P
Another one for my "to do" list...as soon as I am done with the wifes

 

[john a]

Looks good enough to eat. Try some of the Boar's Head Deli mustard, good stuff.

 

[wittdog]

Looks great Bruce..I vote for the Webers mustard.