With St. Patrick’s day just past, I though I’d would try to make some homemade pastrami for the first time. Since store bought corned beef was on sale for the holiday, I picked up a couple of flats and gave it a go.
For the spice rub:
- 1 part ground black pepper
- 1 part ground coriander seeds
- 1/2 part onion powder
Cooking the pastrami in the smoker with some pecan wood for flavor,
- Rub the corned beef with the spice mixture let sit for 12 hr or more. (Mistake #1 – I neglected to let the rub sit on the meat for a extended period of time)
- Place on the smoker at low heat (225-250 F) cook till an internal temperature of 185F was reached.
- Let the pastrami rest for 10 min.
- Cut thin slices perpendicular to the grain of the meat and serve.
Mistake #2 – Used a whole new firebox in the old UDS, lets just say I was not the master of my pit on this day. Temps were way to hot, didn’t achieve the dark bark I was going for in the meat and ultimately finished it off in the oven (“Pit Masters” walk of shame).
The good news, even a sub-par homemade pastrami is far better then anything you get in the supermarket. Ruben sandwiches were made and the family was happy, life is good.
