Smoked Pastrami Recipe

There's many variations for a pastrami recipe in terms of the cure ingredients but one thing that's common to all recipes is that for pastrami to be pastrami, it has to be smoked.

Pastrami is cured for 6 days before the smoking too so don't expect to have this recipe cracked off in the weekend – you need to plan one weekend in advance.

In this particular recipe I've used brisket but you can practically use any cut of beef. Because we're smoking over a long period of time it makes it ideal to use the one of the cheaper cuts as there's plenty of time for it to tenderize. When using brisket (if it's already rolled) just cut the string and unroll it then cut the meat into decent sized hunks.

There's also a variety of ways that you can smoke your pastrami. On this occasion I'm choosing to hot smoke with a water bath because this is the most simple. Purists would argue that cold smoking first is better to get the smoky taste into the meat but really it's a balance between simplicity and perfection. This is my preferred pastrami recipe but if you want to go for the purists approach then click here.

Preparation Time:- 10 mins
Curing Time:- 6 days
Cooking Time:- 5 hours

Total Time:- 7 days

Ingredients:-

• 1 lb brisket
• 1 tablespoon non iodized salt
• 1/16th teaspoon salt petre
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• ½ teaspoon powdered ginger
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoon dried coriander
• Coarsely ground black pepper

Method:-

Put brisket with all the other ingredients (except the black pepper) into a resealable polythene bag and mix them up thoroughly. Put the bag into the fridge for 6 days, turning and shaking the bag several times a day.

When the curing process is finished, rinse each piece of meat well and dab dry with a paper towel. The next stage is to roll the meat in the coarsely ground black pepper and then wrap each piece in a paper towel and refrigerate overnight.

Water smoke at 240°F (115°C) for 5 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 170°F (77°C). Once complete, allow to cool, slice thinly and enjoy.

See Also:-

Making Pastrami (Cold Smoked) Stage 1
Cooking Homemade Pastrami (Stage 2)
Traditional Pastrami Rub
What Is Pastrami?
Smoked Brisket Recipes

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