I’ve wanted to do this for years. Literally, many years.
Homemade pastrami is better than the stuff dreams are made from. I’ve done this a few times and have to say that it is very close to what you get at Katz’s
This is very straight forward, you just need room in the fridge for a week to allow the brine to complete. Many times when I’m brining something large, like a turkey, I stick it in a cooler in the yard, but this worked out ok in the fridge.
So my kitchen is not kosher, obviously, but, this dish is kosher by proxy.
Step 1 purchase a brisket
Step 2 Brine that brisket
Step 3, happiness
Ingredients:
For the brine:
1 gallon distilled water
8 oz of kosher salt
2 teaspoons of Prague powder #1
About 4 tablespoons of pickling spice.
Spice rub for the pastrami:
2 tablespoons black peppercorns lightly crushed
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon coriander seed lightly crushed
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
½ teaspoon whole mustard seed
½ teaspoon ground mustard seed
Dissolve the salts in the water and then submerge the brisket in the brine. Let it sit for seven days, yeah just like “The Ring”, only some creepy dead girl is not going to attack you.
After the meat has been in the brine for seven days you are almost ready to rub it for pastrami preparation.
Remove the brisket from the brine and pat it dry. Discard the brine liquid and wash your container. Return the brisket to the container and then add 1 gallon of distilled water to desalinate the brisket. Let the brisket sit in the water for 12 hours, then you are ready for the spice rub.
Remove the brisket from the distilled water and pat it dry.
Place the brisket in a 2.5 gallon or 3 gallon zip lock bag
Apply the pastrami rub to both sides
Shake it up to make sure that the entire brisket is well coated
Let is sit in the fridge for a minimum of 2 days maybe max of 5?
Smoke it for about 6 hours at 200° F until the internal temperature reaches 203° F My big green egg started at 200° but over time went somewhere between 225° to 250° it all worked out.
Let it rest for 15 minutes to ½ hour
Carve up the most amazing pastrami you have ever had.
Kiss yourself for making deliciousness
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