Being an avid BBQ guy I've read a lot about making pastrami from corned beef. Since corned beef was very cheap at St. Patrick's Day I bought a small one and decided to give pastrami a try. My research shows that pastrami is basically smoked corned beef. I know if starting from scratch it may not be exactly the same.

Anyhow my memory is of chewing rubbery fatty pastrami sub sandwiches with raw onions and mustard. When I looked at a recipe on Amazing ribs they described Katz deli type pastrami where it is smoked until about 140, then steamed for 2 hours. I've seen videos of Katz pastrami and it looked to cut more like boiled corned beef.

Anyhow I used the recipe they had for spices, put a thick coating on and decided to smoke it until 205, just like my brisket. Actually it was done with a brisket that is now resting for dinner.

All I can say is it is awesome. Best I've had. Next time I'll start with fresh brisket and do the corning myself too.

This also reminds me of a thread about cooking corned beef without boiling. I think you could easily do it in a smoker or oven at 225ish until it hits 205 and it would be perfect.

That looks excellent. I have always wanted to smoke a corned beef slab, but never got around to it. Very nice

Wow, that looks great!

That looks down right delicious. What spices did you crust the outside with?

I did exactly the same a couple years ago, definitely super tasty

Looks great!

Wow, that looks awesome. What wood did you use?
I'm all worked up about trying that soon.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
Wow, that looks awesome. What wood did you use?
I'm all worked up about trying that soon.

Jim

I use oak. It’s what I have on my land and I find it’s very versatile for all meats.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
Wow, that looks awesome. What wood did you use?
I'm all worked up about trying that soon.

Jim

I use oak. It’s what I have on my land and I find it’s very versatile for all meats.

Thanks. I'll give this a try.

Jim

Looks perfect! I've done many with store bought corned beef and it's great cheat. Curing your own is easy if you can get a packer and you can make burnt ends.