When doing a dry EQ cure, there is still a whole lot of spices and cure flavourings encrusting the meat when it’s cured. Believe me, it is usually not something that you’re going to want to eat. I speak from the experience of having left the cure on my first belly of bacon. Not a pleasant eating experience.
I understand that pastrami is usually encrusted with fresh spices before it is smoked. This blend is usually different from that contained in the cure and certainly not as heavy in application as a cure coating would be.
I was asking about cooking a brisket without smoking, since I don’t have a smoker.
My process would be to cure a fresh brisket, under vacuum, and then sous vide it without opening the package.
When I have cooked a commercial corned beef sous vide, I have usually first soaked it in changes of fresh water, for two days, to get rid of the salt & chemicals.
So you’re not making pastrami then. Since this is a thread about pastrami I assumed that was what you were asking about. That said…what Ember and I said still stands. You really don’t want to serve the meat with the cure solids still crusted to the outside.
I don’t have a smoker, but this is my plan:
First: cure the brisket (corned beef).
Second: Cook it sous vide.
Then: roast it in the oven, with the pastrami spices and, maybe, a little liquid smoke.
QUESTION: What would be the proper procedure, for the oven roasting (time, temp, Etc.)?
I always put some liquid smoke in the bag before sous vide my corned beef. I don’t really care what it is called as long as I like the finished product. I know about the technique to make pastrami and I do have a smoker but I find the anova much more convenient.
I had forgotten how good corned beef sous vide is. We just had one that I did for 121 hours at 165° F. It was tender but not fall apart like you often get when cooked in a pressure cooker or slow cooker. Pastrami is next on the list.
After a 121 hours cook I pictured a sack of meat on a par with the “transported gold bar” seen on Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog! ( “sniff”…smells like cumin! )
I finally got around to doing this and just had my first taste. Thanks for that recipe, it came out glorious!
I followed your recipe for the cure, but used silverside instead of brisket. (Silverside is a cut from the hindquarter that is usually used for braising. A little leaner than brisket, but similar otherwise.) I had the meat curing for eight days.
I did the sous vide for 48 hours at 60 ºC (140 ºF).
I used the dry rub you suggested, but substituted cumin for the white pepper. For smoking, I used mesquite because I had some of that around.
I’m really enjoying that meat. Texture is perfect for cold cuts, and the meat retained enough moisture, so there is little stringiness, if any.
Thanks again, this will become one of my regular treats!
I’m glad to hear it turned out so well. There are several cuts that can be successfully used…and in fact beef plate (a similar cut that is rearward of the brisket and just south of the ribs) is actually the more traditional raw material for pastrami. But plate is difficult to find in most locations without going to a custom butcher and paying a high price for it, so brisket is more commonly used. I have found a shop near my office that can get me a chunk of plate…for $9.99/lb. Alrhough that’s still less than what good store-bought pastrami costs, it’s 3.3x what I pay for whole packer brisket. Nonetheless, I might give it a try one time just to say I did.
P.S. Good call on the cumin substitution. I’m a big fan of it for beef (and many other things) and also used it in a previous pastrami rub, but decided to try the white pepper on the last batch just for grins. I think I’ll go back to using it myself as well.
Makes much more sense!
