This recipe rules! I used to live on Ludlow Street (same as Katz) before moving out to San Francisco in 1998 (now Berkeley). Like pizza, they don't know what pastrami is out here on the west coast. Even the few jewish delis that are scattered around are clueless on the subject. So, I was resigned to having to do it myself and I ran across this excellent thread while I was doing my research. Thank you for trailblazing. The final product which I sampled last night is the best I've had outside of Manhattan. I found it to be spicier (probably due to the high grade peppercorns i used in the crust) and leaner (due to using brisket), but it had all of the qualities which i associate with "real" pastrami. My comments: 6+ lbs of dry cure seemed like way too much, so I halved your recipe. This amount was sufficient to cure the 5.6# brisket I bought at Andronicos, but I wouldn't cut it down any further than that. Bulk pepper and corriander 2.29/lb were obtained at a local Middle-eastern grocery. I was eventually able to obtain saltpeter at a non-big-box pharmacy, but they had to order it, and I had to tell them it was potassium nitrate. Then they asked if i was making a bomb. :) Well, yes - this pastrami is the bomb! The label is marked with the ominous phrase "For technical use only." Let's hope I know what I'm doing. A coffee grinder is a must with this amount of spice. I cannot imagine getting through it all with a mortar & pestle. I did all of the refrigerator steps in a roasting pan, but I will try to find the giant size ziploc bags I've read about to keep the mess down for the next run. Weighting was achieved with a toaster oven pan and 6 - 28oz cans of tomato sauce - about 11#. For the next batch I will be dilligent and obtain navel plate. I will also re-rub with garlic prior to doing the final spice coat, cut back slightly on the cloves, and add a touch of sugar to the rub to bring out the deep black color I'm used to during smoking. 2oz corriander, 4oz of peppercorns yielded an over-abundance of spice crust. (As an aside, corriander is much less dense than pepper, so doing ratios by weight would be much different than doing them by volume.) I will use the surplus on the next batch, but half the amount I prepared would have been sufficient. I smoked with hickory since that's what I had on hand. My smoker is a standard Weber kettle with an offset fire, so I rotated the meat once an hour and hit 165° at 6 hours. As soon as I pulled it off the grill, I knew I had pastrami. The smell was incredible. Of course, the 3 hours of steaming had the whole kitchen smelling like Katz. Tomorrow afternoon I have friends coming over to help me dispose of the remainder. Some of them are pastrami virgins, so I don't know whether they'll appreciate what they're getting, but I don't expect to have any leftovers! Thanks again- Todd Salerno
