Making Pastrami, No smoker

[jongchen]

I have made corned beef at home a few times using Alton Browns recipe. It has turned out well. My true love though is pastrami. My problem is that I live in an apartment so I do not have a smoker. Pastrami is supposed to be cold smoked or smoked as slowly as possible in a hot smoker. The general rule that I've seen is 1 hour of smoking time per pound of pastrami. This pretty much rules out any type of stove top smoker. I suppose I could rig something up in my oven but I wouldn't have any way to get rid of the extra smoke.

What I'm going to try to experiment with is liquid smoke. My current plan is to

1. Do 10 day cure of the corned beef with the regular picking spices
   
2. Take the corned beef out of the brine and then soak it in a liquid smoke and water mixture for 1 hour
   
3. Added cracked pepper and coriander seed to outside
   
4. Spritz with liquid smoke
   
5. Bake in 200 degrees oven until internal temp of 150 (simulates smoking)
   
6. Steam pastrami above pan of water in 275 degree oven until fork tender
   

Any comments regarding my plan? Has anyone tried this already? Am I setting up myself for a miserable failure? Anyone work with liquid smoke before? Do I need to err "marinate" the corned beef in the water and smoke mixture longer? I could add my reasoning for all the steps above if anyone is interested.

[scubadoo97]

When you cooked your corned beef, did you do it in the oven dry or on the stove/oven in water? I have never made my own corned beef but the prepared ones in the store can be loaded with salt and will need to be soaked in water for a considerable amount of time before I toss them on the smoker after adding pastrami spices. Making your own you could adjust the amount of salt to suit your needs.

BTW I think your plan will work well. Let us know how it turned out.

[jmolinari]

How about using a cameron stovetop smoker?

[jongchen]

When you cooked your corned beef, did you do it in the oven dry or on the stove/oven in water?

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I cooked the corned beef by boiling it in water with additional spices. But I had to soak it in plain water for 1 hour before cooking. I cooked it once without the pre-soak and it was too salty.

[jongchen]

How about using a cameron stovetop smoker?

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I though about that but discarded it for two reasons. The first being that it would generate a lot of smoke in my apartment which isn't that easy to get rid of. The other being that the cameron generates very hot smoke. It would cook the corned beef too quickly and not get enough smoke penetration. Stove top smokers work very well for thin items that do not need a very long smoke. The corned beef is very thick and needs something like 1 hour per pound. The stove top smoker is not designed for that.

[rooftop1000]

how about a big box and a teeny hibachi combined with a day in a park?

more alton brown

tracey

[jongchen]

how about a big box and a teeny hibachi combined with a day in a park?

more alton brown

tracey

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That is a possibility. But I don't very often have 5 straight hours to spend in a park.

[jongchen]

So I cooked the "pastrami" this weekend.

This is it after the simulated smoking

I ran out of time and wrapped it in tin foil and put it in the fridge overnight.

I just finished cooking it tonight and here it is

I brined it for 14 days which was too long. I only soaked it in smoked flavored water for 1 hour. That was not enough and the meat is really salty. Next time I need a shorter brining time or longer in clear water time. I did not put enough rub on the outside. It was only 1 table spoon each of coriander and black pepper. Next time much more to get a better coating. I slow roasted the meat over a pan of water in a 275 degree oven for two hours. I don't think it was long enough. The meat was moist but not falling apart. I think I need to go longer next time. I took it out at around 2 hours because the internal temp was already 180 or so and I was worried about over cooking it. As to the smoke flavor... there was just a hint of it but nothing I'd write home about. Next time I think I'll put the liquid smoke in the original brine solution and see how that turns out.

Another experiment would be to just skip the whole simulated smoking part and just cook it until it is done the first time. Another thing to try.

[rlibkind]

fwiw, believe it or not, I frequent one deli (Hershel's in Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market) who brines (not dry cures) fresh navels for pastrami. HE DOES NOT SMOKE THE PASTRAMI! His seasoned brine and the spice/herb mixture treatment before cooking in the oven does it all. I was dumbfounded, because it's a superior product even without the smoking. (No liquid smoke, either.) I grew up on Katz's, as well as great local delis in North Jersey, and Hershel's holds its own. I'm still amazed he can create such a great product with no smoke. I know, it's hard to believe, but true.

[jongchen]

fwiw, believe it or not, I frequent one deli (Hershel's in Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market) who brines (not dry cures) fresh navels for pastrami. HE DOES NOT SMOKE THE PASTRAMI! His seasoned brine and the spice/herb mixture treatment before cooking in the oven does it all. I was dumbfounded, because it's a superior product even without the smoking. (No liquid smoke, either.) I grew up on Katz's, as well as great local delis in North Jersey, and Hershel's holds its own. I'm still amazed he can create such a great product with no smoke. I know, it's hard to believe, but true.

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I have eaten at Hershel's. The pastrami there is amazing. So it is not smoked? Amazing. You are correct, the pastrami at Hershel's does stand up to Katz's. I prefer Katz but Hershel's is at least 95% as good.