The Great Pastrami & Smoked Meat Experiment

[Chef Fowke]

Chef Fowke; I await further recommendations. Do you have a local source for saltpeter?

I order saltpeter through my meat supplier, Trimpac. I have also seen it being sold in Drug stores.

[Chef Fowke]

It is very rare that I come across a method in cooking that actually saves time and produces a better product. The dry curing of the beef took less then a week from initial curing to smoking and steaming. The fat content seems to have been rendered better in the curing process. As I watched the meat smoke the fat seemed to be thicker and coated the beef more evenly. The taste of the cure and smoke are more predominate throughout the beef.

When I took the meat out of the dry brine I nearly threw it away. It looked really abused...

Today I tried it and I would confirm, officially, that the dry curing (one week) beats the wet cure (one month) in every category of taste, colour and texture. All meat used for both tests came from 'AAA' Alberta beef brisket or plate that had been wet aged for 14 days.

Tomorrow my Sous Chef, Jason is going to test kitchen it to customers to see if it holds up to the rigors of service. The customer will make the final decision whether this product will make it to the menu this fall.

[Pan]

What's the rest of your cuisine like, Chef Fowke?

Also, what's the "user posted image" that I can't see in your last post?

Edited October 7, 2003 by Pan (log)

[Chef Fowke]

What's the rest of your cuisine like, Chef Fowke?

Also, what's the "user posted image" that I can't see in your last post?

Very American Style Seafood and Chop House. We specialize in serving over 140 types of seafood, 40 types of oysters and a premium selection of steaks and chops seasonally selected over the year. Everything is simply prepared to preserve the natural flavours and freshness of the products. 90% of the product is locally grown and grilled over applewood or cherrywood. Take a look at the website. The design of the restaurant is awe-inspiring. It was designed around a turn of the century San Francisco style Chop House.

Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House, Vancouver Canada.

The posted picture is of the new dry cured pastrami just out of the steamer (its actually only half of it...I chose the fattiest part for Fatguy to see!).

[SteveW]

Chef, could you try posting the picture of the dry-cured pastrami again? For some reason, the image did not post. Maybe this time, you can post the picture of the dry-cured pastrami, as part of a sandwich(hopefully you hand cut your pastrami, instead of done by machine).

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Steve

[Pan]

Nice website, Chef Fowke!

[WHT]

Nice website, Chef Fowke!

It happens to be one of the best restaurant web sites I have seen. Sure makes me want to eat there!

[Chef Fowke]

Chef, could you try posting the picture of the dry-cured pastrami again? For some reason, the image did not post. Maybe this time, you can post the picture of the dry-cured pastrami, as part of a sandwich(hopefully you hand cut your pastrami, instead of done by machine).

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Steve

I can see the photo....Is anyone else not able to see the photo?

[cabingirl]

I can't see the photo either! And thanks so much for your wonderful, inciteful post! I am HUNGRY.

Ginny

[fifi]

I can't see the photo either.

Really cool web site. Next time I am in Vancouver I will definitely be there.

[FoodMan]

I cannot see it either.

Chef, I've asked for this before, but is there anyway you can post in once concise post the recipe for this pastrami??

FM

[scopra]

The dry cured pastrami picture is clear as a bell to me. I would second the request for a concise re-iteration of your dry cure pastrami method. Or maybe we should all head to Fortes for pastrami. Look out Jason.

[Chef Fowke]

Recipe for Dry Curing Brisket/Plate into Pastrami.

With a mortar and pestle (or a coffee grinder) grind the following to a course texture:

1. 3lbs course kosher salt

2. 2lbs peppercorns

3. ½lbs sugar

4. ½lbs coriander seeds

5. 3 Tbs whole cloves

6. 10 whole bay laurel leaves

7. 2 Tbs saltpeter

Rub a 7lbs plate with raw garlic then coat with salt mixture. Let sit, covered, in the cooler for three days. Turn it over every 12 hours.

Rinse the meat under cold running water for 5 minutes and remove all the surface salt mixture. Let it soak in fresh water (change the water every half hour) for 3 hours.

Coat the meat with two parts cracked black peppercorns and one part cracked coriander seeds. Press the mixture into the meat. Weight it down and place in the cooler for eight hours.

Smoke (cherrywood) over medium-low heat for eight hours or until the internal temperature reaches 165f. Immediately weight the meat down and let cool for 24hours in the cooler.

Steam the meat for three hours. Immediately weight the meat and let it cool for 24 hours in the cooler.

Re-heat the meat in the steamer for half an hour. Slice and serve.

[Chef Fowke]

I think I understand how this works. Sorry for the delay, it has been many years since college and I have been immersed in a kitchen for the last eighteen!

Here is a photo of the dry cured beef (pastrami) after smoking and steaming:

[Chef Fowke]

I went down this week to Seattle to see Wesza (Irwin) to get some advice on a new project I am working on. He gave me a bottle of Nathan's 'The Original Coney Island' Deli Style Mustard!

Yum!

The first bottle is empty...

The mustard is also very important in the success of a great pastrami sandwich. I also like when the coleslaw is served in the middle of the sandwich.

[Chef Fowke]

I am a now a web tech!

Posted two images in a row that seemed to work! Now you’re all in trouble, all my future threads will be laden with photos, images and graphics!

[Pan]

That pastrami looks really fatty, with huge chunks of fat in discrete places. Would you cut off some of that fat before serving and eating?

FWIW, I don't use mustard or any other condiment on my pastrami sandwiches. I do get cole slaw at Katz's, though, because though I usually dislike cole slaw, they make an excellent one.

[Chef Fowke]

That pastrami looks really fatty, with huge chunks of fat in discrete places. Would you cut off some of that fat before serving and eating?

On the first few pieces of brisket I prepared for this experiment (in August) I trimmed, cut and removed as much fat as I could. The end result was very lean. After reading previous messages (fatguy, etc) I wanted to keep all the fat on this piece of meat to see what the end result would be. I expected it to be greasy. It wasn't because of the dry curing. The salt pulled a lot of moisture out of the meat and the fat cap. When the meat was smoking I watched it render the fat cap and continually baste the meat for eight hours with pure, clear oil that exuded the smells of coriander, peppercorns and cloves! The meat turned out extremely moist and tender.

As well, my smoker and steamer, at work, are used to cook tender pieces of meat, poultry and fish quickly at an extremely high heat to preserve the flavour and tenderness. The amount of steam coming out was probably 100 times what is usually used in the preparation of pastrami causing excess swelling with extra moisture being forced into the tissue.

For the actual serving of the pastrami I split the meat right down the fat line and produced two pastramis. The fat content (comparing with Schwartz’s) was a medium.

And we sold out in one lunch, the whole pastrami gone! It will make its debut next Wednesday lunch on the al a carte menu.

[IrishCream]

Personally, I love nice fatty pastrami and Chef, yours looks excellent! (If I want lean meat I'll eat a chicken breast. ) Thank you for sharing this experiment.

[Jinmyo]

This is great stuff, Chef.

[Pan]

And we sold out in one lunch, the whole pastrami gone! It will make its debut next Wednesday lunch on the al a carte menu.

Congratulations!!

[col klink]

Indeed, this is great stuff. Do you like the corned beef better before or after steaming?

Personally, I have a hard time justifying steaming the meat if beforehand it's beautifully rich and succulent. But then again, I suppose it's not pastrami until it's steamed.

[woodburner]

Chef Fowke,

Incredible tutorial. If you could please explain the importance, and procedure for "weighting down" the pastrami after smoking.

As a second note, my senses tell me, that after steaming, some if not most of the smoke flavor would be negated.

Do you find this to be true?

woodburner

[scopra]

Thank you for sharing this recipe with us Chef Fowke. I will attempt to recreate this fine looking pastrami and report my results.

[scopra]

Question: How do you post an image from your hard drive?