This is a nice treat that takes a few days to prepare but is oh so good and well worth the wait. In my opinion, it is much better than any method I have seen or tried. I have used this recipe and method for several years and love the results.
I start with a couple of choice brisket flats that weigh over 7 pounds each. In this case, these flats total 14-3/4 pounds.
I start by trimming most of the fat off of the meat. I then cut the meat into 3-4 pound chunks for my process.
Next step is to prepare my corning cure or brine, my first rub, and get a ton of garlic ready for the meat. In this case, I cleaned about 6 total garlic bulbs and then put them thru the Suzi.
I inject the meat on the edges and also into the top and bottom. I try to get as much cure into the meat as possible.
I then pack the garlic on the meat and again, you can’t use toooo much!
Next step is to pack a heavy dose of my first rub on the meat.
The corning prep is now finished and the pieces of meat go into large zip-lock bags and then into the fridge for about 4 days to cure. I try to turn the bags over a couple times a day when I am in the fridge.
After the corning period, the meat comes out of the fridge, and then out of the bags. I then wash each piece under running sink water to get all the first rub and garlic off of the meat. Each piece then goes into a pan of water to soak for about one hour.
I then take the meat out of the water and paper towel off and then place on a drying rack for about 30 minutes. What we now have is uncooked corned beef.
Since my plan is to pastrami the beef, I then pack on my second rub which consists of cracked black peppercorns, cracked coriander seed, and some brown sugar. The meat is now ready for the smoker.
While I was at it, I also prepped a couple of chuck roasts which weighed about 5-1/2 pounds for my pulled beef. Since we use pulled beef in many different treats including Philly cheesesteaks, Chicago Italian beefs, beef Manhattans, barbecued beef sandwiches and several Mexican dishes, I just rubbed them with garlic salt and fresh cracked black peppercorns.
I decided to smoke the meat in my Hasty Bake Gourmet cooker and rolled it around to my cooking patio.
I then pulled the charcoal pan and set it up for about a 7 hour fuse burn. I used that great Stubb’s all hardwood no fillers brickettes and then placed some hickory chunks on top to create my wood smoke. The charcoal pan then went back into the cooker and I lit it off with a Weber fire cube.
After the cooker warmed up a little, I placed 4 corned beef briskets and the 2 chuck roasts into the smoker.
The next step was to wrap the chuck roasts when I got the right color and bark and place them back into the cooker. At this time the brisket pieces looked good. I took the chuck roasts to about 210 internal so they would pull just like a pork butt. They sure looked good coming out of the foil.
The chuck roasts pulled and shredded nicely and I sure would be proud to serve this dish to anyone. Wouldn’t you agree?
When the pastramied beef came off the smoker, I tented them for about an hour and got my slicer ready.
I put the pastramied beef thru the slicer and cut it thin for sandwiches. Sure made a nice platter of meat.
We kept about 2 pound of the meat out and I vacuumed packed the balance for the freezer.
Now, for the results of this cook....I toasted 2 pieces of fresh rye bread and then placed 4 pieces of Swiss cheese on one slice. On the other slice, I piled about 3/4 pound of that wonderful pastramied beef and then added about 3 dollops of my homemade horsey sauce to the top of the meat.
I cut the sandwich into two pieces and finished up this treat with a few slices of tomato and a dill pickle spear.
Was one great meal!
