Make Pastrami That Can’t Be Beat

When you make pastrami yourself you will be amazed at how much better it is than anything you’ve had at the neighborhood deli. It’s a great way to turn corned beef into something special. If you would like to give it a try, please take a look at our procedure below. It’s quite simple and yields great results.

To get started you need some corned beef. So what the heck is corned beef and where do you get it you ask? Well basically corned beef is beef brisket that’s been submerged in a brine consisting of water, salt, and other spices for about 10 days. The best time to look for it at the store is around St. Patrick’s Day, that’s when it usually goes on sale.

The first step is to remove the corned beef from the package, rinse it off, then throw it in a pot. There should be a little packet of spices that come with it, those need to go in the pot too. Add enough water to completely cover the corned beef. Put a lid on it then crank the heat up until it reaches a slow boil and keep it there for three hours.

After three hours of boiling, the corned beef would be done and you could eat it but… don’t do it… remember, you want to make pastrami! It needs some time in the smoker.

So fire up the smoker and bring the temperature up to 225 to 250 degrees. While you’re waiting for that to happen, now would be a good time to add more flavor to the pastrami in the form of a rub. There are tons of different rubs out there that can be bought at your local grocery store that are quite good, or you can make up your own using spices that fit your particular flavor zone.

Once the smoker comes up to the proper temperature and you have a nice coating of rub on the corned beef its ready to go in. Place it in the center of the rack fat side up, close the lid and you’re good to go.

You want to keep the temperature at 225 to 250 degrees during the entire smoking process which is 4 hours minimum, adding chips every hour. 6 hours if you like a heavier smoke flavor.

As we said earlier, when you make pastrami yourself, basic corned beef can be transformed into an amazing mouthwatering meal you can share with family and friends…… or maybe not?

Get going and get smoky!



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Beef Roast perfectly cooked in the smoker.

Return from make pastrami to smoking meat