"Last Minute" Brisket Pastrami

Hi Folks,

I have a 6 pound flat cut of brisket I need to turn into pastrami on Saturday. I'll spare you the details regarding how/why I find myself in this predicament on the Wednesday before (and I fully recognize the general preference around these parts for beef plate with a longer cooking runway--hell even brisket point would be better, I'm sure). The CS pastrami is on my "to do" list and, after I get through this cook, I hope to make pastrami amends with that recipe.

That all said, looking for advice on how to make the best of a less than ideal situation. I got the pastrami in the brine yesterday. Went with the CS pastrami brine. I have at my disposal a smoker (a Weber Smokey Mountain that I know my way around pretty well), a circulator and the trappings of your standard well equipped home kitchen. My day job will prevent me from doing any smoking until Saturday AM (and when I say AM, I mean crack of dawn if I have to).

Basically, curious to hear people's thoughts on which of the following (or other) gun-to-your-head options is likely to yield the best result with this less than ideal cut:

1. Pull the beef from the brine Sat. AM, season, get 4 or so hours of smoke on it at ~250F and then circulate at 80C or 82C for 6 or so hours until dinner.

2. Pull the beef from the brine Friday AM, season, circulate at 75C or 80C for 24-36 hours, then get 4-6 hours of smoke at ~250F on it before serving.

3. Go old-school, pull the beef Sat. AM, season, smoke for 6-8 hours (as long and as low as I can with high humidity before things dry out), then either transfer to a steaming rig in a warm oven for a few hours (did this the last time I followed Ruhlman's Charcuterie recipe for pastrami a few years ago with a different cut and it was good-not-great) or wrap it in foil and leave it on the smoker until tender.

Any thoughts/advice greatly appreciated.

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Johan_Edstrom_5586

2 But 75-80 sounds very high for that amount of time.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

This is a 7h cold smoke and 48h 54C.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fio1NA14gGM/UYMPHQ7pUII/AAAAAAAApgQ/iRErGxdp2Cg/w1087-h1449-no/13%2B-%2B2

ttpoker

Option 1. Get five hours of smoke at a considerably lower temp of a range between 65 C and 70C in a very well humidified environment (BIG tray of ice will do the trick at the top of the smoke. Circulate till you are almost ready to serve at 64C. No need to cook at such high temps, 250 C smoke is too high... save the cooking for the water bath, and even then you can go lower. Smoke before sous vide is the best option for pastrami IMO.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Duh, yes, I'll revise - smoke first then circulate.

Ed_D__14103

Thanks! This is my gut instinct. As for the 75-80C bath temp, I was looking to compensate a bit for the shorter window I'll have to cook it this way in terms of tenderizing/texture. I was also thinking of trying to split the difference on the time and texture Kenji outlined in his corned beef article here (scroll about 1/2 way down):

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/how-to-make-corned-beef-st-patricks-day-simmering-brisket-meat-the-food-lab.html

My main fear is the meat still being tough/dense after ~5-6 hrs in the bath at a temp in the 60s after I smoke. I think what you're (probably correctly) implying, though, is that I can and should factor in the impact of time spent in the smoker at around the same temp if I do it in the 60s.

My working thesis is now that I'll smoke at as low a temp as possible (with lots of ice!) for 5-6 hrs, then depending on what the meat looks and feels like at that point, I'll circulate at anywhere from 65 - 80C. If it's still really dense when it comes off the smoker, I'll go with a higher temp. If it's loosened up, or started to, I'll go with a lower temp (with fingers crossed for the latter).

Ed_D__14103

That looks awesome! Hope to get at least somewhere near that ballpark :-).

ttpoker

My bad, I meant to say #1 but take it out of the brine on Friday. With my plan you're getting a 24 hour bag & soak. The brine will be fine, you could try to increase the ratio of spice in the water but I would just go with the standard brine and the reduced time frame for brining. You will get close to the texture you want to achieve within 24 hours, an extra 24-48 hours is more for finish than for perfecting the core product.

PS: After smoking for 5-6 hours, the meat will not be that tender - but it will be almost cooked (depending on the size of the brisket of course). Sous vide is your finishing step, thats what breaks down the muscle and gives you that amazing tenderized experience. Slice off a piece before you pop her into the bag for a before and after comparison - great education experience to help you gauge when the optimal smoke is done, and the difference between just smoke and a sous vide finish for tough cuts like brisket.

ttpoker

Hope you reheat that beauty via a good solid steaming, gotta love the Cuisinart steam oven for that at home!