Katz(ish) Pastrami

Alex_311927

My butcher is a pastrami nut, and because I keep my butcher happy with food every now and then, I had the chance to play around with making pastrami for him. I was given a whole brisket which he pickled himself, for me to cook... free of charge. He is a Katz fanatic and having been to Katz myself, I strived to recreate a bit of the flavour profile This became his and my lunch for today. Sorry for the lack of images; my phone died as I took this one nd by then it was time to eat. If you guys haven't tried the Chefsteps recipe for pastrami I urge you to do so; it's freaking delicious. On rye with mustard..fugetaboutit.

This brisket was cooked sous vide at 64C for 48 hours then smoked with Camelthorn wood for about 6 hours, rubbed with the pastrami rub from the Chefsteps shortrib pastrami recipe. It's a winner, and so was this brisket. So the moral of the story once again is treat your butcher right and you'll be taken care of in spades.

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Comments

wolfiegirl

Camelthorn wood? That's a new one on me! Interesting.

And that pastrami is mouth-watering!!

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Oh man, that looks amazing. I have a hunk of corned brisket in the fridge that I cooked for 48hrs @ 62C... the plan is to coat it with ground pepper and coriander and then retherm it on the smoker for four hours or so. It's nothing special meatwise (just a pre-brined "top Choice" brisket flat from the supermarket), but cooking sous vide can make it really special. I just wish I had a butcher friend who would hook me up with a primo brisket every now and then!

Minh_Huynh_48807

Beautiful!!

fisher23

It looks great. Did it impress your butcher?

Alex_311927

It's the best of what is readily available in southern Africa as it's a very hard wood, and makes the best smoke out of any of the local species. The usual suspects like oak and fruitwoods etc are too expensive.

Alex_311927

thanks and yes it did, so much so he wants a sous vide for himself

wolfiegirl

After I posted my comment I remembered that you were in South Africa. I looked up the wood type and from what I read, it's a great wood, perfect for q'ing. Very cool!! Can you describe the sort of flavor profile it delivers? That may seem like a crazy question but I do a fair amount of smoking and love the variety of flavors each type of wood brings to the party.....pecan, oak, hickory, apple, mesquite.....

Alex_311927

I'd say it's in the middle between pecan and oak in terms of flavour. It's usually incredibly dry wood when you get it so it doesn't smoke a whole lot, but the flavour is just classic smoke flavour, similar to oak. Some of it comes from Namibia as well which is even dryer and hard like a rod of steel. Very pleasant smoke, not acrid or bitter.

Alex_311927

I was always super iffy about corned beef you find in a supermarket. I never knew what the hell went into 'corning' it, so I've stayed clear from pastrami until I visited Katz a few months ago which needless to say changed my opinion on pastrami as a concept overall.