Pastrami Question

Air dried cured Meat Techniques

Pastrami Question

Postby deb » Mon Feb 21, 2005 8:00 pm

I'm going to give Len Poli's Pastrami recipe a whirl (see link) and am wondering about the cooking of the meat.

http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/index_files/Pastrami.pdf

I don't have a smoker, but I do have a small gas barbecue that I can perhaps use. I was thinking about putting a layer of damp woodchips on some foil on top of the coals to create smoke (lid closed of course). Would this cook the meat o.k. or would the heat be too fierce? Would the ammount of smoke and the cooking time be enough to smoke the meat sufficently?

Bob would probably be the best person to answer this as the whole BBQ/Smoking bit is his "thing", but any thoughts and suggestions from anyone are, as usual, always welcome.

Thanks.
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Postby aris » Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:11 pm

There is the US TV show called 'License to Grill' which is shown on their food network tv channel. It is quite interesting - and they showed a nice technique to hot-smoke on a gas BBQ. You need a BBQ with two burners - for instance, one on the left and one on the right. You will also need a thermometer to check the temperature inside.

So basically you take your woodchips you will use for smoking. Soak half overnight in water. The next day, you take the soaked woodchips and mix with the other half of dry ones, and wrap in some alumninum foil in a similar fashion as if you were going to cook something in the foil.

Wrap it up well, and poke some holes in the top with a knife. Switch the one burner of the BBQ on, and put your wood chip parcel on top of this. You will probably have to remove the grill on that side (if possible) to make it smoke sufficiently. Close the BBQ (you need one with a lid), and adjust the flame so that you get a nice even temperature of about 200F. Once you have reached this temperature put your meat on the COLD SIDE of the BBQ with no flame. You will be cooking with indirect heat here.. Close the BBQ and monitor the temperature (most good BBQ's have a built in thermometer - otherwise, purchase one which you can put inside the BBQ and monitor from the outside).

Cooking with this method can take several hours - it is a slow method, but the results look good. I've not tried it myself, but plan to this summer.

You might need to replenish your wood-chip parcel sometime - so keep a spare one handy.
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Postby Deer Man » Mon Feb 21, 2005 10:05 pm

Instead of using wood chips use hard wood sawdust. This will give you a uniform heat and smoke. There is no need to soak the sawdust. Water in the wood chips will create a certain amount of humidity to give a water smoker effect but will require greater heat to prouce smoke. lower cold smoking temperatures can be better obtained with sawdust. The sawdust can be placed directly under the meat as long as you use a drip tray to stop the sawdust from contamination from grease etc.

As Aris mentioned cook or smoke using an indirect heat source where possible. This should give good results. Ignite the sawdust then place under the meat. :P
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Postby aris » Mon Feb 21, 2005 10:16 pm

Where do you get your sawdust from?
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Postby Deer Man » Mon Feb 21, 2005 10:28 pm

Most fishing tackle shops sell it. They also sell the ABU type smokers, very hot smokers but a great alternative to a BBQ on the beach! You could use any hardwood. DO NOT USE SOFTWOOD SUCH AS PINE
This will make anything you smoke with it tase very bitter due to the high resin in the wood.
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Postby deb » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:03 am

I don't have a full sized gas BBQ so the one I have only has one burner. Would it still be possible to use this sort of method by using it at it's lowest setting, perhaps even opening the lid slightly at times to let in some cold air to cool the temperature a bit?

Thanks.
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Postby aris » Tue Feb 22, 2005 8:16 am

I'm not sure deb - I don't see why you couldn't try it. As Deer Man says, put the wood chips underneath the meat - and make sure that the meat cannot contaminate the wood with dripping fat. I suppose you could put the wood parcel under the grill, then put the pastrami in a metal container of some sort - like a baking tray. Essentially you want to cook with indirect heat, and smoke - kind of like an oven with smoke in it.
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Postby Deer Man » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:51 pm

Deb, you can use a single kettle BBQ to smoke with. If you use sawdust this will continue to burn untill all the sawdust has been usedwithout any further heat. Wood chips take a considerable ammount of heat to continue smouldering and give of smoke. Place a metal plate over half the burner either on the grill or just above the flames. This will help divert any direct heat away from the meat and into the kettle. You will pobably have to make another rack for the meat to rest on to avoid it burning on the plate which covers the burner. Turn the heat to its lowest setting. The temprature should ideally be below 200F for cold smoking, anything higher would be smoke roasting. Try avoid opening the lid to take apeak at your prize, heat and smoke will be lost. Use a remote meat thermometer if possible.
Last edited by Deer Man on Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby aris » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:02 pm

Cold smoking at 200C? You mean 200F or about 93C (call it 100).

200C is very much a roasting temperature :-)

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Postby Deer Man » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:43 pm

My mistake! :cry: At least somone is reading it?
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Postby Deer Man » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:50 pm

To be more precise Cold smoking is usually done at temperatures between 50 and 80F, ideally 75-80F.

Hot smoking is done between 180-240F

Hope this is more acceptable? :oops:
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Postby deb » Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:13 pm

Thanks Deer Man. Best thing would be to give it a go I think.
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Postby Wilf » Tue May 24, 2005 5:05 pm

Ive just looked at that recipe and it uses 40g Cure #1 for 5lb of meat, isn't that a lot, as the info sheet which come with Franco's is 10g per 10lb of meat?
as I'm going to have a go at it. Also I take it that the picture of brisket is the unrolled, as its always rolled over here, and when unrolled doesnt look to be that thick, may just do it as a roll.

Have you had a go yet deb
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Postby deb » Tue May 24, 2005 5:36 pm

Yes Wilf I did give it a go recently. I don't have any of the cure so I used saltpetre instead and Oddley kindly worked out the ammount for me.
I unrolled the brisket and you're right it is thinner than the one in the picture. It came out quite well but as I've never tasted Pastrami before I don't know how authentic it was. I also had to make it without the garlic as hubby can't eat it, I did substitute a couple of other things but how much difference this made to the taste I'm not sure.
I've made Hugh F-W's salt beef from his book before and to be honest I preferred it to this.
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Postby Spuddy » Tue May 24, 2005 5:41 pm

It does seem a lot Wilf. 10g per 10lb is right for a dry cure. It may be that as this is a brine solution then not as much is absorbed into the meat so that might explain the difference.
I'd be inclined to trust the recipe (seeing it's one of Len's) but it might be an idea to email him and confirm the ratio is correct if you are in any doubt.
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