my pastrami came out looking like dry roast beef...

[thepiggerpicture]

I used the recipe from the book 'Charcuterie' but used half the amount of beef than in the recipe as couldnt get a piece big enough...therefore the dry ingredients (salt, sugar, pinksalt, etc) were double what they should be in regards to the ratio of beef to mix.

I hot smoked it until it was ready in the middle then transferred it to a pan full of simmering water and then in the oven for an hour.

It came out looking like an over cooked piece of roast beef (grey and dry looking in the middle) with dots of pink on the outside...

Any ideas?

[captain wassname]

did you halve the ingredients?
How long did you cure it for?
Any chance of the recipe?

Jim

[Oddwookiee]

Definitely sounds overcooked. I do a sort-of pastrami in my smokehouse (cure inject, then surface spice rub, vac seal raw for 2-3 weeks, then smoke) and only run it up to 140ish internal temp depending on thickness, then pull it out and let it rest at room temp for 30 minutes or so before into the cooler to fast chill. I could be doing it wrong, but I prefer a medium-rare piece that's a little pink in a middle and not cooked hard through.

[DanMcG]

I'd like to see the recipe and the curing/cooking process...oh and a pic would be helpful too.
If it was gray, I'm thinking it wasn't cured

[thepiggerpicture]

The recipe was taken from the book 'Charcuterie' exactly as written. When I have more time i'll write it in full.

I JUST WANT SOME FREAKIN' PASTRAMI!!!

[wheels]

The recipe was taken from the book 'Charcuterie' exactly as written. When I have more time i'll write it in full.

I JUST WANT SOME FREAKIN' PASTRAMI!!!

I hope that the last line was said jestingly. The guy's above are trying to help. Without the relevant information, all they can say that you didn't cure it correctly or that you didn't cook it correctly. They're the obvious reasons that you were unsuccessful. It sounds as if it was over-cured and over-cooked. We can leave it there if you'd like? We'll have told you what you've done wrong. After all that's what you've asked. Or, we can try and help you do it correctly next time? It's up to you?

Of your own admission you didn't follow the recipe. If I read correctly, you used the full cure on half the amount of meat. Even if members have 'Charcuterie', they still won't know exactly how you cooked it.

Phil

[thepiggerpicture]

Hi Phil,

The last line was said over jestingly! Apologies for sounding obnoxious with it, but i'm seriously just catching up on things with my laptop in bed and don't have the book to hand - big apologies to any offence caused. Sounds like I unintentionally touched a nerve here.

On receiving some other advice it sounds like I should've kept the meat in a non-reactive container (it stayed in a saucepan which was part of Ikeas "finest" range - cheap and cheerful but does the trick). Next time i'll vacuum it instead.

Hope for embarrassments sake we are both now on the same wavelength.

Cheers.

[wheels]

Ah, no problem then. It's just that text in 'all capitals' is considered as if you are shouting, when you are online. It's difficult, as we write things as if we are saying them, without realising that other people can't hear the tone in our voice as we read it.

Anyway, I am glad that you've found an answer to your problem.

Phil