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Easy Pastrami Recipe (fully detailed)

PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:29 am
by Parson Snows
Easy Pastrami Recipe

Check out the link
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pastrami.html

Hope that you find this of some use

kind regards

Parson Snows

Re: Easy Pastrami Recipe (fully detailed)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:14 am
by Bob
Parson Snows wrote:Easy Pastrami Recipe
Check out the link
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pastrami.html
Hope that you find this of some use
kind regards
Parson Snows


We have been making a combination "corned beef pastrami" for many years. It is a mixture of corn beef seasonings and the same pastrami seasonings in the above-referenced recipe. FWIW, here is our recipe:

1/4 c. Morton's Tender Quick
2 T. dark brown sugar
1 T. powdered garlic
1 T. ground ginger
1 T. ground coriander
1 T. dry mustard
1 T. mustard seeds
2 T. mixed pickling spices
2 T. coarse ground pepper
1 t. Adolph's Papain Tenderizer

We use the dry cure method and let the brisket sit in the refrigerator for 5 days minimum. The brisket has been separated into flat and point. Despite what the writer in that article referenced above says about the point cut, it works quite well for us.

After curing, we boil the brisket for a couple of hours and serve it like corned beef, with lots of lightly salted cabbage. Or sometimes we slice the flat into thin cross-grained pieces and hang them to make jerky. If you do that you should soak them in water a while to reduce saltiness. Of course, soaking is not necessary if you boil the brisket.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 12:11 pm
by aris
What on earth is Adolf's Tenderizer? Pretty poor choice of name if you ask me :roll:

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:22 pm
by Bob
aris wrote:What on earth is Adolf's Tenderizer? Pretty poor choice of name if you ask me :roll:


Well, I mispelled it. It's Adolph's. You people on the other side of the pond are far more sensitive to the Nazi experience than we are. I did not make the connection, but now that you made it for me, I can see the black humor in it.

It's the natural enzyme Papain, which causes meat to break down and therefore become tender. Brisket is a very tough piece of meat which can use any help it can get. If you look at the ingredient label on commercial corned beef you will likely see that it has Papain - at least over here. You can leave it out if you want. It adds nothing to the flavor.

BTW, I just made some ground beef jerky using most of those ingredients. In place of mixed pickling spices I used ground cloves, and I left out the mustard seeds and Papain. I did this once before and it tasted somewhat like English/Cumberland sausage. Let me know if you want the exact recipe. By then I will have had a chance to adjust the ingredients by taste.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:28 pm
by aris
I did a google search and found the ingredients to be:

Ingredients: Salt, Sugar, Food Starch (prevents caking), Papain (from papaya fruit).

So mostly salt and sugar.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:47 pm
by Bob
aris wrote:I did a google search and found the ingredients to be:

Ingredients: Salt, Sugar, Food Starch (prevents caking), Papain (from papaya fruit).

So mostly salt and sugar.


That's so you can measure it. A little Papain goes a long way.

I use 1 t. for an entire brisket. I once tried 1 T. and the brisket came out partly dissolved at the surface.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:09 pm
by aris
Ok, maybe i'll give it a try. Here is a UK equivalent product:

http://www.schwartz.co.uk/productdetail.cfm?id=5171

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:52 pm
by Bob
aris wrote:Ok, maybe i'll give it a try. Here is a UK equivalent product:

http://www.schwartz.co.uk/productdetail.cfm?id=5171


As mentioned earlier, use very sparingly, especially if it is over a long period of time. That stuff could rot shoe leather.

PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:47 pm
by deb
Bob, could you tell me what is Morton's Tender Quick?

Anyone know what we would use in the U.K. in it's place?

Thanks.

PostPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 1:10 pm
by Bob
deb wrote:Bob, could you tell me what is Morton's Tender Quick?

Anyone know what we would use in the U.K. in it's place?

Thanks.


It is a curing agent made of salt, sugar, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate and propylene glycol to keep the mixture uniform. The salt and sugar are fillers because the amount of the other ingredients is very small. Sodium nitrite is the active ingredient whereas sodium nitrate is the time release agent that slowly converts to sodium nitrite.

It is equivalent to Prague Powder #2. It is recommended for dry cure sausages because they need the time release effect.

I use it only in jerky recipes, since I cook all my sausage. I tried hanging a sausage laced with curing salt once but it got mold all over it from the high humidity in Houston.

Here's a comment adapted from the Allied Kenco website:

+++
Prague Powder #2
Used with dry-cured products, it has 1 oz. of sodium nitrite with 0.64 oz. of sodium nitrate to each lb. of salt. Use with products that do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. This cure, which is sodium nitrate, acts like a time release, slowing breaking down into sodium nitrite, then into nitric oxide. This allows you to dry cure products that take much longer to cure. A cure with sodium nitrite would dissipate too quickly.
+++

venison pastrami

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:14 am
by Deer Man
Hi everybody, would these recipes work with venison? what cuts could I use and is Prauge #1 the substitute for Mortons Tender quick? I have to find lots of different recipes for the ammount of venison I have just put in my fridge!! :lol:

Re: venison pastrami

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:50 am
by Bob
Deer Man wrote:Hi everybody, would these recipes work with venison? what cuts could I use and is Prauge #1 the substitute for Mortons Tender quick? I have to find lots of different recipes for the amount of venison I have just put in my fridge!! :lol:


Use the same cuts of venison you use for jerky. The rest goes into sausage.

Prague #1 is not the same as Tender Quick, which contains both nitrite and nitrate like Prague #2. However if you keep the product in the refrigerator you can use Prague #1.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:28 am
by Oddley
On a safety note Deer Man if you are going to use Prague powder 1 & 2 these contain Nitrites & Nitrites/Nitrates which in large quantities are dangerous and could kill you. So please follow the guidelines for these substances because they are not the same as Morton Tenderquick.

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 8:27 pm
by Deer Man
Thanks oddley, I don't want to poison myself or anyone else! What would be the equivelent recipe here in England? I take it a 1/4 cup is a standard tea cup?

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 8:48 pm
by sausagemaker
Deer Man

1/4 cup is 60ml

Hope this helps

regards
sausagemaker