PASTRAMI tips ??

Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but it does involve smoking so... I am going to try to make my own pastrami for no particular reason. I looked at a foodtv recipe and the brisket has been in a brine for three weeks now. On Saturday I am going to pop it into the smoker (electric, don't kill me ). My question is do I use wood chips or just kind of steam it for four hours ? It doesn"t seem like the pastrami you buy commercially has a smoky flavor. If I do use woodchips, any particular flavor ? Appreciate any input.

Try this. pb

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pastrami.html

WOW. Good post.

Any other thoughts ? going once, going twice....

I hope the Weber site gave you some helpful tips. Since you already have the meat, I don't have much to add. In the future, you might want to try smoking a corned beef (after soaking out the salt for a couple days with changes of water). It's not quite the same as pastrami, but very tasty. In addition, there is a recipe in "Smoke & Spice" by the Jamison's for "Deli-Cured Brisket" which is also very good and only requires an overnight stay in the brine. This should also be rinsed before smoking.

I've used chips of hickory, oak, apple, and pecan in different combinations, but I only keep smoke on the meat for a couple of hours. Also, I've found that using the "Texas-Crutch" (foil) works well with these recipes since the
"steaming" effect is appropriate for pastrami. Good luck and let us know how it turns out. pb

Here's a couple links that may be of intrest:
http://www.sausagemaking.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=533
http://www.sausagemaking.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=361
http://www.sausagemaking.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=743
http://www.sausagemaking.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1384

Thanks for the links. I will report back Monday.

The pastrami came out fantastic after a three week brine and 4 hours in the smoker. The one thing I discovered is that you have to slice it across the grain. Any other way and it is almost inedible and very chewy.

Glad ya had excellant results! Thanks for sharing your venture with us..