Looks delicious. I love good pastrami.

OMG, I don't eat meat, and I'd be all over that sandwich!!

That does look very good. Is it something you will make again in the future?

Looks wonderful, I love pastrami!

That looks delicious!! I can almost smell it! LOL! I corned a brisket several years ago and it was by far, as you said about your pastrami, THE best corned beef we've ever tasted! Did you have to use prague powder for the pastrami brine?

Never tried making it. Love pastrami!!!! Good job! (I don't own a smoker)

That looks so good!

I have a friend who does that. And it is The best!

I have a weakness for the stuff! And that looks fantastic. We have smoked many briskets but never done pastrami. Would you share your brine recipe? We would like to try it. Congrats on such a great job.

........drooling.......

You guys are so funny! Thank you for all the appreciative comments!

irma, we will definitely do it again. Hubby is already planning the next one.

Marcy I had to look up prague powder as I hadn't heard that term. For others who don't know it is also known as pink curing salt. It contains sodium nitrite, which I know many people avoid, but it is an optional ingredient for the recipe I'm about to link.

Also, Marcy, corned beef is next on our list of things to try. Do you have a recipe that you wouldn't mind sharing?

raven, here is a link to the recipe we used. As I mentioned earlier the sodium nitrite is an optional ingredient:

Homemade Pastrami

If/when you make it, please let us all know how it turns out. :-)

Returning to add that we doubled the peppercorns and coriander seeds in the dry rub as we didn't think the original recipe was enough to fully cover the brisket. As it turned out, this was a good decision.

We also bought pickling spice at the store rather than buy all the ingredients necessary to make the spice in the recipe.

And, next time we'll give it one more day in the brine than stated in the recipe. The brine didn't quite reach the center of the brisket.

I used my Ninja bullet to grind the seeds.

And, the recipe doesn't say to do this, but we read in other places to refrigerate the brisket overnight after it was fully cooked so we did that as well. I'm not sure why, but I think it might have to do with making it easier to slice.

I'll see if I can dig up the recipe I used. I think it had to brine for a week or 10 days...can't remember for sure. It had a cinnamon stick, coriander, peppercorns, maybe mustard seeds? They were all in the brine though, no rub on this recipe that I remember. I'll definitely be checking your recipe! thanks!

Wow, looks absolutely delicious!

I love pastrami. I bet homemade was exceptionally good!

Drooooooool! I'm on a no red meat and low sodium diet. But I would definitely have a sandwich of your pastrami as one of my infrequent diet rebellions! I love pastrami, and that looks so good! ! !

Rusty

thanks! I am going to get him to pull out the smoker. I Have a nice big brisket in the freezer that needs to be cooked anyway.

I no longer eat red meat, but I still remember the fabulous pastrami and corned beef sandwiches on onion rolls with swiss and russian dressing I would get from the local deli. Your pastrami looks delicious.

O M G - I am speechless. And jealous. And drooling. Wow. Can you tell I love pastrami and the idea of homemade just floats my boat. What a great husband you have - do you lend him out?????

Pathetic that at my age I've never eaten pastrami..I have eaten corned beef, but never cooked it.

Please tell me does pastrami taste like corned beef? And why is it so red?

No it doesn't taste like corned beef it's quite unique. It is my all time favorite meat. It is red from the brining and the smoker. Any smoked meat will have red smoke ring but pastrami is all red.

If I go to a Deli I will always order a corned beef and pastrami sandwich.

I'm very pleasantly surprised to see how many people love pastrami. I thought it might have fallen out of favor, but I see that is not the case. Hubby has a weakness for pastrami burgers, so that is what is for dinner tonight.

Janie, I can't spare him right now. I need him in case I run out of pastrami. ;-)

mamapinky, raven covered your questions. I'll just add that I agree it doesn't taste like corned beef, but I don't know how to describe the taste to you. Maybe more of a tang than corned beef? Or more spicy, perhaps. Can't put my finger on it. Next time you're in a deli maybe you could ask for a sample to see if you like it or not.

Raven and Dawn Thank you for the explanation. I was hoping it wasn't raw meat Haha. I will hit the deli soon and taste test it.

mamapinky it's very well cooked through and through but tender and moist too! Let us know how you like the taste after you have a sample.

Thanks, minjeeah!

I'd be adding sauerkraut and swiss, then piling it on lightly toasted caraway rye with a spread of Russian dressing. I LOVE Reubens!

Your pastrami looks absolutely fabulous. I envy you!

mamapinky, I thought of something else. Pastrami is often warmed before putting on a sandwich. I like it either way, but some like it hot and some like it cold.

Thanks jakkom. I didn't know there was something missing from my life until now! I doubt that I'll ever order pastrami out again.

Here is a link for you, Minjeeah:

How to Make Homemade Pastrami

Did you see the pictures I posted at the start of this thread? They explain part of how we made it.

File this one under things I do not need to learn how to do! I would eat the whole brisket by myself! Oh, and I like mine warm, with mustard on rye bread. My husband takes his with cole-slaw on rye. Kudos to your husband for taking the time and effort to make pastrami- it seems like quite a project.

Rita, he loves doing stuff like this and I am the lucky guinea pig / beneficiary of his efforts. You should see his beef jerry - out of this world!