I've been craving pastrami lately. You know, the good pastrami. The kind that's thick sliced and cooked for 12 days and makes the air smell like meat and melts in your mouth. I was at the grocery store today when i had this epiphany: 'Hey wait a minute, I know how to make things(sometimes)!' So i grabbed a brisket. You ever just grab a brisket?
I didn't get any spices though. You know why? cause i live with Nanc. Nanc who has every spice known to man, without a second thought. Spices, flours, weird molecular gastronomy things like xylitol and agar agar and lorazepam (Okay, maybe not the last one). You name it, she'll pull it out of some nook or cranny you didn't even no existed. There's no real food in the house mind you, but boy does she not disappoint on the spice front.
She even had three things of dill weed! I don't know what you need dill weed for but apparently three jars worth of things. The only thing she didn't have was pink salt and i was like, "Wait a minute! i have pink salt from when i made bacon 7 years ago!" So i went down to the basement and found it right where i left it. You may be wondering why it's in the basement.
Notice that doesn't say pink salt. I didn't. I just was so excited I threw 5 teaspoons into a gallon of water and failed at being too proud at myself. It was only just now when i went back in time to see when exactly i made bacon that it occured to me that doesn't say pink salt. It's perfectly clear in this picture:
Dry Cure Rub: Kosher Salt/Sugar/Curing Salt
But it does contain pink salt or curing salt or prague powder or whatever you want to call it as long as it's not Dry Cure Rub. So i think we'll be fine. The Brine is basically 2 cups of salt anyway, so what's a little more salt? And sugar? Who doesn't like sugar? Oh, this is the recipe I used by the way, incase you're so inclined.
So I made the spice and you actually make enough spice for two batches of corned beef because obviously you're going to do this all the time. I ended up using all our coriander so i just put the extra in that bottle and labeled it in my best handwriting.
I was going to just throw the whole thing in because when am I going to do this again? But then i thought maybe one day Nanc will decide to make a corned beef, then look into her spice cabinet and say, "Look, my youngest daughter has contributed to my
At this point you may be thinking, "Hey, hold up a sec! I thought you were making pastrami, but that clearly says corned beef. What's up with that?" Unless you read the title where it was heavily implied. Pastrami is in fact, dolled up corned beef (Though pastrami can also be made from the 'naval end' which is right next to the brisket and supposed to be better. Whatever.). Crazy right? You just rub some more seasoning into it, then smoke it (or oven it as will be the case in this scenario) and it's a whole different ballgame.
This is what corned beef pickling spice and salt and water look like when their being heated up.
So now this has to cool to below room temperature so it doesn't cook the brisket. I put it on the back porch because it's snowing so i feel like that's below room temperature.
So now we just wait. Speaking of waiting I was sitting in traffic yesterday morning and I say this gem:
Definitely where i'm sending my kids. Kidding! I don't have any kids. So now the brine is cool enough to add the brisket too.
So we just put it in the fridge and leave it there forever. Tune in next time (maybe) for when a corned beef evolves into a pastrami.
