DIY Pastrami

The only thing more punk than being a vegetarian is curing meat in your basement.  Waking up every morning in the best BBQ city in the world definitely has it's perks.  I mean, I drive by a half dozen world class BBQ joints on my commute to work every morning, and the one thing KC does better than anyone else is brisket (Texas can eat a rack of baby back Aids).  However, there is one area where KC struggles and that's with pastrami, which is surprising because pastrami is just a different way to prepare brisket.  Don't get it twisted though, there are several quality delis in KC, but they are few and far between.  Just a simple Internet search with the word "deli" and my KCMO zip code brings up Jimmy John's and Mr. Goodscents, that should never happen in a food city.

My mom (RIP) was from NE Kansas and to this day my dad still goes in on a cow from that area every year.  So when he brought me up a brisket for Christmas (cuz that's how we do it), I knew I had to make pastrami.  What's more DIY than a bucket, salt, sugar, water, and some random shit you have in your spice cabinet?

Once I had everything together, I dropped my brisket into the curing brine in a FOOD GRADE bucket.  Please use food grade plastic, the worst party foul you can commit is exposing your loved ones to cancer causing toxins, so don't do that.

I put the bucket in a beer fridge in my basement, I made room for it by going on a beer hiatus to drop some lbs, you should do the same.  Overall, I left it down there for a month, you really only need about a week though, depending on the thickness of your brisket.  Fast forward 30 days, I pulled it out of the curing brine, rinsed it, patted it dry with paper towel and rubbed it while I got my smoker ready.  FYI, the brisket is considered corned beef at this point and is ready to eat, smoking it converts it to pastrami. 

I smoked it at 225 degrees to an internal temp of 190. The pastrami should have a deep pink hue from the pink curing salts used in the brine.

Ok, he's where it gets a little cra.  This is ready to eat, now.  However, I refrigerate mine overnight and steam it up to temp the following day.  That's how the pros like Carnegie in NYC do it.  I also pro cut mine with a slicer, simply because you can never have too many saws in your house, especially in the kitchen.

Finally, I like mine with on rye with mustard, pickle, and Swiss, but that's just a personal preference.  What is required is pairing it with a beer that is worthy of the time you spent doing this.  I chose Rye on Rye from KC's own Boulevard Brewing Co.

So there you have it.  Tired of searching Yelp for a decent pastrami sandwich?  Me too.  Get your priorities straight in life, put down that foot long of processed diabeetus, and start making your own sandwich.

Musically, I paired this with Philly doom riders, Dridge