Recipes

Sous Vide Pastrami

March 6, 2019 Leave a Comment

Sous vide pastrami takes a little effort, but it’s so worth it once you have the world’s best deli meat to make reuben sandwiches. I teach you how to make pastrami from start to finish (brine to sous vide to smoke) so you can impress all your friends. GET ALL OF MY BEST SOUS VIDE TIPS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX, INCLUDING MY SOUS VIDE 101 GUIDE AND MY FAVORITE SOUS VIDE TOOLS. SIGN UP HERE!

I originally did all of this to make sous vide corned beef. It’s true.

But do you know what I learned along the way? Pastrami is simply smoked corned beef. WHOA. And as we learned in my last blog post about sous vide and smoked pork shoulder, my new super power is sous vide + smoke. And so it became sous vide pastrami.

This is the perfect time of year for this project because of the abundance of corned beef available in stores right now. So, if you want to skip the 7 day brine, no judgments here. Just head to the grocery store and buy some raw corned beef in the bag. It’ll all be fine.

But if you want to DIY with me, I’ve got a brine process and recipe all ready for ya!

After 7 days in the peppery, flavor-packed brine, the brisket gets transferred to a vacuum-sealable bag and put into a sous vide bath for a full 48 hours. It’s really feeling the love by this point.

Then, finally… it’s corned beef. You can stop here if you want. It’s absolutely delicious.

Or, if you have a smoker, you can step it up just one more notch. Like yours truly!

I smoked my corned beef for 3 hours at 200 degrees and worth it is such an understatement. The bark adds a whole new level of deliciousness, especially once it’s sliced thin and ready for sandwiches.

We sliced up the entire half brisket (by “we” I mean “I” and my hand was numb by the end) and invited a bunch of people over to watch a Timbers game, where I made a big stack of reubens and everyone brought sides and it was lovely.

And man alive… this sous vide pastrami. It’s the kind of good where the room is silent as people are eating good. It’s the kind of good where after you’ve cleaned up the kitchen, your dad sneaks into the fridge to grab a few more slices good.

It’s salty and peppery, it falls apart in the sandwich, and the fatty brisket is rendered to perfection. All of the things you could want in a deli meat.

Sous Vide Pastrami

Author: Chelsea
Prep Time: 7 days
Cook Time: 54 hours
Total Time: 222 hours
Yield: 20 Servings
Method: Sous Vide

Description

Sous vide pastrami takes a little effort, but it’s so worth it once you have the world’s best deli meat to make reuben sandwiches. I teach you how to make pastrami from start to finish (brine to sous vide to smoke) so you can impress all your friends.

Ingredients

Half a brisket

Brine:

40 g coriander
40 g peppercorns
20 g dry mustard seed
40 g dill seed
4 g clove, divided
4 g chili flake, divided
126 g salt
7 g prague Powder No. 1
⅓ cup (65 g) brown sugar
12 cups (3 liters) water, cold

Rub:

50 g coriander
42 g peppercorns
27 g dry mustard seed
27 g dill seed
4 g clove
4 g chili flake
4 g dried rosemary

Instructions

In a large vacuum sealable bag or zipper-top bag, add all ingredients for brine and stir to combine. Add the brisket to the bag. If using a vacuum sealable bag, place top into vacuum sealer and simply seal, do not vacuum seal.
Place the sealed brisket in brine in the fridge for 7 days, flipping every day or so to keep the brine mixed.
After the brine is done, remove the brisket from the bag and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the brine.
Fill and preheat your water bath to 140 °F using your immersion circulator.
Add all ingredients for the rub to a small plastic bag. Place on a cutting board. Using a meat tenderizer or simply a pint glass, gently pound the spices to break them open a bit.
Season the brisket with the rub, evenly distributing it with your hands.
Add the brisket to a vacuum sealable bag, remove the air, and seal. Add to water bath and cook for 48 hours.
Remove the brisket from the water bath and bag.
Preheat your smoker to 200 degrees F. When ready, place the brisket on the smoker and smoke for 3 hours.
Remove to a cutting board and slice thinly to serve.

Notes

This pastrami makes the perfect reuben sandwich!

You can refrigerate the pastrami between the sous vide and smoke steps, just not longer than 24 hours.

Keywords: sous vide pastrami

Sous Vide and Smoked Pork Shoulder

February 25, 2019 Leave a Comment

Combining sous vide and smoke makes for the best pork shoulder roast. This recipe is for Traeger or Green Mountain Grills. A simple rub is all you need! GET ALL OF MY BEST SOUS VIDE TIPS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX, INCLUDING MY SOUS VIDE 101 GUIDE AND MY FAVORITE SOUS VIDE TOOLS. SIGN UP HERE!

I have a new super power. My parents gave it to me for Christmas. It’s a Green Mountain Grill that’s just the perfect size for the little balcony off our kitchen. Are you familiar with Green Mountain Grills? It’s like a Traeger – a cross between a grill and a smoker. The smoker is the part I’m so excited about.

Okay! Back to the super power! It’s the power of sous vide + smoke.

Sous vide, cooking your meat low and slow, results in the most tender, melt in your mouth meat. Especially in the case of sous vide pork shoulder. It’s also less wasteful and way easier than the low and slow smoke: you don’t need bag on bag of pellets and you don’t have to worry about leaving your smoker alone (another story for another time: we set our first pork shoulder on fire. oops.).

This sous vide and smoked pork shoulder is meat crack. Once you take a bite, you can’t stop grabbing pieces off the plate. Truly.

Let’s talk method. I’ve tested this recipe on pork shoulder/butt roasts that are about 7 pounds in weight. You can apply this to roasts between 5 and 8 pounds. If you go smaller, decrease the sous vide time to 18 hours. Bigger, up the sous vide time to ~30 hours.

Sous vide: 165 degrees F for 24 hours

Smoke: at least 6 hours at 200 degrees F (until there’s a good bark)

You can use any good barbecue rub here. I’ve been a big fan of Portland local rub Felton and Mary. Guys. It’s awesome. Really give the pork shoulder a good rub down, vacuum seal, and sous vide!

Pro-tip for the sous vide: weight that pork shoulder down. The rendered fat will create air pockets and this sucker will want to float. Make sure to keep it submerged for the entire cook!

Once it’s done, let it cool on the counter for at least 30 minutes. If you have the time, refrigerate it for a few hours. It makes it much easier to transfer to the grill without it falling apart. Otherwise, find a buddy to help you make the switch!

Have fun with this sous vide and smoked pork shoulder. I’m obsessed with this technique!

If you’re interested in sous vide pork but looking for something a little simpler, make my sous vide pork chops!

Looking for a good side? How about cauliflower gratin?