Homemade Beef Brisket Pastrami

a pile of sliced and pulled beef brisket pastrami.

5 from 2 votes

Homemade Beef Brisket Pastrami

Learn the entire process for making homemade pastrami. You just need the meat, corned beef brine, pastrami rub and a smoker.

Prep Time1

Cook Time6

Curing + Resting Time8 6

Total Time8 7

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Irish

Servings:

Author: Christie Vanover

Ingredients

6 lbs beef brisket trimmed
1 gallon corned beef brine
1/2 cup pastrami rub
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar to spritz
2 tbsp beef tallow

Instructions

Brine: Place the trimmed brisket in a brining bag. Cover with corned beef brine. Remove the air, close the bag and refrigerate for 5-7 days.
Season: Remove the cured beef from the brine. Rinse if you prefer less salt. Season all over with pastrami rub. Place on a rack on a baking sheet. Refrigerate uncovered for 1 more day.
Smoke: Heat the smoker to 225-275F degrees. Place the brisket on the smoker fat side down. Smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of around 160-170F degrees. This will take around 4 hours. Spritz every 30 minutes with apple cider vinegar.
Wrap: Remove the brisket from the grill. Place it on two sheets of butcher paper. Spritz the top with more apple cider vinegar and drizzle on the beef tallow. Wrap tightly.
Finish Cooking: Return it to the smoker and cook until the internal temperature reaches 205-210F degrees. This should take another 2 hours.
Rest: Wrap the brisket with a towel and place it in a cooler without ice to rest for 1 hour.
Slice: Remove it from the towel and paper. Slice the flat meat against the grain. Slice or shred the point meat.

Video

Notes

In order to end up with a 6-lb brisket, you'll need to start with an untrimmed brisket that is 10-11 pounds. Or, you can purchase a pre-trimmed brisket flat or point from the grocery store.

To make pastrami using other cuts of meat, follow the same general steps, but read the article above for curing times, cooking temps and other details.

Nutrition