Several years ago, we took a trip to the Big Apple and, of course, we had to try the renowned pastrami sandwich at Katz’s Deli. It was as good as advertised. Since that visit, John has been on a quest to make a pastrami that would rival that of Katz’s, Langer’s in L.A., and Wise Sons in San Francisco. With this recipe, we think we have succeeded. We tried using the traditional brisket (sometimes difficult to find here), but after seeing a post by Kenji Lopez-Alt, we decided to use a tri-tip and have never turned back. We buy the 2-pack from Costco (about 4 pounds), either prime or choice (prime is a bit richer). It requires little if any trimming and is very evenly marbled, unlike brisket. After several less than satisfactory attempts, John discovered a recipe by the ChefSteps crew who created the Joule precision circulator (sous vide device). This recipe turns out perfect pastrami. We reduced the recipe by 2/3’s and substituted tri-tip for the short ribs they use.
The gallon of cure/brine is just right for 4 pounds of tri-tip. Mix everything together and refrigerate until it is below 40 degrees. The Briner Jr. bucket is perfect for this recipe. Add the meat to the brine after it has thoroughly chilled and return it to the refrigerator. Let the meat cure for 7 days, stirring once per day. After the meat has cured, you are ready to smoke.
Here is some of the special equipment you will need.
These are the prime grade tri-tips we bought from Costco. You can see how marbled they are. If you prefer a richer cut of pastrami these are the way to go.
These are the brine spices.
Here are some of the various spices and seasonings used for the brine and the dry rub.
The dry rub has been applied to the meat that will smoke for 7 hours. Once out of the smoker, the meat will sous vide for 48 hours.
Here it is after 48 hours sous vide, moist and tender and ready for slicing. Typically authentic pastrami is finished by steaming for several hours. We prefer the sous vide method as it makes for a consistently tender result.
Here is the ultimate reason for all of this effort: the perfect pastrami sandwich!
Corned beef hash is a wonderful breakfast dish, however, pastrami hash is over the top. So save some of your pastrami for this terrific treat.
Pastrami hash with a poached egg. Divine.
- 2 Tri-Tips (4 pounds total)
- For the Brine
- 1 gallon water
- 1½ cups brown sugar, packed
- 5 tablespoons fine sea salt or pickling salt
- 4 teaspoons #1 Prague Powder (pink/curing salt - sodium nitrite)
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 4 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
- 1½ teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon whole pink peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon whole fennel seed
- ½ cinnamon stick
- ½ teaspoon chili pepper flakes
- 4 whole cloves
- 2 small bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon minced dried garlic
- For the Dry Rub
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fine sea salt or pickling salt
- ¼ cup whole black pepper corns
- ¼ cup whole coriander seed
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons whole juniper berries
- 1½ teaspoons chili pepper flakes
- Mix all the of brine ingredients together in your Briner Jr. bucket or equivalent. Refrigerate until the brine is below 40 degrees. Add the meat to the bucket, cover and return to the refrigerator. Let the meat cure for 7 days, stirring once per day.
- To make the dry rub, combine black pepper corns, coriander seed, and juniper berries. Grind to medium-fine consistency in your spice grinder. If you do not own a spice grinder you can substitute ground spices. Combine all dry rub ingredients.
- After the meat has cured, you are ready to smoke. Remove the meat from the brine, pat dry, and generously apply the dry rub to all sides. Set your smoker on it's low setting (ours is in the 160 degree range). John added a bread pan filled with ice to maintain a moist environment. Smoke the meat for 7 hours. Once smoked, the meat should be vacuum sealed. If you do not own a vacuum sealer, place the meat in 2 gallon Ziploc freezer bags and use the water displacement method to remove the air from the bags.
- Fill your large capacity pot with water within 4-inches of the rim (we use a 21 quart canning pot). Attach your sous vide device to the pot and set to 149 degrees. Once up to temp, add the meat to your sous vide set up and set the timer for 48 hours. It's a good idea to cover the pot opening with plastic wrap for the 48 hour cook, to avoid evaporation.
- Once finished, the meat can stay in the water bath for another hour or so, until you are ready to serve it. Otherwise, it can be removed, sliced, and refrigerated or frozen, then later steamed prior to serving. We usually trim off the narrow points of the tri-tips for later use in pastrami hash, one of the greatest breakfast dishes imaginable.