Seven pounds of homemade, thin-sliced pastrami, anyone.
Directions-Get store bought corned beef brisket - this is what makes it easier. For the real thing, I cure my own corned beef as the first step.
-Get a container with a lid that will hold the corned beef and fit in your refrigerator.
-Open the corned beef and throw away everything but the meat. Rinse the meat well.
-Put the corned beef in the container and fill with cold water. Put in the refrigerator.
-Soak for 6 to 8 hours. pour out the water and refill with fresh water before returning to the refrigerator. The idea is to get rid of a lot of the salt in the commercial corned beef.
-After changing water a couple of times, start cutting a small bit off each time you drain the water and taste it. When it no longer tastes really salty, you are done soaking.
-Pat the brisket dry and place on a rack over a pan in the refrigerator overnight.
-The next day rub the brisket with cracked pepper and cracked coriander. put back in the refrigerator until the following day.
-Early in the morning, stoke up your smoker. Use either oak or maple for wood.
-Smoke as you would for any brisket - until tender. Wrapping when it hits the first stall will speed the time up and make for juicier pastrami.
-After smoking, put in tight sealing container and refrigerate at least over night before slicing. The thinner you slice it, the better.
