latest batch of pastrami worked out great
this is a small "test muscle" about the size of half a hot dog bun - so the slices look ridiculously thick - ha ha
I weighed each muscle and rubbed each with the appropriate weight of salt/spice (I have a nice balance left over from dealing cocaine). The muscles then sat in fridge in vacuum bags for five days - rotating every few days
After that they are removed from bag, rinsed really well and patted dry. Then a coriander/blk pepper, garlic, onion rub for one day to form the crusty smoking pellicle. Here they are pelliclizing.
Next day they were smoked in a Bradley for 3 hours at 210 until they hit an IT of 160F.
Made pastrami with the entire upper hind of the muzzleloader buck (16 lb)
The big muscles were all cut into 0.5 to 1.5 lb chunks - bagged - and frozen.
To eat the pastrami you thaw it out, then poach in water or broth for a couple hours, slice and serve.
Like picnic hams, pastrami needs to be steamed/boiled prior to serving or it's hella salty. Haven't made reubens yet but will soon and I'll post pics.