This is OT, but seemed a proper audience to consult. Does anyone know how to cure back bacon to make proper British rashers? I can get the rashers, but they're uncured and hence don't taste quite right.

Unfortunately Charcuterie says nothing on the subject.

Geo

G Wiv wrote:Pastrami ruben for dinner tomorrow.

Thats Right!

This is OT, but seemed a proper audience to consult. Does anyone know how to cure back bacon to make proper British rashers? I can get the rashers, but they're uncured and hence don't taste quite right.

What's different about the taste of British rashers vs. US bacon? Is there anything besides a simple salt and sugar cure in the taste?

Recently cured and smoke some bacon from a belly I got from Gunthorp farms.

Any recommendations on places to get brisket. I really want to make some corned beef or pastrami in the next couple of weeks.

drshoebocks wrote:Any recommendations on places to get brisket. I really want to make some corned beef or pastrami in the next couple of weeks.

ExCel on Lake Street is great, but their hours are limited to call ahead.

msmre wrote:

drshoebocks wrote:Any recommendations on places to get brisket. I really want to make some corned beef or pastrami in the next couple of weeks.

ExCel on Lake Street is great, but their hours are limited to call ahead.

Their hours are Mon-Fri 5 am to 1 pm, but I would call to verify if you were going there at 5 am. It is cash only, too.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Their hours are Mon-Fri 5 am to 1 pm, but I would call to verify if you were going there at 5 am. It is cash only, too.

Regards,

And when they say 1 pm, they don't mean 1:01, either.

drshoebocks wrote:Recently cured and smoke some bacon from a belly I got from Gunthorp farms.

I was lucky enough to taste some of that bacon in a sauce this weekend - it is incredible!

I'm also lucky enough to have the other half of that pig . Has anyone ever smoked Guanciale? I have some that will finish curing in the next day or two and am thinking about smoking it before hanging it.

Attrill wrote:

drshoebocks wrote:Recently cured and smoke some bacon from a belly I got from Gunthorp farms.

I was lucky enough to taste some of that bacon in a sauce this weekend - it is incredible!

I'm also lucky enough to have the other half of that pig . Has anyone ever smoked Guanciale? I have some that will finish curing in the next day or two and am thinking about smoking it before hanging it.

I have cured and smoked a few jowls and cured and dried a few jowls, but have never done all three to one jowl. Not sure how that would work.

Authentic guanciale is not smoked. But a number of European meats like speck are; I'd give it a light smoke and see how you like it. (Herb Eckhouse of La Quercia said that when he made speck the first time, he walked it through the same room as the smoker without stopping. Their "smoke-kissed" speck is pretty damn wonderful.)

Mike G wrote:Authentic guanciale is not smoked. But a number of European meats like speck are; I'd give it a light smoke and see how you like it. (Herb Eckhouse of La Quercia said that when he made speck the first time, he walked it through the same room as the smoker without stopping. Their "smoke-kissed" speck is pretty damn wonderful.)

Thanks! I think I'll try a quick smoke of apple wood on it when it's done curing.

Attrill wrote:

Mike G wrote:Authentic guanciale is not smoked. But a number of European meats like speck are; I'd give it a light smoke and see how you like it. (Herb Eckhouse of La Quercia said that when he made speck the first time, he walked it through the same room as the smoker without stopping. Their "smoke-kissed" speck is pretty damn wonderful.)

Thanks! I think I'll try a quick smoke of apple wood on it when it's done curing.

Remember, when smoking jowls, to forget what you learned about smoking bellies. The fat content is much higher and texture will suffer if your heat is too high or you leave them in the smoke too long.

Mom and I are both huge pastrami fans so for her birthday (and shared with family), 8 lbs of grass-fed brisket (mostly point, but some flat) from Butcher & Larder - injected and brined for about 5 days, smoked 12 hours, steamed for 3+ hours, and the best pastrami I've made yet. Not much left, but enough for a couple pastrami reubens this week.

That looks excellent!

stevez wrote:That looks excellent!

Thanks . . . I was really happy too, and particularly enjoyed some of the fattier bits.

Nice work. Pastrami has been on my to-do list for quite some time. Your success has produced some serious jealousy that's going to drive it higher on my list.

tboyhankv wrote:Nice work. Pastrami has been on my to-do list for quite some time. Your success has produced some serious jealousy that's going to drive it higher on my list.

An often felt emotion around here. Our peer group does a fine job of improving all our skills by attempting to emulate or better something posted here.

Regards,

My only complaint, and not much of one, is that I would have preferred just a touch less smoke. I used only hickory, about 5 chunks total . . . 3-4 probably would have gotten me to the right point. But compared to most versions I've tried that I think totally lack smoke, I preferred this. My biggest obstacle really was regulating the temperature as I didn't have a shady spot on my deck during several critical hours and the outside temperature was flying high, so I really had to work hard to keep temps in the desired range. But my parents were in from out of town and my mom was especially thankful for, and impressed by, the effort - her single favorite food (up there for me too). I'm so thankful to the LTH community for the tips and inspiration.

Really pretty BR, nice job!

I've never tried pastrami, but there's a group of us who are working, really working, hard on Schwartz's Smoked Meat, which is Montréal's very own version of Romanian pastrami. One of the guys is getting *very* close. I'll try to get some pix when I visit him in Sonoma next week.

LTH, as C2 notes, is an inspiration to us all!

Geo

Hi,

Last week, I began pickling/brining a full brisket for pastrami. I smoked it yesterday for about six hours when I detected an internal temperature of 161. I then steamed it for three hours or more immediately afterwards. The point was done. The flat would allow a fork to pierce, though it was still rather firm. I am steaming it presently until it is a bit more tender.

I will be serving it tomorrow at a program where I have access to a microwave, stove and oven. Ideally, I would li ke to slice while cold, then let it gently rewarm in the oven ... though I have read it may dry out. Yet, I spent so much time, I don't want to ruin it at the last moment. Worse comes to worse, I could steam it and slice it as it is served.

I could also slice it cold and leave it to warm to room temperature.

Any thoughts on how to serve this without spoiling the outcome?

Regards,

I would make a broth using your original pickling spices and reheat the meat in the broth.

If you have access to a foodsaver, you can seal up slices and dunk the sealed bags in a sink full of hot tap water to get them ready for service.

=R=

C2--

I do this all the time with Montréal Smoked Meat: put in a steamer basket, in a pot with some water, and raise the temp to the point where you can NOT see any steam through the lid, but when you take the lid off, steam immediately appears. (Assuming that you have a glass lid, of course! : )

Geo

there's a group of us who are working, really working, hard on Schwartz's Smoked Meat,

Have you come up with a recipe you can share?

ppezalla--

It's still a work-in-progress, but this is where we're at, courtesy of Howie, Jean, and Elam (with a bit o' aide from me).

Geo

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Finding the Holy Grail of Schwartz’s Smoked Meat
1. Brine for 4-5 days in a concoction derived from Michael Ruhlman’s Corned Beef recipe in Charcuterie as amended by Jean Houle.

a. The pickling spice: (Either crushed or coarsely ground in blender after the seeds were first lightly toasted):
• 2 TBL black peppercorns
• 2 TBL mustard seeds
• 2 TBL coriander seeds
• 1 TBL hot red pepper flakes
• 2 TBL allspice berries
• 1 TBL ground mace
• 4 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 TBL whole cloves

b. The brine (Simmer until sugar and salts are dissolved; then refrigerate. Add brisket, and keep submerged under a plate):
• 3 quarts water
• 1 ½ cups Morton kosher salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 5 TSP Morton’s Tender Quick
• 3 TSP minced garlic
• 1 ½ TBL smoked hickory salt
• 2 TBL of pickling spice as per above
• 4-5 lb well-marbled brisket

2. Desalted in 4 changes of cold water, each one hour apart

3. Applied pastrami rub and refrigerated for 2 additional days in airtight bag. (Seeds were coarsely ground but not heated)
• 1 TBL paprika
• 2 TBL coriander seeds
• 4 TBL black peppercorns
• 2 TBL yellow mustard seeds
• 2 TSP Penzey’s dehydrated garlic
4. Smoked with applewood in water smoker at 210 ℉ for 4 hours
5. Steamed for 5 hours at 240 ℉ under foil on rack in oven.

http://leitesculinaria.com/5912/recipes ... -beef.html
http://www.mrbbq.ca/2010/01/smoked-meat ... isket.html

Geo,

Sounds great - will give it a try soon.

ronnie_suburban wrote:If you have access to a foodsaver, you can seal up slices and dunk the sealed bags in a sink full of hot tap water to get them ready for service.

=R=

Great! How long do they need to sit before serving?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:If you have access to a foodsaver, you can seal up slices and dunk the sealed bags in a sink full of hot tap water to get them ready for service.

=R=

Great! How long do they need to sit before serving?

Regards,

Not long. 30 minutes or so depending on how hot the water is and how cold the pastrami is (and how much of it there is).

=R=

Saturday's weather was a gift from the bbq gods and the perfect day to make pastrami. Here's just short of 10 pounds of nicely fatty brisket, which I injected Tuesday and let brine for just over 3 1/2 days:





I smoked it for about 7 hours to an internal temp of a few degrees shy of 160, then steamed it Sunday morning. Yesterday was pastrami with some terrific homemade mustard from boudreaulicious, tonight a pastrami reuben with griddled marble rye (perhaps too flattened), swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing:





Still some pastrami left over . . . pastrami hash, eggs and toast tomorrow? Why not.