How to Make Homemade Pastrami

This process for making cured Homemade Pastrami gives you full control over the smoke and spices, with an extremely juicy pile of brisket. Read along for the entire process from curing to smoking a brisket flat, giving you the tools for the ultimate pastrami sandwiches.

One of my all-time favorite things to prepare is homemade pastrami, right off the smoker. This is my FIRST published recipe on Chiles and Smoke (Feb 9, 2019), simply because I absolutely love the craft and process that goes into it.

There are a lot of steps and time that go into making homemade pastrami. Each section of the process is outlined below, making it as clear as possible.

What is Pastrami?

You’ve likely tasted it at the deli or at a restaurant, but let’s briefly discuss what it is. Understanding the process will make it very clear.

Pastrami is a popular delicatessen meat originating from Jewish cuisine. It is made from beef, usually brisket flat, that is salt-cured, seasoned with various spices, and then smoked. The most common method of preparation involves first brining the meat in a mixture of salts, sugar, and seasonings for several days. After the brining process, the beef is rubbed with a mixture of more spices, primarily black pepper & coriander, and then smoked and steamed to create extremely tender slices.

Pastrami has a rich history dating back to the late 19th century in Romania, where it was originally made from mutton (sheep, a mature lamb). Jewish immigrants brought the dish with them to New York City, where it became a staple in Jewish delis and evolved to be made from large cuts of beef.

What’s the difference between Pastrami and Corned beef?

Both are cured cuts of beef, but there is a distinct difference between corned beef and pastrami.

Corned beef is made from brisket that has been salt-cured for several days and then boiled or slow-cooked. It has an extremely tender texture and a salty, slightly sweet flavor.

Pastrami starts out the same way, but instead of boiling the meat it is rubbed with spices, smoked, and steamed to create a more complex flavor profile. Pastrami has a bold, smoky, and spicy taste and more densely textured meat compared to corned beef.

Choosing the Best Cut of Beef

The best cut of meat to use for making homemade pastrami is beef brisket. Brisket is a cut of beef that comes from the chest area of the cow and has a good balance of meat and fat, making it perfect for pastrami. The meat has a large enough surface area to absorb the spices, and the fat content helps to keep it moist during the long smoking and steaming process.

When selecting a brisket for pastrami, look for a well-marbled cut, which will help to keep the meat tender and flavorful.

Our homemade pastrami recipe sticks with the traditional brisket flat, but don’t let that stop you. Use the same process to cure and smoke other meats to make pastrami pork belly, pastrami jerky, or even pastrami beef plate ribs.

Curing the Brisket

Now that you’ve got your beef picked out, let’s get started with the cure. The brisket will need to cure for about 4-5 days in a brine that uses a pink curing salt, giving it the ruby red color.

Ingredients for the Pastrami Brine

• 3 quarts ice water
• 1 quart boiling water
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• ¼ cup pickling spices
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 ¼ cups coarse kosher salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons Prague #1 curing salt

Preparing the Brine

Combine all of the spices, salts, and sugar in a large bowl or saucepan. Boil 1 quart of the water and pour it over the contents, whisking to dissolve the sugars and salts. This can take a few minutes as there’s quite a bit to dissolve.

In a large container with 3 quarts of ice water, pour in the 1 quart of dissolved brine solution and mix the two. You should be left with 1 gallon of brine.

Place the brisket flat in a large container that can hold the brine as well. You can use a meat injector to inject the brine into the brisket to ensure it’s deeply seasoned.

The brisket flat needs to brine for 5 days. I recommend flipping the brisket once a day and using a weight or a heavy plate to keep it submerged.

The Correct Curing Salt

Let’s stop to chat about the unique ingredient Prague #1 curing salt. Sometimes this is referred to as “pink salt” or also “Prague powder”. You must use Prague #1 curing salt for making pastrami. There is no substitute.

You might wonder where pastrami gets its bright red color from. That’s because this pink salt does have a trace amount of red dye to differentiate it from table salt, which could be a dangerous mistake. This pink salt has sodium nitrite, which is meant to prevent the growth of unwanted bacteria during the curing process.

There is a Prague #2 curing salt which is designed for dry curing cuts such as salami. This pink salt has a different composition from #1, and will not work for pastrami.

Our recipe uses 2 teaspoons of Prague #1 curing salt per gallon, for up to about 5 pounds of meat. If you’d like a helpful calculator to determine how much pink salt you’d need for a larger cut, use this Wet Curing Calculator.

Pickling Spice Recipe

The brine requires pickling spices, which can easily be picked up in stores or also purchased online.

Personally, I love to make my own so I have control over the flavors. Toasting the spices briefly also brings out more intense flavors. Here is our recipe for homemade pickling spices:

• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons coriander seed
• 2 tablespoons mustard seed
• 2 tablespoons fennel seed
• 1 tablespoon allspice berries
• 1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns (optional)
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 6 bay leaves, crumbled

Desalinate the Brisket after the Cure

Pastrami can be really salty if you skip this step. It seems weird, but you’ll want to soak the brisket in water after the brining phase.

After 5 days of curing, remove the pastrami from the brine. Discard the brine, and place the brisket in fresh water to soak overnight.

Corned beef does not require this step as it’s often braised, so the excess salt escapes into the water. Homemade pastrami will need to go through this process, otherwise, you’ll be turned off when you bite into the smoked slices.

Season the Cured Brisket

After soaking in clean water, remove the brisket from the liquid and discard the water. Pat the brisket very dry with paper towels.

Grind up the spices for the rub and generously coat all sides of the brisket. It’s finally time to smoke this!

Pastrami Rub Recipe

You can customize this by adding other aromatics such as mustard seeds, chile flakes, or more. This is the base rub that I start with, which is very typical for authentic pastrami:

• ¼ cup black peppercorns
• ¼ cup coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds

Grind everything up in a spice grinder or coffee grinder. You can keep it a little coarse, rather than a fine powder. If you do grind it very fine, the bark will be darker but not as pronounced with texture. This is completely up to you.

Smoking the Brisket

Warm up your smoker to 250°F. Carefully place the brisket in the smoker and allow it to cook for roughly 5 hours (about 165°F internal temperature). The outside should start to have a nice red color and the bark will be set.

You do not need to spritz during this time. The next phase will take care of moisture for the brisket.

Wrap in Foil to Tenderize

Double wrap the pastrami in aluminum foil and increase the temperature of the smoker to 300°F. There’s no need to add liquid, the brisket will continue to cook and steam inside the foil.

Place the wrapped pastrami back in the smoker and continue to cook until the meat is probe tender, roughly around 200-205°F. This will likely take around 2 more hours.

This part of the process skips past having to steam the pastrami. Cooking a fully wrapped brisket in this way will produce extremely tender meat. You do sacrifice a little with the bark, but it’s worth it.

Rest, Slice, Consume

Once the pastrami is probe tender, remove it from the smoker. Allow it to rest at room temperature for about 30-45 minutes before slicing in.

You’ll notice that the pastrami is very tender, but more firm than a traditional smoked brisket. Curing the meat in the brine toughens the muscles, this is expected.

Slice against the grain and pile it high on sandwiches. You’ll have to eat some right off the cutting board of course.

Important Tips

• Toast the spices before you use them. This goes for the pickling spices, and also the pastrami rub. Lightly toasting the spices in a dry skillet for a few minutes brings out the natural oils and enhances the flavors.
• Try other cuts of meat. Stick with beef and try beef short ribs, the eye of round, or other cuts. Explore with pork belly, pork loin, or even duck!
• Desalinate the brisket. Trust me, soaking the cured brisket in water for the recommended time makes a world of difference. I know that this is a very long process, but it’s not worth skipping this step.

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