Venison Pastrami Recipes

VENISON PASTRAMI

Steps:

• Mix everything thoroughly together in a bowl.
• Rub it thoroughly over the corned roast, getting a nice coating.
• Throw the roast in a smoker set (and pre-heated) to 220° and smoke it with a nice hardwood. About a cup of hickory chips is what I usually use. I never soak the chips. Put the wood chips in AFTER the smoker is pre-heated, otherwise they will all just burn up before it gets to temperature.
• The smoke isn't meant to last the whole cooking time, probably just about an hour or two at the most. You can experiment with that of course.
• For food safety reasons, I'll tell you 160° is the "safe" internal temperature to shoot for. From a meat moisture perspective, you'll be happier with somewhere below 160° - I usually shoot for 150-155°. It takes 3 to 4 hours, sometimes a little longer. You can make the call on what temp you are comfortable hitting...
• If your smoker doesn't have a food temperature probe built in, I strongly recommend getting one for it. It saves you from having to open the smoker to check the temperature - which drastically drops the temperature, especially if you smoke on a cold or windy day.
• When it's up to temp, let it cool, then slice up for sandwiches. I usually wrap it in foil, and toss it in the fridge till the next day when I slice it.

HOMEMADE PASTRAMI

Steps:

• In pot large enough to hold brisket, combine 1 gallon/4 liters of water with kosher salt, sugar, sodium nitrite (if using), garlic and 2 tablespoons pickling spice. Bring to a simmer, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.
• Place brisket in brine, weighted with a plate to keep it submerged; cover. Refrigerate for 2 days if it's thin, a third day if it's thick.
• Remove brisket from brine and rinse thoroughly. Refrigerate it for another day uncovered (this is best, to let cure equalize, but if you can't wait, that's ok too).
• Combine the pepper and coriander and coat the brisket with it. Smoke and cook the brisket, till tender, as described above. This will keep for a week in the refrigerator. Steam it to reheat or reheat covered in a microwave (gently). Slice thinly to serve.

VENISON PASTRAMI

Steps:

• Combine water, kosher salt, brown sugar, pickling spice and pink cure salt in a large container. Stir until dissolved.
• Place roasts in a separate container and pour brine over the top so all meat is well covered.
• Cover and refrigerate for 5-7 days, turning roasts at least once on day 3 or day 4.
• Remove meat from brine and discard brine. Rinse meat removing all spices.
• Soak meat in fresh cold water for 2-3 minutes
• Place meat on a baking rack and let the water drain off. Pat meat dry with paper towels.
• Place peppercorns, coriander seeds and mustard seeds in a spice blender or food processor. Blend just until spices are broken up.
• Mix in garlic powder and smoked paprika
• Rub mixed spices all over meat
• Place meat on racks in smoker. Set smoker temperature to 160°.
• Place one pan of wood chips in smoker
• When wood chips stop smoking (approximately 1 hour) add a 2nd pan of wood chips
• Continue cooking in smoker until meat reaches 145°. This may take 4-6 hours.
• Remove meat from smoker and place on a baking rack over a cookie sheet
• Preheat oven to 275°
• Pour hot tap water into cookie sheet, filling pan about half full. This will become your steam tray.
• Wrap meat and pan with foil so that no steam will escape during cooking
• Carefully move pan to oven
• Bake in preheated 275° oven for 1 hour
• Remove from oven and allow to sit covered for 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove foil.
• Slice when meat is cooled

VENISON PASTRAMI

Steps:

• Whisk together curing mixture, brown sugar, pepper, paprika, bay leaf, allspice, and garlic powder in a bowl. Rub mixture over venison roast, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place roast in a bowl; refrigerate for 5 days.
• Remove roast from the refrigerator and rinse thoroughly to remove the curing mixture. Place in a bowl with water to cover, and soak, refrigerated, for 2 hours. Drain.
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Season roast with additional black pepper and brown sugar, and place in a roasting pan.
• Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven until a meat thermometer inserted near the center reads 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), about 2 hours.