Pastrami Brisket Has Been My NEMESIS! | Kamado Joe Brisket Pastrami

Finally a GOOD brisket pastrami? it's been a few years since my pastrami brisket for good reason... that's because it came out pretty terrible.
Since then, we've developed a number a tips & tricks for improving the quality of smoke on a Kamado Brisket including my most recent discovery of being able to use the DoJoe to increase air volume 4x so I think its about time to give the old pastrami brisket cook another chance.
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Chapters
00:00 - Are my bad pastrami results self inflicted?
02:09 - A new game plan to address these issues
03:25 - Good smoke at lower temps in a Kamado
05:10 - I nearly failed again with this setup
08:16 - How to make pastrami at home
12:56 - Pastrami rub & cook
15:46 - Plan B, trying to avoid another disastrous pastrami
18:07 - Results & Taste test
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#pastrami #brisket #kamadojoe

[@davelindey8023]

Even partial fails are beneficial. We learn from mistakes. I've learned a ton from this video. Thanks for being real!

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks 🙏

[@zunedog31]

I've been getting the already brining corned beef pouches from the grocery store. One of the simplest cooks I do and turns out great.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Sounds great!

[@chrisgenever7002]

I have four of those getting ready right now! I like to water bath them for two days first to pull out some salt. I then pay dry and add lots of black pepper and a little coriander with a mustard binder and let rest for a day in the fridge before smoking. It turns out very good!

[@JohnRiley1966]

It says a lot about your channel when you post parts of the cook that go wrong. Experimentation includes missteps. Great video.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks 👍

[@AverageJoeBBQ]

I bought my first Kamado last week when I saw a Kamado joe Jr on sale on Facebook Market. Got a great deal and later that day saw a deal on a classic joe 1 I couldn't resist so now I have two lol I haven't stopped cooking since. Been making lots of mistakes but alongside with your videos I am learning so much. I truly appreciate all the info you provide. Thank you James.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Right on and thanks

[@peterdobol6662]

James love your channel. I also cooked a pastrami (Al/Fette Sau method) 6 six months ago. Brined it for 2.5 weeks (Coleman Party Stacker fits our refrigerator). I have the FlameBoss 500 on a Primo XL. Was able to hold 205. Water pan-yes. Foil boated at 165F. Pulled it at 195F. Did the 14 hour hot hold in our oven. Only happy family. I only wish that I had as many family/friends like you to cook all of the briskets etc that you cook.

[@limori2]

Hi James, I actually think that seeing the learning curve helps us learn more than just the final set of directions that work, so thanks. About the "tale of two cities", maybe flip the brisket mid-cook to get an even cook?

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

If I abort the overnight and cooked like normal I could have moved to the boat earlier

[@weirjamin]

I tested this multiple times and it has the best NY deli pastrami in the stream try experience. You after you take it off the smoker and give it a rest, tightly wrap it in plastic wrap and store in your fridge for 24 - 72 hours. When reheating heat in a steam pan, or I use a wire rack in a bottom of a large pan with a lid for 45 minutes to an hour with the stream barely coming out. Something about refrigerating and then steam reheating makes it that super deli moist, hot, and juicy.

[@19Silver67]

Would be great to be use for hash for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I can eat it any time.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Absolutely we found a use for it

[@KamadoJoeGrills]

Awesome video James!

[@Joshi069]

Taking us on a story arc of the cook is so interesting. Telling us in depth how you will approach it passes on your knowledge in a way that allows us to become better cooks and not blindly follow a recipe without knowing why each step is taken. A true value to the community! Thanks James!

[@stephenkohl1430]

Enjoyed this video. Thank you for making them and taking the time to make them.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks for watching!

[@BehindTheFoodTV]

Great job James! You had to work hard for that one but I promise it will get easier!

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks Al, in hindsight the DoJoe overnight idea set me off on the wrong foot and we had to scramble .... I don't remember you injecting your point with brine but that was odd

[@BehindTheFoodTV]

@@SmokingDadBBQ I didn't inject it with brine, but I may have brined a few days longer than you, or had better "coverage" of the brine? I had that happen with a corned beef a few years ago and I just didn't use enough curing salt. The good news is that you get to keep practicing and tasting along the way!

[@dres-bbq3569]

Looking good James, love that you are so honost about your cooks.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks so much

[@samacc2536]

I don’t understand why people complain about the length of videos when the creator has time stamped chapters. It makes absolutely no sense. Even if it was a fail, so what? Not every story ends with a happily ever after. One of the reasons I really enjoy your channel is because every single one of your videos offer a learning experience/valuable content. There will always be haters, thank you for sticking through them for us James!

[@whalhoward1970]

Glad you show the good and the opportunities for improvement. Maybe you should test injecting brine into the point to help improve the cure for the thicker parts of the pastrami brisket.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Good idea

[@robmitchell9627]

Thanks for sharing a cook that didn't go as planned. I've learned a lot from you, so I'd like to share a couple of things that work for me with pastrami (I've done it twice) 1. Instead of brining in a flat box, I use a Briner Bucket. To fit a brisket in the bucket, I separate the flat from the point. 2. I brine it in the bucket for 14 days using a cooler and ice 3. I cook the two pieces together using your double indirect method with the foil boat. 4. The flat finishes before the point (including boating it earlier), usually a few hours faster. This gives the point an extra couple of hours to rest, which usually means I keep it in an oven on low so it doesn't cool too much. 5. The point rests in the FTC for 2-4 hours after it finishes. It may be heresy to separate the point and the flat before the cook, but this way I get both sections to cook evenly. I think the extra moisture from the brine makes the brisket cook differently than a usual brisket - when I just dry brine a brisket overnight, I don't separate the point from the flat. My method wasn't a product of deep thought - it was a practical solution to fitting a brisket in a bucket. Having said that, both my pastrami attempts turned out great without adding more steps or tech to get it to properly cook. In the end, while I like the pastrami flavor, I don't make many this way because the extra flavor is generally not worth all of the extra effort put into the brining when compared to how a normal brisket tastes. Making a pastrami for the holidays is fun, but most of the time I stick with a dry brined texas brisket.

[@marcus12334]

I James, thank you for the great video you make. They are instructive and genuinely true. I've been watching your video for a few weeks now because i didn't know witch charcoal bbq to buy. I am now decided to buy a kamado joe classic 3. Keep up the excellent job. Next time you go to Montreal, let me know, i live 30 minute from there. Have a good Holliday

[@link_7164]

I love seeing these experiments with different set ups. Thank you! I’m saving for a bbq but haven’t decided which one. I’m thinking of getting a Weber Smokey mountain and adding a slo roller. I normally sneak in a comment letting you know I’d love to see you play around with one.

[@crashcopter6000]

Sometimes ya win... sometimes it's only really good 🙂. Thank you for showing what really happened!!

[@SausageKingofCanada]

to help even out your cure on thicker parts like the point, if you make LARGE foodsaver bags, you can fit the brisket and the brine, and then seal it up, the vacuum seems to help the cure penetrate better. You can also inject to help it along too. If you don't choose the equilibrium method, then you ;might have to let it soak for a couple of hours after in clean water to reduce the salt content.

[@wesleydrew9242]

I made a pastrami about 15 years ago and it turned out great. A couple of things I did differently: I let it rest to completely cool down and then refrigerated it. I sliced it cold (actually took it to a local deli at a grocery store and they were happy to slice it for me on their slicer). Then I reheated the slices gently in a steam basket before piling it high on rye bread. I also used a dry cure instead of a wet brine, but I think either should work fine. You might want to try injecting the brine to avoid the grey parts that didn't fully cure. I don't remember much more about it than that, but it might give you some places to start tweaking your method. What you made there looks like it would make an amazing pastrami hash.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

That’s exactly what we did

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

The hash

[@global425]

In addition to the detailed video 👍

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Glad you liked it!

[@smokingtarheel3003]

Yeah, but you still got me wanting a pastrami sandwich and probably many others too, so that's a definite win!

[@fecampbe]

Howdy James I've made backboard bacon from pork butter and actually injected my brine into the meat. This cuts down on brine time but assures complete penetration of the cure. Nice job but try injecting the point. It'll make the difference. Good cooking, Fred

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks for the tip

[@williamwilson2624]

The pastrami may not be perfect, but it still looks pretty good. Great video, James.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks!

[@ErnieDebets-yk7vn]

Another great video James! I’ve done a few Pastramis, try injecting the brine in the point and it will cure to the centre.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Will do next time thanks

[@CoolJay77]

And the saga of brisket pastrami continues. LOL I'm pretty sure it turned out delicious. It's interesting that as I recall, you did not run out of coals in the Konnected Joe during the hot hold phase, whereas you ran out of coals in the Big Joe. Will cooking at higher temp then switching to hold temperature help? Or even switching to a quebracho type of charcoal might help to some extent.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

I used the same charcoal in it so puzzled why that happened here.

[@emmgeevideo]

I'm dying to see more DoJoe uses. Is it worth the investment for shorter cooks like pork ribs, beef ribs, and whole chickens?

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

I had high hopes for this but it’s clear I need some sort of draft door vent for the front of that dojoe if I want to go below 300 as it just breathes too well. Now that the sloroller has been reduced from 500f max temp to 300f I see more potential in this vs the roller

[@chrisgenever7002]

Pastrami is one of my favorite cooks. I split my brisket in two, point for smoked brisket and flat for pastrami. I feel Pastrami should never be tender out of the smoker. Curing makes it much tougher allowing whisper thin slicing once cold. I bring it into the stall for a short time where it stops taking smoke and call it done. It is great cut thin and eat or boil with a little water and mustard to tender like Katz's style. Corned beef should be cured time/thickness. I give my flats two weeks and most points three to four. It is a preservation process, not a seasoning. I have never found my fireboard fan useful below 250f. It allows too much air past with the fan off. I just use the probes to monitor and let the Joe do it's thing with the vents set, no fan connected.

[@chrisgenever7002]

Also, I love this because I can control the salts. I like Les salt than most and since it is refrigerated I can use minimal nitrite. I like 100ppm for texture and flavor without adding unnecessary nitrite into my families diet

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks Chris

[@whitemtntn]

James - question about the kick ash can you've been testing... Does this using this can affect the use of the ash drawer hack for adding smoking wood mid-cook? Thanks!

[@Keith80027]

James thanks for doing this video with all the details on what and your thoughts on why it didn't work because I learn from your experiments. This causes me to think about what you did and how I might change it to come out better. I love pastrami but never tried to cook one, so this question is from someone who doesn't know how to cook great pastrami. To me pastrami is a brisket that has been soaked in a brine with pastrami seasoning, rubbed with pastrami seasoning and then cooked. Other than cooking to a desired cook end time, why not just cook the pastrami like a brisket? Is there something that happens with the pastrami seasoning that requires a low 205 degree cook and long hold at 140 to impart flavor?

[@richardpowell8065]

Time for another go with KJ pastrami! What happens if you just cook it at 250? Or your normal 280? Great video BTW!

[@TheDarienJim]

Thanks for sharing and it’s great to see even the best in the business can make mistakes, but heck this is a hobby and we all look for room to improve. One thing on your burn check at the beginning: I think that test was not accurate as when you checked the second burn it just shows that the charcoal has burned longer not more. Onl;y way though to really determine would be to run two similar sized KJ’s at same time at different temperatures and check.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

I tried to make it as close as possible as using my series 1 and 3 there would be slight differences

[@lazydog274]

When using a electric blower (fire board) and desiring a low and slow the inlet of the fan (IE the large hole that feeds the fan air) can be closed up to limit the amount of air simply by taping off the opening…. Simply make the 3 inch hole about 1/2 inch and make temps when fan is off drop and then fan can keep up with I need more air working to keep desired low temp. IE. Make the fan work harder to raise temps.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

That’s a good call out. I might have had to seal that up better

[@jamesorr1200]

My blower motor is outside, but I believe there’s a metal slider you can use to close up the aperture of that opening. 😊

[@mattstirling8111]

I have a konnected joe, have had better results now that the temperatures are starting to drop close too zero burning a hotter fire and better smoke results. In the warmer temperatures would you recommend Turing off the digital aspect and go old school so the draft door is open a little to promote more airflow ?

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

I used a spare set of deflectors in the Konnected and got double indirect to work fine even in summer with it

[@herb7877]

My first pastrami was (IMHO) way over cooked. I used just the flat. Red color all the way thru but pulling it 205 was too done. Made great Rueben sandwiches which all liked but it was on the dry side and chunked apart when slicing. A month later I pulled it at just over 192. Much better results for sandwiches. I did let both 'rest' for over an hour. I think they both cooked a bit after pulling them. I did not let them cool but placed in my home made insulated container.

[@samacc2536]

Sorry it wasn’t perfect, but I really liked this video! I’m happy to hear that with the DoJoe experiment you were able to use a controller to maintain 300 degrees. Have you attempted to cook a brisket yet using this approach? I’ve had great results using the DoJoe lately, and would love to see if your modifications help produce an even better DoJoe experience. Thanks for everything James!!

[@daporter84]

W looks like it would be good on poutine

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

100%

[@BPFnSC]

This just makes me want an offset. The Kamado Joe is great for grilling and smoking…but if we’re all seeking “just as good as an offset” we should probably just invest in an offset.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

It’s in a league of its own for that task for sure

[@tyoglesby5768]

Have you thought about flipping the brisket over halfway through the cook to avoid the crumbling bottom?

[@ukonthego]

James, I don’t know if I missed the point- but what’s different about pastrami vs regular brisket? Pastrami is just a brined and slightly different seasoned brisket, right? So can’t we cook it the same way we do a brisket on the kamado?

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

It’s cured brisket … I should in hindsight just done it like a normal brisket but the method the restaurant uses is a lower and slower overnight cook that I had committed too for lunch

[@tyoglesby5768]

Have you ever thought to turn the brisket over maybe halfway through a cook on a Kamado? I do that and it stops the grainy bottom. Empty nesters so don’t really cook brisket enough to say whether fat side down first or fat side up first is better.

[@lazydog274]

Woof woof. Beef this dog eats. Thumbs up 👍🏾 everyone

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Cheers

[@michaelcoughlin8238]

My 2 cents is you're probably just overthinking it. The cook should essentially be no different from your standard brisket cook, and you obviously have that down. I won't go into the differences in the recipe between yours and mine but as far as the cooking goes, I keep it simple. It's my wife's favorite smoked meat so I do them a lot. These days I only make pastrami from the flat and burnt ends from the point. I've done it on my offset as well as my Big Joe. No double indirect, no Doejoe, no fireboard. Lump charcoal, slow roller, 225d until 195 internal. The final cooking aspect for pastrami is the heating up for serving. The steaming process finishes off the cook. Depending on the day I might use a water pan in the offset, but the Big Joe is so efficient and contained I find it retains enough moisture. Plus, I typically cook more than one at a time.

[@TheRssr1979]

In mtl schwartz is amazing!

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

I go there every time I am in town

[@TheRssr1979]

@@SmokingDadBBQ Bens on Maisoneuve used to be another iconic place. Closed about 15-20 years ago now unfortunately

[@TheRssr1979]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bens_De_Luxe_Delicatessen_%26_Restaurant

[@MrPGB471]

@SmokingDadBBQ They also steam to complete the cook. I do as well, then cool in fridge, and slice next day nice and thin, reheat in steam and place leftovers in vacuum seal bags for easy reheating in hot water or sous vide.

[@DirkHarrington]

Sometimes I think you're more a mad scientist than JY 😅

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

hahaha i'll take it, thanks

[@nirglazer5962]

Nice video again! just confused on one thing, and sorry for my obvious ignorance since I haven't really done pastrami brisket, but if you're shooting for the same feel and texture (i think) of brisket, shouldn't you just do exactly what you're successfully doing with brisket?

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

I think in hindsight that would have been the thing to do but I had committed to a lunch next day and overnight cook

[@robertoconnell5054]

@@SmokingDadBBQ The long hot hold method works extremely well for a tomorrow-lunch brisket. (Pull off smoker at 190 internal, wrap in paper and foil and hold at 150 until time to serve. Tender and easy!

[@hakanduranl]

i ve tried so many times to make good pastrami and i came to the conclusion that if i keep my meat between 10-15 days and using less til non pink salt makes it much better and tastyer.. using colorozo salt is good to fasten things up but you have to stop earlyer with cooking ..

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Thanks for the idea

[@jeffsmith7740]

This may be blasphemy, but a pellet smoker can easily hold that low temperature. Thoughts?

[@global425]

I think your videos would be a lot better if you had a “summary “, rather the important steps summarized because it’s very difficult to watch a 20-40 min video , followed by recreation. The details are fantastic but I highly suggest summarizing it all in less than 2 mins to bring it all together

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

The blog post on the site has the core ingredients of that helps but thanks for the suggestion

[@emmgeevideo]

I agree, this one was a bit of a shaggy dog story. Methinks James needed to get a video out this week and had to go with this. My suggestion on this score would be to have separate videos on things like spatchcock technique or rub creation and then point to them vs. repeating time after time.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

@@emmgeevideo these aren’t intentional issues. The brisket takes a week to brine, costs $100, a two day recording effort and then editing for a 10/10 performer on KZbin and maybe $50 in ad revenue. These are the cooks that make one question why bother with KZbin in the first place

[@emmgeevideo]

@@SmokingDadBBQ Hmm... Not sure I said anything about "intentional". Quite the opposite. After all that work and expense and regular posting schedule, my hunch was that "the show must go on". No time for a do-over.

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

@@emmgeevideonot accusing just frustrated with this one lol. There are chapters in all my videos with time stamps to skip any repetitive parts

[@RicardoSantos-bt3dc]

I have a sugestion to make: try to make your videos shorter. 23 minutes to check why a pastrami went bad is to much

[@SmokingDadBBQ]

Noted thanks. Lots of people things were good so I might have left too much

[@RicardoSantos-bt3dc]

@@SmokingDadBBQ but the content is always on point. I've learned a lot from your videos for the last year or so.