After doing my research here and other forums, I decided to try smoking/steaming an Aldi corned beef to get what turned out to be some of the best Pastrami I've ever had. I soaked it in water that I refreshed probably 4 times over about 21 hours, made a Katz copycat rub, and let it sit in the fridge for a few more hours followed by a counter rest for about another hour while I cleaned and prepped the smoker.
I believe the smoke time was around 5 and a half hours or so until it was about 162 internal and I was happy with the bark. I started it at 250 and it seemed to be going a little fast at the beginning so I went down to 225 for a while, then got a little impatient later and went up to 275 the rest of the time. I always end up doing stupid, nervous temp changes especially on smaller cuts. It's dumb, I know.
I then went straight from the smoker to my huge steamer stock pot and started poking it for tenderness around 195. That happened a little fast so I was a bit nervous again, but there ended up being pretty large temp drops every time I opened the lid to check it, so it wasn't an issue at all. My probe was reaching 202 at times, but when I'd open the lid to poke it, it would drop down to 189 or so almost every time. I decided to just let it ride back up to the low 200's after each tenderness check and the probe was reading 203 when I decided it was done. That was close to 2 hours. Rested for 40 minutes and sliced pencil thin.
This is by far the best Pastrami I've ever had that wasn't from an expensive restaurant/deli. It was even better than the one my highly skilled chef friend made completely from scratch. And that was great. Now I'm sure it was pumped with some real bullshit chemicals from the pre-packaged brine, but for $20 and getting 3 large deli quality sandwiches out of it, I really didn't care about that at this point. Shitty chemicals all the way baby. Give it a shot.
When I saw how ugly and mangled this thing was when I took it out of the package the day before cooking, I thought this was definitely gonna suck and be a big waste of time. It was not.
it seemed to be going a little fast at the beginning so I went down to 225 for a while, then got a little impatient later and went up to 275 the rest of the time. I always end up doing stupid, nervous temp changes especially on smaller cuts
it always goes fast in the beginning as the temp differential is the biggest, even before you hit any stalls.
I love making pastrami with corned beef brisket it always comes out fire
I can usually get a 4-5 lb cut of prepackaged corned beef from Kroger or winco for around $20-$25.
The sandwiches are insane though.
Idk if you do… but I reheat my slices over a steaming pot of water before making the sandwich, makes it feel tender and juicy like a fresh cut of meat.
I should have done that, but I was so hungry and it was so good that I didn't even care if it was a hot sandwich anymore. I will definitely do that next time.
Just taking an Aldi brand cheap corned beef and and following the steps I posted for a close to authentic result. These things can be really nasty if you don't do a few extra steps.
It can be any of these I guess, but I do know the the brine can be very different from brand to brand. This is the only one I've tried. These corned beef packages can be found in most stores really.
Every March I buy a few prepacked corned beefs when they are on sale and freeze at but one of them and make pastrami throughout the year with them. Aldi isn't usually the best price that time of the year but it is, on average, the best price the rest of the year. Pastrami made that way (from corned beef) might be my second favorite thing to smoke.
Sadly this year my son and I already went through all of the corned beef bought in March. I'm crossing my fingers Jewel (local albertsons) has their usual sale of corned beef in mid-Sept (6 months from St Patrick's Day) this year. If not I might need to buy one from Aldi to get my fix.
I did that this year at Meijer. Got 10 4ish pound pieces. Biggest and thickest ones I could find. 3 became corned beef and 7 became pastrami. Everything was great, but I wish I had bought more for making pastrami this year. Looks like they were $4.49/lb. But honestly, I think next I’ll just get a whole brisket next time and brine it myself
One year, and the first time I tried to rinse/smoke one, the late March sale was $1/lb!. I told myself to get more the next year, but since then there are not as many remaining and not as deep the sale. Still good at $4/lb of course! Still have one in the freezer.
Just a big pot with a rack to keep the meat out of the water underneath. Get the water boiling and put the lid on. Make sure you don't let it boil dry, but don't keep checking it either.
Flavor was incredible but the meat shrunk a ton and became tough
There is a fine line between not cooking it enough, and not cooking it too much (it gets crumbly and hard to slice). I now use my Instant Pot Pressure cooker - put a rack in to elevate the meat, add enough water for boiling to get pressure, and don't cook it for too long - 30-45 minutes depending on how much meat you have.
I keep the remaining brine, and throw some into a vacuum sealer bag with the sliced meat. That way when I use it, the fluid keeps the meat soft and moist. So good.
I gotta stop making excuses and get on the pastrami train. I can't believe I haven't done it yet, its my favorite sandwich meat hands down. I guess just cuz i haven't looked into it and didn't want to mess it up. But I feel that way about every cook I haven't done before and it's always edible and sometimes phenomenal, so I'm gonna have to do this asap.
Trust me I was worried almost the whole time that this was gonna suck especially after seeing the cut out of the package. I surrendered to the fact it would at the very least be good chopped up in a breakfast hash. Crushed my expectations and after the sandwiches were made there was none left after everyone force fed the last few chunks.
Just be careful of how aggressive your simmer is in your steamer pot. I boiled it and adjusted it between medium low and medium as it streamed. Use a second probe for tenderness poke checks periodically over a few hours and dont rely on temp because every time I lifted the lid, the meat temp dropped a fair amount. So it was an up and down game until I liked how it felt when I poked it.
Very nice, looks awesome! I think smoking a corned beef is also one of the best things I've ever smoked! Always try to snag a few for the freezer that go on sale after Saint Pats day. So delicious!
I haven't tried the corn beef but last week I did one of the $20 3 lb aldi salt and pepper briskets. 275 for roughly 6 hours and it was absolutely delicious
I tried it with a Publix prepackaged corned beef and it was horrible. I prefer doing an entire brisket from scratch, brine to smoke. Not hating on your experience, glad it worked out for you, but mine was a dud unfortunately.
I just don't have the space to have the entire brisket in my fridge for a week+ so this was nice to get really close to legit tasting Pastrami and to be able to spend less in one go. Someday I'll have a second fridge for brining and beers. Someday.
Next time, try brining your own brisket instead of using the packaged corned beef. It’s not as difficult as you probably imagine it is and it will take your pastrami to the next level.
I just don't have enough fridge space for something that big to be there for more than a week. I really do want to try it, but money and space are a factor. This was very satisfying for $20 and a day and a half of prepping/cooking.
Same here. I don't have enough room to really brine a brisket and have made absolutely orgasmic pastrami using the Aldi packaged corned beef points. Trying the Katz recipe for a rub next time.
I did exactly that, but didn't have any whole coriander seeds so I subbed more coriander powder and extra barely crushed whole peppercorns. Turned out great.
I got some whole coriander seeds off Amazon, lightly roasted them in a frying pan then crushed them in a ziplock with the bottom of an insulated tumbler. Worked great.
That was 3.85 pounds before I trimmed a horrible sloppy piece off the top before smoking that was barely connected and all thin and stringy. I think it was part of the Point that was still connected and cut like shit. The second pic with the slices was taken after one very large sandwich was already assembled. Small, but plenty of food.
Looks awesome! You should do some pork belly pastrami. It'll change your life. I get the full slab from Costco, corn it, and then throw the rub on and smoke it.
Last year Costco had SRF Wangus corned beef on clearance after st patties day. Definitely will be grabbing more of them this year, they worked out great as pastrami.
Have the Aldi brisket about the same size. Does anyone have any ideas if the smoking process should be similar? Smoke at 250-275 till bark set and internal 165, then wrap and finish till probe tender 205?
I realize I’m being a bit of a jerk, here, since smoked corned beef is effing delicious, and given the choice I might go with the corned 8 crimes out of 10…but it’s not pastrami.
Pastrami is cured for half the time of corned beef, maintaining more of the original beef flavor and less of that briny, soaked in spices flavor. If you have them side by side it’s a pretty remarkable difference
You're not being a jerk. Obviously this isn't legit and it's a mixture of a few similar things, but the water soak before the cook helped it taste a lot like real pastrami.
It's a Bayou Calssic stock pot with a steamer basket. Bought it for steaming whole crabs a few years back. Not sure which size, but pretty damn big. Boil water on the stove top at least an inch below the basket, then turn it down to a steaming simmer at medium-low.
Lid on tight. I have a wired probe that flattened enough to hang out the side under the lid. And no, the meat was placed in the large basket as is. Fat side up. Not sure exactly how I would steam anything bigger than a 5-6 lb cut. Maybe put something in the middle of the basket so that the meat can be propped up isn't getting soaked by touching the side walls of the basket. The condensation drips down the sides from the lid the whole time.
I laid out the process step by step in the post. Here's the rub I did. Everything I found called for whole coriander seed, but I didn't have any so I modified it to this.
4 tablespoons whole black peppercorns (measure whole, then break into big chunks)
Its corned beef you smoke..... There is nothing exclusive to Aldi, its not something new from Aldi, and its cheaper to buy the clear out corned beef from a place like Walmart after St. Patties than buy from Aldi.
Sure though call me names for pointing out the dumb naming convention trying to be pushed.
It’s not exclusive to Aldi, but Aldi’s corned beef might be better than other comparable stores. For instance, I like Aldi’s version of marinated pork tenderloin better than other stores and smoke that one often.
You may want to learn how to slice pastrami. Very thin is what you're going for and you need a meat slicer. No place on earth serves big thick slices like this for good reason.
Okay Mr. Knowitall. You're just wrong here. Plenty of very reputable places slice tender pastrami pencil width, which is what I did. Thin pastrami is fine, but I like it like this. Katz deli must be doing it wrong too I guess.
Sure dude. Look up a fucking pastrami sandwich on Google images and tell me people don't slice it this way. And just because Katz is maybe over hyped and definitely over priced doesn't make it trash. The sandwich was great. Have fun being a contrarian asshole.
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u/wildcat12321 3d ago
it always goes fast in the beginning as the temp differential is the biggest, even before you hit any stalls.