Although it’s still half a month off, what a great birthday present! One of the things I missed about the south is the flavor of really smoked foods. Here in California, folks throw some wood on the coals and call that ‘smoking’…oh please!
Laura was horrified that I might convert an old water heater into a smoker, so I think she did the next best thing by finding a superb smoker for my cooking pleasures! Weber makes a wonderful smoker in two sizes that she bought through Sears on line that is wonderful.
The pictures above are of me opening my ‘surprise’ and my smoker going at 4:30 am this morning! I have been making my own corned beef these past weeks and smoking converts it to Pastrami… my wife’s favorite meat! Ah… I see there was method in her gift!…. smart girl.
There are many great recipes on line, so I would follow them or check on the ones at Morton.com. However, my basic corned beef spices:
1/2 tsp of each: red pepper flakes, Carraway and Coriander
crushed cinnamon stick
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp each of: mustard seed, ginger
1 tsp of black peppercorn
8 whole cloves
6 Juniper berries ( a strong taste)
12 allspice berries
6- 8 lb brisket
my brine mixture containing 5 cups water and 3 cups ( 2 bottles) Heineken beer ( in my daughter’s honor)
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Now to convert Corned Beef to Pastrami requires smoking for about 6 hours or so.
After washing and soaking I added the following seasonings prior to smoking: Pimenton ( Spanish smoked Paprika), salt, black pepper, garlic powder and a smattering of Pickling spices
Now to enjoy!
Roger
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