Venison Pastrami Recipe with Pics

[Neighbor_guy]

First let me say that I am sorry about the week long tease. I will post up the process and the pics then give you the recipe.

I was looking for something new to try and this was what I decided on. I started with two Venison Top Round Roasts. Trimed of most of the silver skin and fat. Same as you would prep it for the crock pot.

Mixed the "dry cure" and coated everything down heavy with the rub. I did have rub left over, I may have had enough to do a third roast, but this was the first time I put one of these together, so it was a little trial and error. I put them into a marrinating dish and taped it shut. It still managed to leak a little, but not as much as it could have.

It then went into the "Beverage" fridge in the garage for the next 8 days. Rotating and shaking before and after work. This was the pain in the wazzo stage.

[Neighbor_guy]

So after 8 days in the fridge, I removed them from the fridge, and rinsed them off with cold water, cleaned the dish, and let them sit in cold water for 2 hours while I preped the smoker and the final rub.

Cold water bath...

It should be noted that if you prefer "Corned Beef" to pastrami, stop at this point. Add the roast to a stock pot with onion, carrots, cellery, 2 large bay leaves, and some cabbage, cover with water and bring to a simmer for about 3 hours. Chop and enjoy.

For Pastrami, add the final Rub...

And put on the smoker...

getting close...

[Neighbor_guy]

Smoke 'em at about 200 to 205 for between 3 and 4 hours. It will depend on your smoker. I use a combination of Large chunk Hickory and Maple chips for my smoke. Flip them about half way so you can get a good crust on both sides. Look for 150-155 deg internal temp on the meat.

Off the smoker and resting...

Let them sit out and cool to room temp. Then cover in an air tight dish or zip lock bag and put in the fridge overnight. They will be smoky and sticky, dont let your family see you licking your fingers...

The next morning...

Slice very thin, deli style...

Beware of bystandars. This one was pulling meat off the plate as fast as I was pulling it off the slicer....

[Neighbor_guy]

I ended up with just over 4lbs of sliced finished meat. I have to figure about 1/4lb of "samples" before final weights were taken. I did have extra rub after both the cure and the crust stages, but better to have a little extra than not enough. I could have done 3 roasts rather than just two, but I only had two left.

It turned out realy good!!! The meat itself is good and sweet with a nice smokey flavor and the cust has a good taste with a little bit of bite on the finish.

My local deli does not carry pastrami. I did a little looking around and found a couple of deli's in Minneapolis that are selling it sliced for between $17 and $22 per pound!!! For that kind of money, I think I will make my own. Even if it was a pain in the rear and took over a week.

[Neighbor_guy]

OK, here is the Recipe...

Wow thats good Venison Pastrami

The Cure:

• 5 tablespoons Tender Quick

• 4 tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar (packed)

• 3 Large Hole Dry Bay Leaves

• 1 teaspoon All Spice

• ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder

• ½ teaspoon Anis Seeds

• 1 table spoon Montreal Steak season

• 2 tablespoons coarse ground pepper

• ½ teaspoon of Ground Clove

This is the “dry cure” step of the process.

Mix all of the ingredients of the cure in a blender or spice grinder making sure all of the ingredients are as close to the same size as possible. Coat all of the meat evenly, and rub it in. Place the meat in zip lock freezer bag and lay flat in a glass baking dish. Put it in the fridge. Rotate the meat twice a day, for a week. If you want stronger flavor go up to two weeks.

After the meat gets done with its “time out”, remove it from the bag and rinse it in a water bath for two hours at room temp. Pat it dry and put on the second rub. Again Blend spices to break up Mustard and Coriander but pulse to keep them coarse.

Final Crust Rub:

• 1 tablespoon Garlic Powder

• 2 tablespoons Coarse ground Pepper

• 1 teaspoon Paprika

• 1 tablespoon Mustard Seed (Whole)

• 1 tablespoon Coriander (Whole)

• 1 teaspoon Dark Brown Sugar

Into the smoker it goes for 3-4 hours at 200deg. You are looking for about 150 to 155 degree internal temp of the meat. I like to use a combination of Hickory and Apple or Hickory and Maple as my wood.

Remove the roasts from the smoker and let rest until they cool to room temp. Place in zip lock baggy or an air tight container and place it in the fridge overnight, 24hours if possible. This will let it firm up. Slice as thin as possible and enjoy.

[thirdeye]

Looks great!!! I bet the venison was super tender. I've been corning my own beef for years and make pastrami from it, as well as the store bought corned briskets and rounds. It all beats pastrami sold in supermarket deli cases.

Would you share your cure recipe?

EDIT - Looks like I was a few minutes off, you must have been at the keyboard when I asked. Thanks

[reinhard1]

excelent presentation!!!!!!i know this one is on the agenda. thank you very much for taking the time to show all of us an excelent pastrami lesson. good luck.

[OnAFly]

Well done. Looks awesome!

[ThunderLund78]

All out of Venison right now but I'm going to try this with beef just to make sure I can pull it off, since my smoking experience is very "un-honed" at this point. Like you said, the waiting is the hardest part! Everything else seems pretty methodic and simple. GREAT posts, very informative and entertaining all at once. first time I've been on the edge of my seat reading this forum

[buddha]

I love that idea. Gonna give it a try as it looks awesome.

[OnAFly]

I've got mine curing in the garage fridge right now I couldn't resist!

[pushbutton]

About the same time Neighbor Guy was doing his, I was using a wet brine for the first time on these two small pork loins. Generally have difficulties in following recipies and just threw in some water, tederquick, onion, garlic, mustard, black and hot pepper. Good lord was it good.....kind of a mix of bacon, spicy ham/canadian bacon. If you you have never brined would definitely give it a shot....well worth the wait!

[Neighbor_guy]

I've got mine curing in the garage fridge right now I couldn't resist!

So?????? Smoked???? Good????

I am officialy out of pastrami. I should have added a line to the recipe "Imediately freeze half of the stack"

Please let us know what you thought and how it turned out for you.

[Surface Tension]

Thanks for sharing. I'll have to give this recipe a try.

[OnAFly]

It's still brining. It will go into the smoker tonight. This is going to be a long day.

[OnAFly]

I only got to sample a slice this morning before work, but it was awesome

Thanks for sharing the recipe!

The menu for tonight: Pastrami on rye

[Surface Tension]

I just pulled two moose roasts out of the freezer.

[reinhard1]

that thing was a monster. should turn out great. good luck.

[hoggsback]

Glad I found this one again. I was cleaning out the freezer in the garage and found two roasts. I immediately thought of this recipe. I made two roasts this way last year. It was awesome. I might do one as pastrami and one as corned venison. Get the best of both worlds. The only trouble is waiting while it cures.

Thanks for sharing the recipe.

[OnAFly]

I've used this one many times since it was first posted. It's been a hit with everyone who's tried it.

I've done Elk, Goose, Venny, Beef, and Wild Turkey. It all turns out great!

[LindellProStaf]

Thanks for the info and the pics. That looks awesome. I will definitely be doing this. I pack a lunch every day and run out of fun ways to make my sandwichs. Armadillo egg sandwichs are great! Now I will add this to my menu. I wonder what kind of beef roast a guy should use?

[dirtking]

I saw this thread last year and tried it - mmmmmmmm - I even labeled packages for pastrami when i was butchering my deer last year!

[hunter322]

My mouth is watering just looking at it!

[eyeguy 54]

nice!!

[dirtking]

I have a batch on day 5 as we speak!