Smoked pastrami from corned beef

[DivotMaker]

Trying something new today!  I got one of those pre-packaged corned beef flats from Sam's yesterday, and smoking it today.  It was only 3.93 lbs, so I thought it would take about 6 hours....wrong!  I'm 8 hours in @ 225, and it's only at 165 IT!  Sometimes, the meat decides how long it will take, not us!

The brisket was labeled as a "flat," but when I unwrapped it, it was a flat and part of the point.  I rinsed it thoroughly (but didn't soak it), and applied a liberal rub of Jim Baldrige's Secret Seasoning and choriander (2-1 mixture).  I wanted the choriander for a pastrami taste, and the secret seasoning has lots of garlic, onion and pepper, so that's the route I took. 

Hopefully, I'll be able to post results this evening!  I put it on at 8:15 am, thinking it would be ready by now!  I just got bit by the "longer than you thought" bug!   Hey, that's what makes this Q thing fun!  Sometimes, you just don't know how long it will take!

Being skeptical on the time, I had to poke the Maverick in to verify the Auber readings.  Dead-on, so it is what it is! 

 

[rickne]

Incredible!  8 hours for a 4 lb cut of meat and it's only at 165 IT?  I would have never ever guessed that.

 

[DivotMaker]

Me either!  It's at 172 9:15 in!  This little sucker is sure taking it's sweet time.  I've confirmed it with the Auber and the Maverick.  Can't figure this one out.  Thought I'd be eating pastrami sammies by now!  I bumped the temp to 250 to speed it along.  We'll see how that works!

 

[DivotMaker]

Finally hit 195 at 11 1/2 hours!  It was tender and juicy, but very salty!  The spices were good, but the meat was really salty.  I read, on another forum, to soak in water for 6 hours, but wanted to try it with just a rinse.  Next time, I'll do the plain water soak. 

 

[Walt]

Sometimes we learn more from the mistakes rather than the successes.

 

[DivotMaker]

So true, Walt!  This didn't turn out at all like I'd hoped.  I'll be brining my next attempt from scratch, not the pre-packaged stuff.

 

[crashmeister]

If those pictures are accurate, it looks very good. I am not a fan of over cooked meat. That looks nice and juicy.

 

[lcdearman]

I ran into the same long cooking time with my first brisket flat. My 4 lb flat took 12 hours. Some say that it is not just the weight of the brisket, but also the thickness. My post is here: https://www.smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=8239.0

 

[ARmike]

I have found, after doing 4 or 5 of these corned beefs to pastrami that you need to soak the thing 24 hrs or so and change the water once.
Oh yea, they take a while and there seems to be no rhyme or reason.