# Pastrami



## Ajo (Sep 21, 2020)

One recipe says brine beef brisket 6 days then dry with paper towels and cook. Another recipe says start with a corned beef brisket but toss the season packet and soak the meat 8 hours refresh water every 2 hours. If one soaks for 6 days why would the other ( prepared) need 8 hours of fresh water 
I smoke briskets often but thought I would try to make pastrami.


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## Andy M. (Sep 21, 2020)

Welcome to DC.

Historical distinctions aside, corned beef and pastrami are very similar. Corned beef starts out as brisket (usually) that is soaked in a brine to cure it. Then it is cooked and eaten. If you take a corned beef before cooking, coat it with a certain blend of spices and smoke it, you have pastrami. So, in short-hand, pastrami is seasoned, smoked corned beef.


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## Markf (Sep 21, 2020)

The difference between Pastrami and corned beef is that, after brining, corned beef is boiled till tender and pastrami is spice rubbed and smoked. Homemade corned beef and pastrami are worth all the effort.


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## taxlady (Sep 21, 2020)

I have made corned beef several times. It turned out really well. I salted and seasoned (mostly diced, savoury, vegis, if remember correctly) the brisket and put it in a zipper bag. Then, it gets massaged to work the salt into the meat. It gets stored in the fridge for about a week. It gets turned every 12 hours. The salt draws enough liquid out of the meat to create the brine.


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## Ajo (Sep 21, 2020)

*Corned beef brisket*

I am gonna smoke a store bought CBBrisket that comes packaged with juice and spices. Do I need to wash it for 8 hours and if so why? What am I washing off?


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## Andy M. (Sep 21, 2020)

Just rinse it off, season it and smoke.


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## Markf (Sep 22, 2020)

While I agree with Andy, I prefer to soak 8 hours or overnight to leach out as much salt as I can. I have had a couple of commercially brined corned beefs be really salty after smoking.


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