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Grilling 24x7 » Recipes » Beef Recipes » Cheater Pastrami From A Corned Beef Brisket

Cheater Pastrami From A Corned Beef Brisket

by Frank Campanella 8 Comments

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Cheater Pastrami – Easy Homemade Pastrami Recipe

Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket

A few years ago I made homemade pastrami. I “corned” a beef brisket and then smoked it to make authentic homemade pastrami. Well, that’s a lot of work.

I wanted to explore one of the cheater pastrami recipes that I have been reading about.

Basically you just put a simple dry rub on a corned beef brisket (bought from the store already corned) and then smoke it. It turns out that this makes some really tasty cheater pastrami!

Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket

Around St. Patrick’s Day you’ll find some really good deals on corned beef.

Even though it’s not even close to St. Patrick’s Day, I still managed to pick up a corned beef “point” brisket. Costco usually has a bunch and you can always ask your butcher.

Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket

How to Make “Cheater” Pastrami

The night before making the pastrami open the package and put the corned beef into a casserole dish or ziptop bag and totally submerge it in water.

This will help get rid of some of the salt. Corned beef is really salty. A good overnight soak will help out a lot and significantly improve your pastrami results.

Dry rub for homemade cheater pastrami

Corned beef usually comes with a small spice packet. Throw this out. It’s really easy to make a simple pastrami dry rub.

I took a few tablespoons of coriander seed and put it in to a small food processor. This essentially cracks open the coriander seed to make it really fragrant.

I mixed a 50/50 ratio of black pepper with the coriander seed and mixed it up.

Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket

I set up my ugly drum smoker for 275-300 degree heat with apple wood. The corned beef will take about 2 hours to smoke.

Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket

I smoked the corned beef until an internal temperature of about 170-180 degrees. At this point the corned beef comes inside for some authentic steaming.

Real NY deli style pastrami is steamed right before slicing. This is a little trick to take the homemade pastrami up a few notches. I found that on the Katz’ Delicatessen website so it must be legit!

Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket

I used a large pot and put a little steamer basket in the bottom. Next put about ½ inch of water in the bottom and turned the stove on high.

Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket

After about 30 minutes of steaming the smoked corned beef was at 200 degrees. Oh was it tender!

Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket

I let the pastrami rest for about 30 minutes prior to slicing.

One note regarding the corned beef selection.

I chose the brisket point. I think this was a mistake. The brisket flat corned beef is more even which makes it cook more evenly and also slice easier.

However, this was really tasty and I will most certainly make it again when I’m craving a pastrami sandwich.

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Cheater pastrami recipe - easy homemade pastrami by smoking a corned beef brisket
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5 from 2 votes

Cheater Pastrami From A Corned Beef Brisket

An easy cheater pastrami recipe made from a store bought corned beef brisket that is smoked and then steamed.
Prep Time 21 hours
Cook Time 3 hours

Ingredients

  • 4-6 lb Corned Beef Brisket
  • 3 tbsp Whole Black Peppercorns
  • 3 tbsp Coriander Seeds cracked in a food processor

Instructions

  • Soak corned beef brisket overnight in water to remove salt.
  • Mix pepper and ground coriander and rub all over the rinsed corned beef.
  • Set up smoker for higher heat 275-300 degree smoking.
  • Smoke corned beef until internal temperature of about 175.
  • Set up steamer basket and steam the smoked corned beef until internal temperature of about 200 degrees.
  • Rest for 30 min.
  • Slice thin.

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Comments

  1. Firechef

    March 16, 2019 at 10:18 pm

    Just got a small one from Safeway on sale, gonna follow your recipe, sounds good!

    Reply
  2. Firechef

    March 16, 2019 at 10:22 pm

    Just got a small one from Safeway on sale, gonna follow your recipe, sounds good! P.S. $1.99lb, what a deal, gonna go back tomorrow and get more if they still have any left!

    Reply
  3. Terri

    June 23, 2019 at 2:36 pm

    5 stars
    This is my 4th time making this! We love it. Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
    • Culinarylion

      June 23, 2019 at 8:29 pm

      Awesome!!! So glad you liked it!! I could eat pastrami everyday!!!?? thanks for sharing!!!

      Reply
  4. Nalla

    August 15, 2021 at 10:38 pm

    5 stars
    Wow! Saved me days of prep work, very delicious pastrami.

    Reply
    • Culinary Lion

      August 17, 2021 at 11:59 pm

      Awesome, Yes its a great time saver for sure!!

      Reply
  5. Ken Philippi

    July 23, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    This is a great recipe thank you. Made it several times on my Recteq pellet grill and its easy and fantastic. I usually buy and freeze a couple of corned beef around St. Patricks day when its cheap and just pit the extras in the freezer.

    Reply
    • Frank Campanella

      August 13, 2022 at 1:19 pm

      fantastic!!! its such a great recipe to have in your back pocket

      Reply

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Frank Campanella

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