Smoked Pastrami - A Beginner's Guide

Name: Smoked Pastrami - A Beginner's Guide
Prep time: 8640 min
Cook time: 270 min
Total time: 8940 min
Ingredients: 4½ lbs beef brisket; 1 quart cold water; 1¼ cups kosher salt; ⅓ cup brown sugar; 3 tbsp corned beef spices ((recipe)); 1 tbsp pink curing salt; 1 small yellow onion ((sliced)); 3 dried bay leaves; 5 cloves garlic ((crushed)); 1 tbsp whole peppercorns; 1 tbsp whole peppercorns; 1 tbsp coriander seeds; 1 tbsp mustard seeds; 1 tbsp corned beef spices ((recipe))

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Here is everything you need to know to make a tender, flavorful Smoked Pastrami right at home! In this Smoked Pastrami Recipe Beginner's Guide, I'll show you how to brine, season, and smoke a beef brisket to make the best beef pastrami you've ever had! You can then enjoy it in hot Reuben Sandwiches for days to come!

Recently, we had friends visit us from San Diego. While here, they secretly ordered two briskets for us from a local cattle farm.

It was pretty funny because I got a call to confirm the order and I thought to myself: "Did I accidentally butt-dial an order?" 🤦‍♀️ After some discussion, we quickly realized our friends, Pat and Cathy, had placed the order.

I used one of the briskets to create this Smoked Pastrami recipe. Be sure to check out this veteran-owned operation, and while there, place an order. Yes, Blarney Heights Farm even delivers!

Why This Recipe Works

Ok, I'll admit it. This Smoke Pastrami recipe takes the longest to prepare of any other recipe I've ever posted. The good news is, most of that time is "hands-off."

During the first five days, the brisket soaks in brine, easy-peasy, right? Once brined, the brisket needs to desalinize overnight in cold water so that you don't end up with pastrami that's too salty to eat.

On day six, you will make a spice rub that will encrust the brisket, then it will dry on a rack in the refrigerator for 24 hours. After that, the brisket is smoked and steamed to make one superb Smoked Pastrami recipe!

This Smoked Pastrami recipe may take a week to prepare, but the delicious smoky flavor is well worth the wait!

What Goes Into This Recipe

Pastrami Crust Mix

Recipe Ingredients/Substitutions

Brisket Flat — You will need a 5-lb trimmed brisket (just the flat, with the point (or deckle) removed.
Pink Salt — Pink curing salt is different than pink Himalayan salt. It keeps the meat from spoiling and is used to wet-cure meats prior to cooking/smoking. I also use it in my Spicy Smoked Pork Jerky recipe.
Spices — We'll be making an original spice blend for the brine and the crust. My Corned Beef Spices recipe will be part of both mixes. The crust seasoning also contains traditional spices used to season pastrami like coriander seeds, mustard seeds, and black peppercorns.
Sugar — Although this recipe calls for brown sugar, if you need to, you can substitute it with an equal amount of granulated white sugar or a combination of both.
Salt — I like to use kosher salt in my brine. Plain table salt can also be used but since table salt is saltier, I recommend using less. I would reduce the amount of salt from 1-¼ cups to 1 cup.

How to Make Smoked Pastrami

Step 1 | Prepare the Brine

Mix brine ingredients together over low heat until the sugar and salt dissolve completely. Allow the mixture to cool.

brine and spice in a large measuring cup

Once cool, pour the brine over the brisket making sure that it is fully submerged in the liquid. Place in the refrigerator for 5 days, turning the brisket daily.

After 5 days, remove the brisket from the brine and rinse off. Soak the brisket in cold water in the refrigerator for 8-hours or overnight.

Step 2 | Prepare Smoked Brisket Rub

Toast the spice rub ingredients in a hot pan until fragrant, do not burn. Coarsely grind the spices using a coffee bean grinder (affiliate link). Do not over-grind, you don't want to make a fine powder.

Remove the brisket from the water and pat dry. Coat completely with the spice rub and place it on a rack over a tray, refrigerate overnight. The next morning, bring brisket to room temperature.

Step 3 | Brisket Smoking Instructions

Turn the smoker on and fill with pellets. Set the temperature to 225° F. Choose Super Smoke. When the smoker is ready, place the brisket directly on the grill and insert the probe into the thickest part. Set the probe temperature to 160° F.

When the brisket reaches 160° F (mine took 2 ½ hours), remove it from the grill. Pour 2 cups of water into a deep pan, then place a rack over it. Put the brisket on the rack, making sure it's not sitting in the water. Cover the pan with foil and seal.

Place the wrapped brisket on the grill and re-insert the probe. Set the probe temperature to 200° F.

When the pastrami is ready, remove the pan from the smoker and allow the pastrami to rest for 30 minutes in the sealed pan before slicing it into thin slices against the grain.

sliced pastrami on a cutting board — **After resting the smoked pastrami, slice it against the grain into thin slices**

Recipe FAQs

Is pastrami just smoked corned beef?

Corned beef is prepared by brining a beef brisket in salt, sugar, and spices, then steaming or boiling the meat until tender. You can even prepare Instant Pot Corned beef.

To make pastrami, you start out with the same method of brining a brisket. You then encrust the brisket with a coarsely ground spice mix and smoke it. A final (optional step) is to steam the pastrami to tenderize it.

Should you wrap pastrami when smoking it?

There are various methods of preparing pastrami. Some call for wrapping it as it is being smoked, while others call for placing it directly on the grill. However, most methods use a combination of both.

What temperature do you smoke pastrami to?

In the initial smoking, the pastrami is smoked to 160° F to 165° F. If you're also steaming it, you can smoke to an internal temperature anywhere from 200° F to 204° F.

Should I steam pastrami?

Steaming pastrami is an extra step that is taken to make the pastrami extra tender. Some choose to skip this step after smoking a brisket. Especially if they prefer to keep the encrusted spices dry and crispy.

What is the origin of pastrami?

The first pastrami sandwich is credited to Sussman Volk, a Jewish man who immigrated to New York from Lithuania in the 1800s.

In 1887, he received the recipe from a Romanian man, in exchange for storing the friend's luggage, while the man returned to Romania.

Volk tried the recipe and liked it so much that he began serving it in his butcher shop. As a result of its popularity, Volk opened up a restaurant, featuring his pastrami sandwiches.

Pastrami was originally called "Pastrama" (Romanian), or "Basturma" in Arabic. Both words refer to meat that has been cured in spices.

It is believed that the name was changed to "pastrami," imitating another popular meat at the time, "salami."

Expert Tips

To fully submerge the brisket in brine, I used a 2-gallon Ziploc bag (affiliate link). They come in handy for so many recipes!
If you don't want to brine the meat for 5 days you can cut the time down to 3 days. It should still taste amazing!
In a pinch, you can substitute pickling spices for my corned beef blend.
Which flavor pellet you use in this smoked pastrami recipe is a matter of preference. Try hardwoods like oak, hickory, or alder. If you prefer fruitwoods, consider apple, maple, cherry, and pecan.
If you want to make a deli-style pastrami sandwich, start with rye bread or my personal favorite, sourdough. Slather the bread with mustard, then pile on lots of thinly sliced pastrami, Swiss cheese, diced onions, and pickles. Enjoy!

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Smoked Pastrami - A Beginner's Guide

Why This Recipe Works