I got a confession to make about bacon...

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flintnational The pastrami pic. Cured in brine for 3 days. Dried in fridg for 1 day. Smoked for 4 hours. Braised in oven for 4 hours.

Drooling!

[flintnational]

I made the mustard also.

[flintnational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Mmmm! (Homemade) Bacon!

Awesome

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter I've made lots of bacon, but never tried to coat it with anything. Does the smoking somehow help the pepper to adhere instead of falling off? Or?

I think you simply press the pepper into the meat like you would any rub before smoking. It will stick during the smoking, and actually helps the smoke adhere.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flintnational The pastrami pic. Cured in brine for 3 days. Dried in fridg for 1 day. Smoked for 4 hours. Braised in oven for 4 hours.

Wow, yum!

Braising - I guess that was the steaming. Did you have it in a covered pot with some liquid?

[flintnational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Wow, yum! Braising - I guess that was the steaming. Did you have it in a covered pot with some liquid?

I put it in a pan covered with foil and added about an inch of hot water. (or vice versa)

[CardsFan]

OK. Now I have a problem. I have a 12.5lb whole brisket in the freezer.

The plan was to smoke it.

Then I saw the post about corned beef.

Then I saw the post about pastrami and I went to the link.

Then they had a super recipe for burnt ends ( see number 8 in this link https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...et-texas-style .

So, when I get to it, I guess the plan is 1/3 corned beef and smoke the rest. then 1/3 into burnt ends.

Pastrami will have to wait until next time.

[OldShooter]

Instant Pot works well for finishing corned beef or pastrami. IIRC DW cooks it for 45 minutes.

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardsFan ... So, when I get to it, I guess the plan is 1/3 corned beef and smoke the rest. then 1/3 into burnt ends. ...

If you have a full packer you might want to separate the flat and the point, then use the point for your burnt ends. There is at least one recent thread on separating the two muscles on http://www.bbq-brethren.com.

I have always just smoked the full packer, but I may try separating the two pieces next cook. They do cook quite differently.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldShooter Instant Pot works well for finishing corned beef or pastrami. IIRC DW cooks it for 45 minutes.

Great tip! I wondered about precisely that. For pastrami, do you have the meat on a rack above the liquid? Use steam setting?

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CardsFan OK. Now I have a problem. I have a 12.5lb whole brisket in the freezer. The plan was to smoke it. Then I saw the post about corned beef. Then I saw the post about pastrami and I went to the link. Then they had a super recipe for burnt ends ( see number 8 in this link https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...et-texas-style . So, when I get to it, I guess the plan is 1/3 corned beef and smoke the rest. then 1/3 into burnt ends. Pastrami will have to wait until next time.

Well if you make corned beef with the entire flat, half of that could go on to pastrami.

[SonofCohoes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo DW likes bacon but not the smell/mess of cooking it inside the house. My solution, which I posted previously, is to use an old cookie sheet on the gas grill to fry up a package at a time. We freeze what we don't eat and zap in in the microwave for a few seconds when we need it.

This...... me too

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Great tip! I wondered about precisely that. For pastrami, do you have the meat on a rack above the liquid? Use steam setting?

Yes, steaming pastrami is an old method that works beautifully.

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Great tip! I wondered about precisely that. For pastrami, do you have the meat on a rack above the liquid? Use steam setting?

Yup. A little water in the bottom per standard IP protocol, then on a rack. DW says it isn't as instant as I remembered: 70-90 minutes depending on how big the piece is.

The thing about IP brisket/corned beef/pastrami, too, is we are shooting for a very slightly undercooked piece of meat. The reason is that overcooking can come with a severe penalty -- the collagen binding the meat fibers completely dissolves and you end up with meat that shreds when you try to cut it. When I'm smoking, I start probing the meat at around 200deg IT and I can get it pretty exactly to the properly cooked stage before I take it out. With the IP, we can't monitor the process so we have to shoot for a slight undercook. Properly sliced across the grain, the undercook isn't really all that noticeable to most people anyway.

If you get very thinly cut brisket at a restaurant they are trying to hide the fact that it is undercooked. A 1/4" thick piece, sliced across the grain and properly cooked will hang vertically from your fingers without breaking but separate easily when you pull on the ends. (aka "the pull test" at KCBS competitions. The first thing I do as a judge.) A slightly undercooked slice will require effort to separate. If it feels like you're pulling on rubber bands, put it back in the cooker for a while.

[Sarpy]

For St. Patrick's Day last year, I cooked our corned beef dinner in my new electric pressure cooker (similar to an Instant Pot).

DH, whose family made great stovetop corned beef dinners for years, said it was the best he's ever had. As I recall, it took about 90 minutes.

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by statsman Sadly, I can't eat fresh tomatoes without gagging (used to be able to as a young kid), so BLT is bacon, lettuce, and turkey.

I don't care for lettuce on sandwiches. So I make BCTs. Bacon, cucumber and tomato sandwiches. Turkey bacon sandwiches are also good though.

I'm actually making BLTs / BCTs for dinner tomorrow along with a nice tuna salad.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArmchairMillionaire23 I don't care for lettuce on sandwiches. So I make BCTs. Bacon, cucumber and tomato sandwiches. Turkey bacon sandwiches are also good though. I'm actually making BLTs / BCTs for dinner tomorrow along with a nice tuna salad.

My favorite airplane-travel food is bacon on peanut butter. It keeps for hours in the carry on and is amazingly full of protein. It keeps you from getting hungry when the $12 sandwiches come down the aisle. It also helps me sleep without the $6? drinks that follow the sandwich cart. I guess all that's gone now, but maybe sometime - post pandemic, I'll be slathering bread with PB as DW nukes the instant bacon. AHHHHHhhhh! Makes me want to travel, but YMMV.

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Our road trip food is bacon and peanut butter rolled into a tortilla. Rolled indiv into alum foil and then slid inside a gallon ziplock bag. One ilof those and chip or fruit and lunch is served.

[flintnational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrsHaloFIRE Our road trip food is bacon and peanut butter rolled into a tortilla. Rolled indiv into alum foil and then slid inside a gallon ziplock bag. One ilof those and chip or fruit and lunch is served.

That may be my new backpacking lunch. Yum!

[MuirWannabe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flintnational That may be my new backpacking lunch. Yum!

I’ve always done crushed up cheez-its and peanut butter in a tortilla for my backpacking lunches. But bacon and peanut butter might just be a better idea!