This is a fantastic step by step recipe on how to make pastrami! Incredible flavor and perfect for sandwiches, rarely are there any leftovers. We love to smoke briskets, salmon, you name it, but today I wanted to share with you how to make pastrami. Homemade pastrami may seem like an undertaking, but I’ll step you through the entire process.

What’s the Difference Between Pastrami & Corned Beef?

• The biggest difference between corned beef and pastrami is that pastrami gets smoked after curing, and corned beef is braised/boiled (depending on recipe).
• Pastrami usually gets brined and cured with a dry rub, while corned beef just gets a brine.
• So remember, after curing (brine for corned beef/dry rub for pastrami), corned beef is boiled, whereas pastrami is smoked and steamed.

So remember, the biggest difference between corned beef and pastrami is that pastrami is smoked after curing, and corned beef is not. I never knew that before I started making my own and had to do a little research as I had always wondered.

What you can do to make this easy is pick up prepackaged corned beef in the meat section of your local market or places like Costco, or cure your own using beef brisket (see my recipe on How to Make Corned Beef first). I like the flavor of the corned spices so I often have one or two in the freezer for times when the need hits me. Corned beef doesn’t just have to be for St. Patrick’s Day, right? I also do the same for smaller sized turkeys because they are hard to find after Thanksgiving time passes.

But back to how to make pastrami. This how to make pastrami post is for those who like to make things themselves and I’m telling you it’s a good one. I mean, home made pastrami may sound like an undertaking, but time is the big one here. Minimal effort really. Just think of it, sliced thin, stacked high on a sliced rye bread with your favorite toppings. So good!

How to Make Pastrami

It’s all about desalinating (removing the salt) from a packaged corned beef first or using a fresh beef brisket, corning it yourself (less salt), then applying a dry rub, smoking and steaming it finally. What you have is a wonderful, fall apart sandwich or dinner meat that is spectacular in flavor and aroma.

While this recipe calls for “chili powder” in the dry rub, it might be good to note that unless a chili powder is specific, like Ancho Chili Powder, it can be made up of various ingredients. Basic Chili Powder mixes or ones labeled American Chili Powder, include Ancho, New Mexico, California or any other mild chili pepper, cayenne powder, ground black peppercorns, cumin, coriander and Mexican oregano. It’s definitely not just dried, ground chiles.

All good for this recipe, but thought I’d share that bit of information as sometimes I have been asked that question.

OK, so let’s get started on how to make pastrami.

First off you’ll take the store bought corned beef out of it’s packaging and rinse with cold water. Place in a large stock pot and cover with cold water. Keep refrigerated overnight or 4 hours minimum to help remove the excess salt. This is the desalinating process. I like the corned beef flavorings so use this kind, but feel free to use a beef brisket of same weight. If starting with a beef brisket, see my recipe on How to Make Corned Beef first, then go straight to applying the dry rub. My brine uses less salt than store bought versions.

In a small bowl whisk together the dry rub ingredients. Rinse corned beef in water and allow excess to drip off and apply dry rub mixture evenly over all sides. Place on a platter and refrigerate over night or 8 hours. No need to cover with plastic wrap because when you remove it most of the dry rub sticks to the wrap and is wasted. Air cured is fine overnight, but feel free to go right to the smoker. I have found overnight adds more flavor then straight to the smoker. Use your own discretion.

I use a The Masterbuilt 30″ Digital Electric Smoker, but follow your smoker instructions. Add an inch of water to the water tray, and using cherry wood chips (or your choice of wood chips), smoke the brisket for approximately 6 hours at 225°F. We’ll want an internal temperature of 180°F for that tender meat. You can read all about wood chips here in a previous post. Allow meat to cool and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours covered with a loose fitting pice of aluminum foil. We don’t want the dry rub to come off. Believe me, I’ve made this a lot.

See how much it shrinks during the smoking process? Can you smell how good this looks? Scratch and sniff here.

There are a lot of opinions on keeping the vent open or closed during the smoking process. For me seeing as the smoker has limited smoke, unless you want to keep re-loading with wood chips, I keep it closed the first hour, then open it up for ventilation and constant airflow. I’ve read that with time and temp the ability of meats to retain smoke diminishes past 140°F. So it’s usually a 2 to 4 hour smoke window for optimum smoke absorption.

At this point you can cool and refrigerate for up to 5 days to steam later. After smoking, steam for 2 hours. I use a bamboo steamer with the meat resting on a bit of aluminum foil. In a large pot over medium low heat pour enough water in pot so that there is an inch gap between steamer rack and water and steam for 2 hours. Check occasionally to make sure water does not evaporate and refill as needed. We want an internal temperature of 204°F. Just before it hits that I turn off the heat because the meat will continue to cook. (See picture, it rose all the away to 207°F while resting.)

If you don’t have a steamer, you could use an Instant Pot. Use the Instant Pot with the strainer made to fit the IP size. Put the smoked, refrigerated pastrami in the steamer basket, added 1 cup water and set it on STEAM and LOW for 2 hours.

Feel free to discard whatever fat cap is still there and not rendered down completely. Sharpen that knife and be sure to slice across the grain into about 1/8″ and serve. Slicing across the grain will ensure a tender, fall apart piece of pastrami. Enjoy as a main course with side dishes or in a sandwich with rye bread and lots of mustard, Swiss cheese and whatever other topping you like!

Granted this may seem like a lot of work, but for those of you who always wanted to know, like to make things from scratch and enjoy the process, this is for you. I certainly don’t make this often, but usually double this when I do.

If you like to smoke, here’s a few others I’ve got for you: Smoked Brisket, Smoked Pork Shoulder with Orange and Cinnamon and Smoked Salmon.