OK, soaking is complete. I dried it and trimmed the remaining silver skin. I mixed up some dark brown sugar, pepper, garlic and onion powder, and smoked paprika.




Here it is, all coated with rub again. The MB is loaded with cherry and warming up. I’ll put it on and turn on the smoke in a few minutes.



We will know more after a few hours in the smoke.

It's gonna be good.

Still waiting.

Ok ok. I went to the cave while it smoked. Neighbor came by with a 12 pak.

It was pulled at 140. Tastes great. Very firm meat. Slices well. My dinner was a few slices steamed with kraut topped with deli mustard. I’ll post some pics.

Ok I need to add one more step to the process. After you pull at 140, wrap it in paper and then wrap in a towel to let it finish. That’s what I ate last night with kraut. That meat was wrapped in clear kitchen wrap and put in fridge.

That’s the last step. Something happened to it last night. It’s less firm and more moist. Much easier to slice and it’s much better tasting now. So, it needs to sleep in the fridge to become pastrami.

You be the judge -

Would. Use some of that sauerkraut and Swiss cheese to make a Reuben.

I'd eat it.

Cast that looks great

Here’s my lunch -

Mine is almost done on the smoker.

I pulled mine at140. Pull yours at 130 and wrap it up so it cools slowly. Once cooled wrap it in clear kitchen wrap and refrigerate overnight. Then slice it.

WIting will be tough, the wife is wanting to have some today.

Go ahead and trim her off some. It’ll be ok but a little hard and dry. Tomorrow it’ll be better.

Here is mine, came out a little salty but overall was good. The wife and kid approved to make it again at some point.

Looks great guys.

Finally made it to my parents house to use my dads deli slicer.

That is beautiful

I’ve got three more pastrami’s cured and meeting up with cherry smoke this morning.



The one I tied is two backstraps. Looking forward to that.

Mmmm next one I do I’m gonna do a backstrap and smoke it with a fancy wood such as that.

Why would you do this with a backstrap? I mean it's your meat. But, it just seems like a super wasteful thing to do with such a great piece of meat. I would think you would want the connective tissue in the leg roasts to break down and provide some flavor/moisture while smoking. The backstraps seem way to lean for slow cooking. I mean I'm sure you could do it and it would come out fine, if done correctly. But I couldn't see it coming out so much better than a roast that it would be worth it. There is a reason that meats like this traditionally come from the brisket or navel and not the prime steak areas. I may be missing something. It just reminds me of when people grind up Ribeyes for hamburgers. But, I don't smoke a ton of venison so I could be wrong. I am really curious. I have done corned vension out of the leg roasts that came out great.

I have enough meat that I can try it with some, I still have some backstrap from 2017 that need to be used. Just doing some experiments every once in a while is ok.