Pastrami!!
Whitetail Deer
Love making this stuff! Bonus that my kids love it too. Probably my favorite venison dish.
Tell us how you make it! looks great!
Wow, that looks amazing. Please post the recipe.
Ya u can't just post that without a recipe or sending us some.
I say ban him if he doesn't post the recipe
I'll have mine on Italian bread with a slice of Provolone please. And a cold Leinies. Thank You.
Basically you brine it the same as corned beef for about 3 days, then coat with crushed coriander seeds and black peppercorns and smoke to an internal temp around 150 deg F. Absolutely delicioso.
lol don't ban me for delayed recipe posting!! this is a super easy dish, just takes patience so maybe not easy considering my audience. And it is cured, not brined.
Venison pastrami Cure: 1/4 c curing salt 2 tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp black pepper 1 tbsp onion powder 1 tbsp garlic powder 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp allspice(may sub cinnamon and nutmeg 1/2tsp each) Rub: 3 tbsp black pepper 1 tsp coriander(optional) 1 tsp garlic powder
Meat: 2-4 lb whole muscle-I use the large roasts from the hindquarters, preferably not the football ones.
Mix cure and coat meat thoroughly. Place in gallon zip lock bag and refrigerate. Turn bag 1-2 times a day(I do one) for at least 5 days. Remove from bag and rinse off cure, then soak in water for a few hours or overnight(I usually do just 1 hour). Remove from water and pat dry. Coat with rub and then smoke until internal temperature reaches 140-150. Let rest and cool, then slice for sandwiches. It slices much better cold.
You will notice a lot of liquid in the bag after 1-2 days, but it nearly all is soaked back up. I have made it without soaking in water but it tends to be salty. I have found 1-2 hours is enough at least for my tastes. For the smoker I prefer a lighter wood and use English walnut shells. Hickory is good too as well as Apple. Any other questions feel free to ask.
Craig
Wow I typed that out with paragraphs and spacing and posting it went away. I'll see if I can edit
When I hit the edit button it looks ok on my phone so maybe it's ok? Sorry all.
Don't sweat it craig! Thanks for the recipe.
Is he cure regular sodium chloride plus a dab of nitrite? Pink salt?
To get breaks between paragraphs you have to hit enter about 3-4x.
That sounds like a great way to do venison. My family loves good pastrami but I have never tried to make it myself. Do a lot of sausage and this sounds easier...
About out of deer and elk, may have to dig around and see if I left an elk roast somewhere in the bottom of the freezer and pull it out for some pastrami! :)
Osage, I use mortons tender quick because that's what I could find locally. I don't remember if it's pink or not. Thanks for the tip ohio. Tough to read without breaks.
Yes sir. Corned Venison and Pastrami is yummy!
I made some Canadian bacon from a deer backstrap. Equally good, especially if the deer was somewhat long in the tooth.
This thread is making me hungry!
I smoked some over the weekend (craig's recipe) and it was awesome. Definitely on my list to do again!
I had some Venison Pastrami made by a butcher once that was absolutely incredible. When I shot a moose, I made Corned Moose several times, and it was awesome. tried smoking one of them into Moostrami, but it came out too dry. The flavor was good but I probably cooked it too long. I used several different cuts, but brisket had the best combination of texture and flavor.
Craig that looks delicious, I will have to try again this fall.
I've used this recipe before. I think it was mentioned on the bowsite. It works GREAT. Made goose and venison pastrami using it...
its hard to believe that growing up we only had venison as steaks, burger, and jerky. Making stuff like this is so much more rewarding! Glad to hear that it's working out for you guys!
Mad, that's the recipe I used. I think I was the one who posted it a while back. That whole site is great, It's not game oriented, but most of their recipes work well with all sorts of game meat, as long as you don't dry stuff out. I posted a link to the main site (www.amazingribs.com).
By the way, the meat thermometer they recommend (Thermapen) is excellent.
Just made this with some elk roast and it turned out incredible! Thought it would be worth bringing it back to the top! Thank you Craig.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!! I'm doing this. Saved to my favorites!!!!!!
Man, that looks so dang good. God Bless brothers!
Great stuff!! Looking forward to my next batch!!
I'm putting mine in the smoker tomorrow. One deer and one elk. My recipe is a little different but this is one of my favorite ways to cook wild game!
Shot a doe last eve after reading this post in the stand! Hadn't planned on shooting a doe but this recipe sure sounded good!
Question - is the recipe for each 2-4 pound piece?
Thx for sharing,
Lee
Will be processing a couple of deer today. Need to make up about 10 pounds or so to try this one out! Love pastrami and this sounds really good:)
I can't keep up with all the good recipes on this site.
Got 10 pounds of deer roasts in Craig's cure mix (plus a little extra cayenne) and zip locks...
The waiting begins....
Will be smoking it this weekend and will let you guys know how it turns out:)
Wow! This stuff is awesome!
Made up about 10 pounds of whitetail roasts and pulled it off the smoker about an hour ago.
I did add a little extra cayenne for kick in the cure.
Smoked it with mesquite for 4 hours at 225.
May get a late season cow elk tag next week and whack a cow so I can get serious and crank out a big pile of this stuff! It would be great vacuum sealed for backpacking if I can keep everyone else out of it!
Hey Craig. I did your recipe about two weeks ago. I shared some photos on Trad site, Leatherwall, for the older gents.
Peppered up and ready for the smoker
Peppered up and ready for the smoker
Working on a batch of elk and mule deer pastrami today:)
In the smoker
In the smoker
Now the wait!
My last little batch of whitetail is already gone!
12 pounds is not enough!
Don’t make this in small batches or it will be gone too fast!
Off the smoker and cooling
Off the smoker and cooling
Treeline thx for bringing this back up,,looks fantastic!!! I missed it first time around,,your killin me ,I'm going to try making some for sure!
I'm drooling on my phone now. Looks great!!
Awesome recipe, Craig! Gonna vacuum seal a bunch of this and freeze for summer/fall backpacking... Hopefully the family doesn’t find it first:)
Yes Craig, whomever you are, THANX!!!! You are correct. One must have no less than 10 LBS in this recipe. I personally ate 1.5LBS the night I made it. Wow....Craig, may you live forever.
I made another 20lbs of ground into meatballs. Standard recipe but I use garlic bread crumbs.
Love meatball sandwiches and pasta with meatballs. That pastrami does look good. Thanks.
Well, I finally got the weather to get the last of my deer cut up. I only had 6 pounds of meat for this. Just rubbed the cure on it and stuck it in the fridge. On Friday evening, I'll soak it for an hour or so and get ready to smoke it Saturday morning. Looking forward to it! Report back about NOON on Saturday, Lord willing.
It turned out well. Lots of Black Pepper taste and just the right amount of other spices. I might soak the next batch for 2 hours versus 1, between the curing and cooking step but, all and all, I am very pleased. I don't eat bread much so, I don't have any here to make a Ruben. But, a hunk of Havarti, this, and some Dijon or pepper mustard is very tasty and won't last long. It's going to be some great snacks and meals when hunting next September. Thanks Craig
Elk pastrami, marble rye bread , cole slaw, swiss cheese or cheese of your liking in a sandwich meal for a king, and a glass of wine, whiskey or beer" Life Is Good"!
This stuff is amazing! Although I gotta go with some good sour kraut with Swiss cheese melted into the pile on a cast iron then put it all on the rye and sear in that cast iron with butter! BAM! Outa the park!
Treeline, I'm going to give that a try. Bam is Rite!
OMG, this stuff really is amazing. My sincere appreciation to Craig for the recipe and Treeline for bumping it TTT recently. It was a long process but absolutely and completely worth it. Used it on moose and my wife and I are enjoying and raving about it this evening! So good we're actually shocked. Thanks again, this was a very nice, early Christmas present!
I do it with a week soak in a brine... over night in fresh water to remove some salt.... put the rub on ... seal it in plastic in fridge for two days.
Throw in smoker at 190 degrees till 160 degrees internal temp.
Lastly... steam it in the oven for 90 minutes .. really amazing how good it came out
Took some I had made up from a rutty mule deer to a neighborhood party last weekend. It was definitely a hit! Even with some of the neighbors that weren’t too keen about game meat!
Brine to a light boil... let it cool and put in plastic with meat
Brine to a light boil... let it cool and put in plastic with meat
Pickled for a week... basically corned venison
Pickled for a week... basically corned venison
Rubbed and sealed in fridge 2 days
Rubbed and sealed in fridge 2 days
Into the smoker
Into the smoker
Brine recipe
Brine recipe
Rub recipe
Rub recipe
The only thing I do different with the brine is put a couple of cinnamon sticks in
What cut are you guys using?
I get two nice slabs out of each leg...
I get two nice slabs out of each leg...
USC...in my opinion you want an even sized piece so it flavors and cooks evenly
I did a trial run with Craig@works recipe last week. Thanks Craig!! I gave a little taste to my sausage making buddy, he brought me three big elk roast from a cow he shot and asked me to make him some! Man is it good, wished I had made this before. Going to get me two cow tags next year (grin)!!
That muscle works well, Shug.
Think that is the sirloin. Kind of the big boomerang shaped muscle that I usually cut for steaks but has coarser grain than the other big muscle in the hams. It’s pretty even for thickness and not too big on a deer.
I have used pieces of that cut from an elk and deer for pastrami as well as eye of round cut in half.
Saved the elk brisket extending up under the front legs on my elk this year specifically for making into pastrami. It’s thinner than a cow brisket but is the same texture and will be perfect!
TTT.
Just finished making a 10 lb batch, followed Shug's brine recipe. Good lord this stuff is good! The wife and kids love it! I've only ever made sausage and jerky because that's what they all like to eat. Thanks guys I now have a new enthusiasm for bringing home venison!!
Good to hear ND ... Off topic.. I made this on Saturday... it was delicious... Venison shank oso bucco I normally just grind them.. never again. I actually kept the shanks from the deer I shot this year... I’m glad I did
That looks good, I will have to try that next season! Shanks are such a pain to do anything with but that would be easy. Thanks again
Thanks guys. I can't wait to try it.
I do mine a little different but basically it's the same. 1/3 cup Morton tender quick. 1 cup brown sugar. 2 tablespoons black pepper & 2 cups water put all ing in a gallon Ziploc along with 1 large or 2 small roasts remove all air & put in fridge for a few days then smoke
The pastrami in those pics look amazingly delicious! Definitely something I need to try my hand at making sometime in the future. Thanks for sharing the pics and the recipe.
I did the brine recipe for Corned Venison for 2 weeks. Pulled it out this morning put in crock pot full water on warm all day. Holy wow I was shocked how good it turned out just like cranes beef from deli especially when it was steaming right out of the pot. As it cooled it was a bit dry I’m sure because there not an ounce of fat on it. Don’t even notice with some melted Swiss and thousand as a Rueben. I have one more to put dry rub on and smoke as pastrami still.
Coincidentally I have some mule deer and elk brining right now. (Linked recipe) I will be smoking this weekend. When finished, I thinly slice and vacuum seal ~ 3oz per package. When I crave a reuben, I pull a package out of freezer and microwave for 30 sec to thaw. Rye bread, thousand island, swiss cheese and sauerkraut. All toasted in grill pan similar to making grilled cheese. Great lunch snack!
I made corned venison for St Patrick's Day and it was loved by ALL. (And that says something because my wife isn't a fan of wild game,,, or cooked cabbage) For those that aren't aware, corning venison is very similar to making pastrami, but w/o smoking or the rub at the finish.
Corned Venison Reuben
Corned Venison Reuben
Z Bare - you must been peeking in my kitchen window!!!
Sliced pastrami.
Sliced pastrami.
My daughter said it is good. Real good. She gave it a 9 out of 10. It turned out awesome.
just put a batch on to cure last night. love this stuff. glad to see so many enjoy it also.
Craig
Made some hash browns for breakfast. Added chopped pastrami with several minutes to go and topped it all off with a couple of runny eggs. A great hearty breakfast! (Sorry no pics as I was too busy eating!) I could easily see this as a good base camp breakfast. (And not likely to cause a colon driven pit stop on your hunt)
Finally got around to making some !! Oh dang !!
I was scrolling through older posts and found this one. Man, that looks delicious! I’m like many others in that I usually do varying percentages of grind, cube, steaks, sausage and roasts, but I’ll definitely try this on the next one. Too bad I’m out of those cuts of meat right now, but at least bow season here is only a month away. Hopefully I can put a couple of does on the ground early and give this a try.
I have a 4 lbs. slab of elk round curing in the fridge using Hank Shaw's recipe. Excited to give it a try.
I just finished up craig@work's pastrami recipe and it is outstanding! Thank you for the recipe.
Next up is Shug's recipe. I made the brine last night let it cool and have backstraps in brine for the week!
I used backstraps for both and will report back when I smoke them next week.
Same recipe, but use wild turkey breast and smoke to 155 is by FAR FAR FAR the best I have found for wild turkey.
Craig you got a good recipe. My picky boys are eating it like candy. It is outstanding. I have a feeling I will not have near as much burger this season.
Where are you guys finding the Morton's Tender Quick? I have a little leftover from a long time ago but I'm having a heck of a time finding any locally. I do have some Anthony's Curing Salt #1 but not sure if it could be used as a substitute for the Morton's (following Anthony's #1 salt's guidelines - 1tsp/5# of meat)?
I find my at the local Amish stores. They carry canning/pickling/storing supplies. Probably can get it on amazon too. Have a batch curing as I type.
Craig
Can I use the same batch of brine to cure more meat after pulling out initial batch? Or make new brine?
T Mac... I don’t think you should I’d think it would loose some of its potency after one soak in it... But if ya do try it let me know please
From a quick google search it seems popular opinion is that you should not reuse so I’ll make a new one.
The Hank Shaw recipe turned out well. Made for some great reubens.
Well I did shug’s recipe and it too was outstanding you can’t go wrong with either. I did not refrigerate for 2 days in rub or steam cook after smoking but using a deli slicer keeps it thin and tender as well.
I made a batch this past weekend and was really good !! My kids loved it !
Had to look this up again for the brine recipes. Gonna start another batch. Love this stuff!!
I remember this thread from the last couple of years, so I’m bringing It back up. I put about 5 lbs in the refrigerator about an hour ago. I’m looking forward to this weekend when I can finally put it on the smoker!
Made some in early Dec. Was delicious. 7 lb didn't last a week.
I just put 14 pounds in the freezer!!! My wife walked up to her first deer of the year and said, "you are making pastrami for me right?"
We love it. Add some pickled peppers, cheese and mustard and you have a meal!!!
Someone above mentioned it but steaming your sliced pastrami before serving on sandwich makes it even better.
OMG does this look good......
Gotta being this one up! Venison pastrami is so yummy!
I have made it using this recipe. Excellent!
