Thanks for clarifying that, Jason!

The one teaspoon for 5 pounds of meat is for when you are mixing it into ground meat to make sausage. The package of curing salt I have says to use 3oz per gallon when making brine.

Hi Bill! So glad you liked the recipe. Yes, the curing salt has been questioned by a few. Our recipe works perfectly, and we have tried made it many times. We understand your concern and it’s worth questioning. Thanks for your feedback!

Jonathan, thank you so much for your very kind words and rebuttal to the comment about the pastrami. We worked hard on this recipe and we are delighted that you found it to be comparable to Katz. What an honor. Thank you!

I know that I’m replying to a comment from 2018 but I’ve got a few things to say regarding your NYC pastrami comments. I’m a Jewish native NYer, who was raised by a woman who made her own pastrami albeit without using a smoker. I then graduated to NYC restaurants that smoked their own and then Katz’s, that venerated institution of all things smoked. That being said this recipe, which I used for the first time yesterday, came out exactly like my NYC pastrami that I used to make from a very old recipe, which has since been lost, alas. My wife, who has consumed her fair share of Katz’s pastrami herself declared it to be equal to Katz’s and said it’s the best pastrami that I’ve ever made. So kudos to David and Debbie for providing me with the keeperest of pastrami recipes. I think I’ll frame it.
P.S.- I smoked it in my electric smoker @225 and then @250 for the wrapped part

Thanks for your comments, Jim. We are not experts, nor claim to be, so any and all opinions are welcome!

Very nice! Thanks for commenting!

Duplicating NYC pastrami is extremely difficult, because the few people who know how to make it guard their secrets vigilantly. Many have tried, and very few have succeeded. You don’t even include coriander in the rub, which is astonishing. I don’t see how you can even call it pastrami without coriander — you might just as well leave off the pepper.

For people who have never eaten real pastrami (available only in NYC), it won’t matter, as long as it tastes good. They can tell themselves they’re eating pastrami, and they won’t know the difference.

But since you’re not aiming for the real thing anyway, why go to so much trouble and expense? Forget “buy the best brisket you can find. A local butcher with grass-fed, grain finished beef should be your best friend.” You can get just as close to real pastrami by starting with a whole brisket of store-brand, vacuum-packed raw (not deli) corned beef from the supermarket, saving a LOT of work and money.

Corned beef is cheap leading up to St Patrick’s Day, and any time of year it’ll cost a LOT less than the fancy brisket you call for. Remember — pastrami was invented to make very cheap, tough, nearly rancid meat taste good. You’re already off by a mile when you start with the premium beef you describe.

If you start with corned beef, it’ll turn out just as close to real pastrami as starting from scratch, at a fraction of the cost — and the meat will be cured all the way through. Your photo shows a significant un-cured chunk (brown instead of pink) in the center of the thickest part, which isn’t good.

You will also save about a week out of the prep time, and you won’t have to find a meat injector or curing salt, because the curing has already been done for you. Just skip the whole “The Brisket & Curing It” section and start with “Pour Off The Brine & Soak the Corned Beef”. NO ONE who eats the end product will know the difference, and you’ll have saved a ton of money, time, effort, and refrigerator space.

There also seems to be a very significant error in your Nutrition Facts data. You say that one serving contains 31279 mg of sodium, or a little more than 31 grams. That is impossible. 31 grams is the amount of sodium in a little over half a cup of kosher salt. That’s like putting half a cup of salt on one sandwich. There CANNOT be that much sodium in this pastrami.

Annie, you and Dave would love this!!! I hope you can try this some time.

Thanks, Ronit. I wish you could too! It’s a labor of love for sure!