Easy Homemade Pastrami

This was really, REALLY good. It was not hard at all, even though there were a lot of steps. Once I applied the rub, it was just a matter of triple-sealing the meat. The number of steps just looks intimidating. Mine came out a nice dark pink. I bought a rectangular shaped corned beef for even slices, which I recommend. My meat was also leaner than the meat in the video. I was able to trim most of the visisble fat.

I love reviewing recipes that I have tried. This one is difficult for me. Even though it came out delicious and everyone including the little grandchildren loved it and asked for more and more, it did not really come out like the one in Chef John's video. The instructions were easy to follow. There was just one thing I did differently. I could not bring myself to use 1/4 cup of pepper for the rub and therefore I adjusted the measurements of the other rub ingredients accordingly. The pastrami roast came out delicious and so tender. It was brown like a brisket, not red like a pastrami! That was not a problem for my family, but it made it a little difficult to review since it is supposed to be pastrami!

I have never like the store bought pastrami I've tried in the past, but as it is a favorite of my husband's decided to try this recipe. Followed recipe to the letter. Delicious and a big hit at my house - I even liked it.

I made this pastrami for my husband for Father's Day because that's his favorite type of sandwich and it came out PERFECT!!!! At first, I was a little intimidated by this recipe. Not because of the recipe or the ingredients because I had everything on hand and the recipe was super simple to follow, as is all of Chef John's brilliant recipes. But just the thought of making pastrami on my own scared the *bleep* out of me! I don't know why I ever doubted my skills or Chef John's instruction because the end result was nothing short of perfection! Thank you Chef John for sharing yet another amazing recipe!

I have made this recipe for a few years. When ever I can find corned beef on sale I buy two. My only advise to others is to make at least two of these at a time because the finished product goes away much to fast and its just as easy to make two or three at a time as it is to only make one. The finished pastrami freezes well.

I just cooked this recipe for the third time and I will cook it again soon! Changes: 3 cloves of garlic and shorter cooking time. I prefer strong a strong garlic taste and I found that cooking it for about 5-5.5 hours - instead of 6 - resulted in a more tender, rare pastrami. 5 stars!

Not only was this good, but probably the best pastrami sandwich I've had since moving to California! I had a 2.5 pound corned beef that I cooked for about 4 1/2 hours. I also didn't have smoked paprika or white pepper. I didn't miss it and if you don't have it, I wouldn't go out to buy it just for this recipe. I just increased the coriander and black pepper a bit. I made some homemade Russian dressing, and made the typical pastrami sandwich on rye with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. Delicious! I can't wait for the leftovers tomorrow.

After spending $45 for a brisket and $10 for spices all I ended up with was a spicey beef roast. The roast didn't taste bad but it certainly wasn't pastrami, nothing even close.

We followed the recipe to the letter. This is a very admirable attempt to create one of my favorite deli meats. And that's just what "Chef John" said, that it was a substitute not exactly. I find that to be true. The spice blend is good yet a tad overly peppery. With that said, the meat (inside) lacked some flavor that Pastrami usually has. I'm sure that would have to do with brining. So my conclusion would be... I will probably brine a brisket for a few days and then use this spice blend minus a bit of the pepper (not much though.) I might try smoking the meat as well. I know hard work was put into this. Thank-You

I made this yesterday and it turned out great. I had a 2.5 lb brisket, soaked it in the brine 8 hrs, cooked it for 3 1/2 hrs then wrapped it tightly in foil and refrigerated immediately. I let it set in the fridge overnight to "rest" before I sliced it. Wasn't dry at all and sure beats paying $11.99 lb. at the store! Everyone loves it and it is so fragrant! http://www.juiceblendz.com/

I LOVE pastrami. Thank you for a quick way to achieve the great taste! We all like to "adjust" to our tastes, that's what cooking is all about. But if you have never tried the process of making pastrami, try this one. It's a winner. Thank you Chef John for your wonderful recipes - I'm a FAN.

This is a great flavourful option to do when making homemade corned beef.

I truly love Chef Johns recipes and this one is no different it is really really good now I can make my own and don't have to buy it from my local deli I have this recipe down pat and everybody is always asking me where I purchased it from I made it duh you have to give this recipe a try you will love it

Wow this was wonderful. Followed recipe word for word. The secret is slicing it very thin. We had it with Swiss cheese, pickles, and a good deli mustard. A wonderful treat to make!

You really MUST start out with a corned beef brisket!!!! It's the corned beef that makes the difference between pastrami and a roast!!! By the way, southern California has GREAT pastrami!!!

Love this recipe anyone should try it!

Very easy to make.... Just takes a little time. I will make this again but I will reduce the amount of black pepper... And maybe add some brown sugar to the rub..... And make two. One didn't last very long.

What a wonderful recipe and totally worth it! I shaved mine (I borrowed a slicer from my cousin the caterer) and made sandwiches with Provolone in pita pockets.

NOT BAD WITH A BIT OF TWEAKING.IT HAS WAY TOO MUCH PEPPER.I HAD TO RINSE THE COATING OFF.NOW IT'S PASSABLE WITH A BIT OF PEPPERY AFTER TASTE.

This is the best pastrami I ever tasted. So much better than the store bought. It came out exactly as shown in the video. It literally fell apart, didn’t need a knife to cut it. It remained moist it kept its pink color. I have three daughters that are most difficult to feed because they are so picky, they loved it they ate ate half of it without bread while I was still slicing it. I am absolutely making this again. Thank you Chef.

Pretty good flavor on its own but the smoked paprika wasn't giving it enough of a smoky flavor. I will be adding 1/2 teaspoon on liquid smoke to the oil, garlic rub nest to up that smokey flavor.

Thank you for this recipe.i cook for my mother and she wanted pastrami,i cannot stand pastrami,but this was so wonderful.

I've made this twice now, and both times it came out perfect, I have the feeling some people don't know the difference between a beef brisket, and a corned beef brisket, for the record it's a lot of time in a brine of salt and spices, if you use a plain beef brisket, you've got a spicy roast, not pastrami, and this recipe makes the best pastrami i've ever had.

This was really, really good. Am making again with a few changes. First, Cut off most of the fat first, then apply the rub. Otherwise you cut off that great flavor afterwards. Second, I will apply the rub & let sit for 24 hours before cooking. Can’t wait!!!

This turned out unbelievably good! Delicious and tender. It went too fast. Next time, I'll make more...

Today, I'm making my third pastrami using this procedure. It comes out fantastic. I don't feel like making a regular corned beef anymore, as the pastrami is super good. Thank you Chef Jon !!!!

Love it, thanks chef John for the recipe

I've always loved pastrami and now I can make it whenever I want. I made a four pound brisket and it was all gone in one meal...five adults and three kids. If there was more, it would have been eaten. Everyone loved it and I was proud to have prepared and served it!

I did not change a thing. I've made enough Chef John recipes to know the man knows what he's talking about. I'm vegan so I didn't taste it but the smell was spot on and my husband loved it. I only made a 2.5 lb and he asked for bigger next time so it lasts longer and he wants it put into rotation. :) Thanks Chef John, you always make me feel like a culinary genius!

My hubby and I love going to Deli's and eating pastrami. We want to say Thank You Chef John for this recipe we love it. We Made it twice now and is now going to be a staple in our house. My husband and I left out Cayenne this last time and that took away from the heat. We are wimps when it comes to to much spicy food so it turned out perfect. Plus we put it on our Pit Boss to Smoke that baby up. If you can Highly Suggest smoking it for at least an hour.

I used everything in the recipe except the cayenne pepper because I didn't have any. The person that tried it liked it, and I know it was spicy enough for him because he went for the fridge for a drink. I followed every step and used a homemade corned beef that I had brined for about 10 days. I'll use this recipe again when I make it for a friend a a Christmas Gift and whenever I need a pastrami!

So easy and the some of the best pastrami. I soak the corned beef for 2 hours in water so it is not so salty.
I add pastrami crumble to scrambled eggs or an omelet for extra special eggs.

Not sure I got the recipe prefect, but it did come out fairly tasty. Need to give it another go to tweak it.

Followed this to a T and it was simple. Five stars all the way Chef. Like another suggested....make two. Great meat for sandwiches!

Absolutely loved it as is! Thanks for sharing.

Simple, excellent taste!

Wow, delicious. I ended up letting it cool on the counter for about 45 minutes, unwrapped the top and sides, spread more pepper over the top and put it under the broiler (with the foil only around the bottom and up some of the side) in the middle of the oven for about 8 minutes or so. Removed it from the oven and let it sit for about 10 --15 minutes. Removed all the foil and placed it on a cutting board and sliced it. It sliced perfectly and it was great.

Deeeelicious and very easy to make.

I loved this recipe! I will never buy store bought pastrami!

The best I have ever had This is my 5th time making this!!! ??

This recipe was a total winner! I used a relatively lean 5 lb corned beef, and it seemed like it shrunk about 30-40% in the cooking process, so you might want to take that into account. The seasoning was perfect. I did not find it too peppery. It is a very easy recipe; it just takes a lot of time. St. Patrick's Day will probably end up being Pastrami on Rye from now on.

Absolutely wonderful! Will make it over and over -great taste

my husband approved this recipe! delicious! it wasn't very hard, either!

I followed it as written, no changes or modifications. A little more peppery than expected, but delicious. I will definitely make it again.

It's amazing! I actually soaked it for 48 hrs instead of 24 in an effort to pull out more of the salt. I grew up in San Francisco but lived on the East Coast for over 30 years. It's not easy to find good New York style pastrami anywhere outside of the city let alone find a recipe to make it. This is the closest thing I've found. Thank you Chef John for doing all the research. It's excellent and my husband gave it 4 thumbs (?!!) up!

Please don’t make this with regular brisket, it won’t work. You need to start with CORNED/BRINED meat. Some here seem to be confused.

This recipe was great! Easy, delicious results. The people who complained that this was a "spicy roast beef" or was "brown inside, not like pastrami" - my guess is they started with a beef brisket, rather than a 'corned' beef brisket. That's the only thing that makes sense, because this is absolutely fabulous pastrami. My only complaint was that I should have trimmed the fat cap on my beef, but easy to trim off after heating in the skillet.

This was a total success. Thank you Chef John. We followed your instructions to a T including the refrigerating overnight (hardest part) and had the most delicious homemade pastrami sandwiches.

I have no idea where I went wrong but it was a waste of a good piece of beef. nothing but pepper. had to order a pizza.

I love the flavor but I think it's missing salt. Or maybe I started with a brisket that was just a piece of meat. Anyways I love the flavor & the prep work was ok. I just added some salt & it was good to go. Next time just have to add some salt.

I followed the recipe and it came out tasting Great! Tastes just like pastrami, very tender and flavorful.

Delicious

I used the wrong size aluminium foil. Even quadruple wrapped, it still leaked. It was good but it tasted more like peppered corned beef than pastrami. It was better than regular corned beef which I don't like, but it wasn't as good as deli pastrami.

I love this! My family loves it, too! Lovely and peppery, great on sandwiches or even with a salad (We are salad-crazed)...I made it with corned beef the first time which was fantastic and I am now going back and making it with chuck roast since I am craving it and have only Chuck roast available today!

I made this recipe exactly. I felt it was too spicy and when I opened up the foil package after baking I found it to be a little tough. Not at all fall apart as he calls it. I ended up rinsing of the spices after broiling and wrapping it up in clean foil and baking it longer. I won’t be using this recipe again.

this is wonderful, I have a large amount of people from work that had it and thought that I had purchased.

I followed the instructions and then I added a half a capful of liquid smoke to the oil and garlic. Just a little bit gave me the smoky flavour of a pit bbq Smoked for 8 hours!! Excellent is all I can say

Excellent! Followed exactly your steps. My family raved how excellent the texture and flavors. Not a piece was left. This will be made everytime with this recipe.

I’m making my 4th batch of this pastrami. I even have people ask when I’m making it again. Everyone loves it. I made one change now - I do 4 hours in the smoker and 2 hours wrapped in foil in the oven. OMG! Chef John this is a great recipe

I have made this twice. The first time it leaked so the second time I wrapped two more layers of foil. Other than that I made no changes to the recipe. Follow all of the steps. The last step took it from really good to fairly brilliant

Followed almost exactly but skipped the last rub of pepper before the broil. Came out melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Making sandos tonight and tmo the day after.