Beef Cheek Pastrami

By Dustin

Ingredients

• Brine:
• 7 lbs Beef Cheek
• 1 gallon of water
• 1 1/4 cups of salt
• 4 teaspoons curing salt
• 5 tablespoons pickling spice
• Pickling Spice:
• Required
• 2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
• 3 inches cinnamon sticks, total length
• 2 tablespoon dill seeds
• 1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds, any color
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon celery seeds
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons whole allspice berries
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• Optional
• 1 tablespoon mace
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds (or 1 tablespoon pods)
• 1 tablespoon juniper berries
• 2 star anise pods
• Dry rub:
• 4 tbsp ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp paprika

Preparation

Step 1

Mix the salt, pickling spice and curing salt with water to make the brine. The meat needs to brine for 4 days

Soak the cheeks in fresh water. This is crucial or the meat will be so salty it will be inedible. Soak in fresh water for around 8 hours.

Remove from the water and pat dry. Mix the black pepper, coriander and paprika and apply on the meat. The rub is applied about 36 hours or longer prior to the cook.

Place in your smoker and smoke for 4 hours at 230 deg. F. Remove from smoker and put them in an oven tray, poured a little beer in there and covered with foil, put in the oven at 250 deg. f for a further 3 hours.  Cook until tender.