Pastrami in the Instant Pot (or oven)

I love pastrami so much. Unfortunately I don’t live near any deli that makes excellent pastrami. I decided to set out and try and find a great recipe for my own pastrami, one that didn’t take a week to make. I found a few different instant pot recipes and through trial and error made an excleent. Instant Pot pastrami.

Ingredients:

• 3 to 5 pound prepacked corned beef brisket. I found mine at Sam’s Club

• 2 tbsp black pepper

• 2 tbsp ground coriander

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• 1/2 tbsp Chipotle powder

• 1/2 tbsp of garlic powder

• 1/2 tbsp of onion powder

• 1 tsp of rubbed sage

• 1/2 tsp of ground mustard powder

• 1/2 cup of water

Directions:

• Remove the brisket from the plastic and rinse with cold water for 30 seconds to remove the brine.

• Place the trivet (handles facing-up) and 1/2 cup of water in the Instant Pot Place the brisket on the trivet fat-side up

• Put the lid on and press the “manual” button and increase the timer to 60 minutes

• Mix all of the spices together well

• When the pressure cooking is done, allow a 15 to 20 minute natural release. (Just leave it in the Instant Pot). You then will do the manual release of the pressure.

• Remove the pastrami and place on a plate and let cool for 15 minutes.

• VERY gently dab the top of the pastrami with a paper towel to remove any access liquid

• Add the spice rub to the brisket making sure to get it into every nook and cranny.

• Wrap the spice covered brisket in heavy duty aluminum foil and place into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours but for the best results let it sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

• When ready to serve, remove from the pastrami from the fridge and, while still wrapped in foil, allow it to come to room temperature for 1 hour. This will help the pastrami become more tender after you cook it in the oven

• Pre-heat the oven (or your smoker) to 250 degrees (if you have a smoker use it for this step, it really enhances the flavor). Open the foil and create a little bowl for the pastrami to cook in.

• Once the oven is heated, place the foil and pastrami directly on the middle oven rack. Cook for 60 minutes and then place the pastrami on a cutting board. Throw the foil away and let the pastrami cool for 10 mins.

• With a sharp knife slice the pastrami against the grain. If you like thicker slices, cut in thicker slices… if you like thinner slices…cut in thinner slices

ENJOY!

COOKING WITHOUT AN INSTANT POT

• After rinsing the corned beef brisket, apply rub mixture liberally all over the pastrami.

• Wrap once in heavy duty aluminum foil and then wrap one more time in heavy duty aluminum foil.

• Place aluminum foil wrapped brisket into a baking dish and place into a 225 degree preheated oven for 6 hours

• Remove from the oven and let come to room temperature (usually take a couple of hours)

• Place everything into a ziplock bag and refrigerate over night

• Remove the pastrami from the ziplock bag and aluminum foil

• Slice the pastrami and eat!

• If you want the pastrami warm, place the pastrami in a pan on low heat and drip a little water on each slice.

• Once the slices are warmed through, remove and eat

ENJOY AGAIN!