Success stories? ‘‘Tis the season after all
I make pastrami if that counts for something. Chef steps has recipes for both and the pastrami is a knockout. Have yet to make corned beef. Gotta look through my pics to see if I have any. If you’re looking to make some now before St Patrick’s Day it ain’t going to happen in time though. It brines for 9 or 10 days if I remember correctly.
Yes. I have done it several times using Ruhlman’s method and the results are great. Compared side-by-side with the kind already cured and widely available at grocery stores, there is simply no comparison. I recommend it, and if you make some extra and turn that into pastrami, it’s also great.
http://ruhlman.com/2010/03/corned-beef-how-to-cure-your-own/
I’m currently doing my first Corned Beef with a similar recipe to the Ruhlman above. It’s on day 5 of the brine and will cook it in the AM. Hopefully it turns out as well as everyone says.
How do you turn corned beef into pastrami?
I read you soak, cover in coriander and pepper, then smoke – is there another way?
No. You cure the beef to become corned and then smoke to 165 and steam until tender. Traditional coating is of course black pepper and coriander.
In the oven right now. I use the Ruhlman recipe from his book. I love it. Makes store bought corned beef seem gross.
My reuben anticipation is reaching fever pitch! Buddy and I corned a 10lb er. Gonna roast some and boil some.
I used Ruhlman’s recipe as a starting point. I don’t pickle briscuits, but I do corn tongues, hearts and other parts (I’m the only beef eater in my house and a whole corned brisuit is too much for me). The recipe works quite well
Did the Ruhlman method and the result was great flavor but a bit drier than last years. I suppose due to using the prime flat as opposed to the prime point.
Scott - I’m interested in this, as I’m going to do my own soon as well. A whole brisket / five pounds of brisket is just too much for my little family, so I’d probably look to source only part of a brisket. Would you recommend the point next time instead of the flat? I don’t have a sous vide machine, so my only concern would be having the thinner part overcooked by the time the thicker end is done. Thoughts?
I bought and made the whole brisket from Costco (11-12lbs). I ended up cutting it into two (flat and point) and cooking separately. They both turned out wonderful. Much more depth of flavor compared to the store package. It’s so easy as well; no more store bought corned beef for me.
My data set is very thin, but from my two experiences I had much better results with the point… HOWEVER there was also quite a bit more bands of fat to work around etc.
Others have had great success with the flat as well, so not sure I am much of a source of truth here, could be I screwed up the timing, or something else too. 
I’ve cooked flats and points, usually buying one or more whole briskets and breaking them down. While it’s generally true that the point has much more fat, there are also a lot of variables including how much external fat you trim and also, in my experience, just a lot of variation from brisket to brisket. Some are simply much fattier than others. While I have had good luck with both, the flat often slices better. The point, as Scott says, has a lot of bands of fat to work around so it can be more challenging to slice and serve. Matters more for sandwiches, less for serving alone or for something like hash.
Thanks, Guys. I’ll start with a point and see how it goes.