Pastrami Picanha

Pastrami Picanha is a great way to make some pastrami without having to do a whole brisket. There is still a labor of love involved but it is more cost affective, easier to work with and you get a similar outcome to that of creating a brisket pastrami. 

The process is simple. First you will want to start brining your Picanha in the brine recipe below. For this I let mine soak in the brine for 6 days. 

The Brine: 

• 1 Gallon of water 
• 1.5 Cups of Kosher Salt 
• 1 Cup of Sugar 
• 4 tsp Pink Curing Salt 
• 6 Cloves of Garlic, Crushed 
• 1/4 Cup of Pickling Spices 

You start by bringing the brine to a boil so that the salt and sugars can dissolve. You will then want to wait until it reaches room temperature (or you can speed it up with a little ice). 

Once at room temperature submerge your Picanha into the brine and let it soak the 6 days. 

After the 6 days is up, remove the Picanha from the brine, rinse it off and fill your bucket back up with water and soak the Picanha another day. (This will prevent the pastrami from being too salty). 

Next is the smoking process. First you will want to create the Pastrami rub listed out below. 

Pastrami Rub: 

• 2 tbsp Coarse Black Pepper 
• 1 tbsp Brown Sugar 
• 1 tbsp Paprika 
• 2 tsp Garlic Powder 
• 2 tsp Onion Powder 
• 1/2 tsp Mustard Powder 
• 2 tbsp Whole Black Peppercorns 
• 1 tbsp Whole Coriander Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds 

Mix the rub together. Then you will want to spread yellow mustard over the Picanha to act as a binder and spread the rub all over the Picanha. 

Get your smoker up to 180 degrees and slowly smoke the Picanha until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. At this point I like to create an aluminum foil boat around the bottom of the Picanha to allow it's fat cap to render down and cook into the meat. 

At an internal temperature of 201 degrees we pull the Picanha and let it rest for 30 minutes before slicing into it.