After seeing S&B's thread a few months back, I decided I wanted to make my own pastrami. It turned out great. I may scale back the salt a tad in the brine next time. It was just a tad saltier than I liked.

For the brine, I used S&B's recipe:
1 gallon water
1 cup salt
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp pink curing salt
2 jars pickling spice

The rub I used was:

1/2 cup coarse ground (or cracked) black pepper
1/4 cup raw sugar
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground mustard
1 tbsp onion powder

I boiled the brine ingredients in about 1/2 gallon of water, then transferred it to a 1 gallon pitcher full of ice to cool it down.

Next, I trimmed the excess fat off the brisket. I like to leave about a 1/4" to 1/8" inch on. This was a packer brisket on the smaller side, but I don't remember the weight. It was only about $35-40 (not prime).

Then I put the brisket in a foil pan and covered with the cooled down brine. Next time I do this, I may buy a brining bag, because the brine didn't cover the brisket fully.

I left the brisket in the brine for about 8 days, flipping it once per day. After the 8th day, I removed the brisket from the brine and patted it dry. I added a cooling rack to the pan and put the brisket back in, then let it air out in the fridge for another day.

After it had aired out for a day, I sprayed it with olive oil and added the rub.

Onto the pit which was at 250 ish

About 6 hours in

This was probably about 10-12 hours in, just before I wrapped it. Internal temp was about 165. Apparently I did a poor just trimming one spot where rendered fat kept pooling. No big deal though.

I wrapped in butcher paper, and let it go another 5 hours or so until the interal temp came up to about 202.

I let it rest for about an hour in foil, then sliced it up. It was great. I liked the rub and I would do this again.

This post was edited on 5/13/24 at 11:40 am