How to Make Moose Pastrami
Wild meat plays really well with pastrami flavors, so I wanted to make a batch of this on my new Pit Boss 150PPS. This recipe turned out delicious, and it's a great way to transform some wild meat into delicious sandwich meat!
For the cure, percentages are based on meat weight. It's easiest to measure in grams, just for math. For example, the cure is .25%, so if your loin is 1000g, the calculation is 1000x.0025 (or .25%), which equals 2.5g of cure. Weigh your meat, run a little math for the percentages, and you're good to weigh out all your ingredients.
Here is the recipe:
.25% cure #1, Prague Powder 1, or other sodium nitrite cure (base on manufacturer's recommended amount, if it differs) https://amzn.to/3ESiZ9F
I also recommend adding 0.05% sodium erythorbate, as that will help prevent the formation of nitrosamines in the finished, cooked product. I didn't use it here, but have since included that in my recipes.
2.5% kosher salt or other non-iodized salt
.25% garlic powder
.4% paprika
.4% black pepper
.2 ground bay leaves
.2% ground allspice
2.2% brown sugar
Combine all ingredients and apply to meat. Vacuum seal and refrigerate for a minimum of two weeks (I went 5), turning/massaging the meat every day or two. After, rinse and pat meat dry.
Baste with bacon grease (or, I guess, olive or other oil 😁), then add the rub (these amounts are a little flexible, I'd imagine:
1% black peppercorns, cracked
.175% whole coriander, cracked
.25% ground coriander
.4% whole yellow mustard seed
.1% mustard powder
.55% brown sugar
.25% paprika
.36% garlic powder
.22% onion powder
Smoke for 3-4 hours on 200-250F (I went 225F, then raised to 300F to finish) in pellet or other smoker, placing loin on rack above pan of water, until roast hits internal temperature of 140F. Slice hot or refrigerate and slice cold, then reheat and add to sandwiches. Vacuum seal and refrigerate remaining pastrami; this can be done whole.
Get the 150PPS on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ZteNZh
Here's the Lesyao meat probe: https://amzn.to/3ZqejTN
Here's the Meater Plus: https://amzn.to/4daGA49
If you're looking for a vacuum sealer, consider one of these:
https://amzn.to/3QQ65A9
https://amzn.to/3E5vzBQ
https://amzn.to/44tl7za
An updated version of my scale: https://amzn.to/44nFrFN