With my oven set way dow to 170 degrees and the brine cured pastrami in there for over 5 hours and not getting past 110 inside, I pushed up the temp to 180, then 190, then 200 then 220, and after 11 hours I finally got the internal temp to reach 140 while the oven temp was at 250 degrees. I must say these two beef chunks took quite a lot longer to cook compared to the previous ones. Maybe because they were bigger in diameter. If anyone wants some of my left over dry spice rub, let me know and I'll send it out. It contains, allspice, clove, cinnamon, garlic, onion, bay leaf, mustard seed, celery seed, red pepper, black pepper, coriander, dill seed, ginger, and even some ground juniper berries. Needless to say its a really tasty spice blend and sticks to the outside of the beef once its been cooked. They now get refrigerated for at least 24 hours prior to slicing thin. I estimate I have about 8-9 pounds of pastrami, of which I will probably freeze some after its been sliced. Maybe in FS bags as individual servings that get vac sealed and then when I want a serving, I just put it in the microwave or drop into boiling water a couple of minutes, then open the bag and serve.. It should be good with the sourdough french bread I will also be making tomorrow, along with some spicy brown mustard I also made using some Grey Poupon, mixed with some finely ground brown mustard seeds and wine vinegar. The mustard needed a few weeks to 'mellow out' to a decent flavor. If it were served right after grinding amd mixing it tastes terrible. The same holds true for the chinese hot mustard powder when you mix it with water to make some hot mustard. It needs to 'bloom' a few hours before its served, also the same for Wasabi.

I wouldn't recommend rye flour, but rice flour is OK as a filler as is wheat flour. The soy flour is quite cheap usually. The more they are baked and dried out the longer they will last without any special care. Even an egg or two can be mixed in as it too gets baked, so they will not spoil quickly. Bake them at about 300 degrees or a little less. The dogs love crunchy stuff, good for their teeth. You can keep them in the fridge if you are really concerned. I have TWO freezers here and both are quite full. Rarely do I shop at the sup[ermarkets unless something is on sale really cheap. This week, boneless rib eye steaks (resturant quality) for $3.99 a pound. Boneless/skinless chicken breasts $1.69 a pound, but I have plenty of them already. Gotta start using some of my frozen broccoli, and yellow waxed beans from this last summer. Ive got about 5 or so gallon bags of each.

The Costco stores in Minnesota aren't carrying the same brands of corned beef they have in the past. I mentioned only a month ago in another thread that Costco for several years sold the Vienna Beef brand of corned beef. I have visited 3 Costco stores in the last 2 weeks and they all had the "Sy Ginsberg" brand at about $3.50 a pound. I looked at many briskets at all three stores. They were all extremely fatty. In fact - the fattiest and most disgusting corned beef briskets I've ever seen. Not even close to the quality of the other brands Costco has offered in the past. Now I know some people like well marbled, fatty corned beef. But I won't be buying my CB at Costco this year. Sushi - perhaps your Costco if offering a different product. I know the products vary by region.

I've always brined and dry brined. There is a loose rule of thumb that a salt dry brine 2-4hrs is equivalent to 10-14 wet brine. Salt is a preservative but also draws out moisture as it starts that cure. It starts to dissolve with that moisture, creating a slurry, then returns into the meat. It doesn't go far. Depending on how much salt and how much time. A dry brine creates a nice dry skin/film/crust? don't know what to call it, but the surface of the meat firms as it has lost that moisture. That is where the heat while cooking comes into the most contact. Basically a salt cured surface. A dry rub that has some spice and salt will do a similar thing, depending also, on the amount of salt in the mix. And why i make my own if i dry rub overnight. A wet brine for pork is just a mess. It gets wet and mealy looking. Probably salvaged with a dry pat p-towel and another dry salting for a hour? Don't know. Did it once. Still fine but a dry brine is better. I did not understand brining/salting until i started salting my own fish. I do a 1hr, 6hr, 12hr and a 3-5 day 'pickle' depending on how i use it. Referring to elder neighbors for assistance. Especially when it came to air cured salt fish. A good read to understanding is in a few links i have in my files. "Rules of thumb For thick cuts like beef prime rib. 1 teaspoon of table salt per pound, refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours For medium thick cuts like pork loin or turkey breast. 1/2 teaspoon of table salt per pound, refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours For thinner cuts like steaks & chops. 1/3 teaspoon of table salt per pound, refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours For Morton's Kosher Salt. Double the quantity. You do not need to rinse off excess salt. Here is a link that might be useful: dry brining