As the title implies, I’m between the 19 vs 24. Use case is a 5 chair set up, maybe more on some occasions for evening hangs. I MAY use it for cooking but I have a charcoal grill and a gas grill so it’d be an afterthought at best. How much wood will an x19 go through as opposed to a x24? I’m planning on getting the hear deflector, so would the 19 suffice? Anyone get the 19 and regret it?
So I picked up a few corned beefs when they went on sale at around saint patty’s. One flat and one point. The “point” came apart into several pieces. Hard to tell if it was bad butchery, or multiple pieces in one package. I pinned and then strung them together in the shape that came in to keep uniformity. I was under family dinner time pressure, but the cook took a lot longer than expected considering i was dealing with 4lb pieces of meat. We didn’t get to the flat, only ate the disjointed point. Flat went into the fridge uncut. I pulled at general probe tenderness around 195, but wasn’t ideal.
I’ve done pastrami before but never on the BGE. It came out ok. Family approved but I’ve done better. Here are my takeaways:
275f for life. I was hanging below 250f for most of the cook before wrapping and transferring to the oven. Seemed to make sense, more smoke, right? But i also failed to develop the bark that I wanted. I don’t really see the benefit of being that low. I was running into timing issues which would have been alleviated by a hotter cook.
Foil boat for life. I wrapped here. But a foil boat has the distinct advantage of easily checking for probe tenderness and bark development/ preservation. Next pastrami, I’m going to either foil boat if I have time, or steam if I don’t.
Rest/time above 180f is key. The reason the long rests works is because it allows the meat to be above 180 for longer without drying out, lets the fat render more fully and lets the juices redistribute. As per no.1, a hotter front end with more rest time on the back end would have been preferable. With little rest time, the meat comes apart under a hard chew, not what you want.
You just can’t time beef. That’s the lesson. Unless it’s beef back ribs, or I can do a full day rest the next day, whole beef is tough under time constraints.
Still made a great sandwich!