Classic Ruben Sandwich with Smoked Pastrami
In honor of by beautiful wife, I am celebrating St. Patrick's Day by making a kicked-up cowboy version of the classic Ruben sandwich. Shannon is of Irish heritage and she loves a good Ruben. We visited New York City three or four years ago and when we ate at Katz's Deli, she told me that it was the best sandwich she ever had. That got my hackles up a little bit and I knew I needed to make her the best Ruben sandwich she ever had when we got back home.
Brine the Brisket
Now, if you want to make a good Ruben, you have to start a few days in advance to brine and smoke the pastrami. Get yourself a brisket flat from the butcher, about four pounds, and bring it home to brine. That's right, we are going to make a brine – don't worry, it is easy. A little patience for a huge reward, y'all: perfect, fork tender pastrami.
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Get a big stockpot and pour in three quarts of water. You are going to use a full cup of salt. The amount of Prague pink powder is up for debate, but I like to use just under a fourth of a cup.
Tip: Prague pink powder is also sold as "pink curing salt."
Add the rest of the ingredients to the brine and mix with the pickling spice. Bring it to a good boil, stir it and turn off the heat. Cool it off for 10 to 15 minutes.
Grab yourself a container just big enough for a Leprechaun to take a bath in and three quarts of ice-cold slushy water to the brine so that the mixture is cool. Place the brisket in the container with the brine and the ice water and cover it with more ice. Fill the container up so that the brisket is good and covered with water, at least an inch. Cover the container in the ice box.
Tip: About every 24 hours, open the container and use a pair of tongs to turn the meat over.
Five Days Later...
How y'all been? Nice to see you back!
All right, now take the pastrami and rinse it thoroughly. The brine contained a lot of salt so you want to rinse off as much excess as you can. Take your time and pat it as dry as you can possibly get it.
Tip: Pat the pastrami dry with a paper towel after rinsing so the rub will stick to it better.
Lay the pastrami out on a flat cookie sheet. Make the rub listed in the recipe below and rub it all over the meat. Every single visible inch of the meat should be completely encased. Then, let it sit for an hour or so.
Tip: Have the meat sit out of the ice box until it is room temperature. This will make all the difference in the smoker.
Get the Smoker Hot
To smoke the pastrami, I am going to use a mixture of oak, apple and cherry. You can grab some of my mesquite wood right here at the website, if you want to keep some on hand. Once the smoke gets to going at about 225 degrees add the brisket in fat side up. We're going to get the temperature up with the oak and then add the fruit wood to the pit barrel towards the end.
We are going to smoke this meat until the internal temperature is around 160-170 degrees. When you get to 170 degrees, wrap the meat up in foil and add some more wood into the smoker until it is about 300 degrees. We are going to cook it about 2 more hours until the center is about 200 degrees and the meat is extremely tender.
It took me about 6 hours and forty minutes to get this finished, and it is simply perfect. Let the meat cool in the foil inside a grocery sack for another 45 minutes. Then it's time for Shan to eat her Ruben sandwich.
Ruben Time!
Slice the meat against the grain. Lay out a couple of slices of rye bread. Make the sauce from the recipe below and spread that on the bread. Top with the meat, and then the provolone cheese. Traditionally, the Ruben calls for swiss cheese, but Shannon is not a fan of Swiss and she is the boss, so provolone it is. Top with sauerkraut, more sauce and enjoy.
It makes the best Ruben you'll ever taste in your life. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and our newsletter. See y'all next week!
