Smoke Signals is the free newsletter from Barbecue Whisperer and Hedonism Evangelist, Meathead, and the team at AmazingRibs.com. If you like it, forward a copy to a friend. And remember: No rules in the bedroom or dining room.
Our newest how-to video shows you how to make the ultimate sandwich - a Reuben with pastrami. The ultimate in sandwiches starts with the ultimate in smoked meats - pastrami, a.k.a. smoked corned beef made from brisket. With a bit of cabbage in the form of sauerkraut on top of the brisket, the Reuben is a great St. Patrick's Day twist!
 
In the video, I show you how to draw off the salt from a storebought brisket with an easy desalination process. With a generous helping of rub to get a flavorful crust, we get to smokin', steamin' and finally, to eatin' great Reuben sandwiches.

You can always make pastrami (above) or Corned Beef and Cabbage (below) with storebought brisket. Storebought brisket is indeed a timesaver, and its quality can be improved vastly by desalinating the meat a bit. Instructions for storebought brisket are in the right-hand sidebar on both the Close to Katz's pastrami recipe and the Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe.

To really out-do yourself, try curing your own corned beef. You'll need three key ingredients and a lot of time: brisket, Morton's Kosher salt, Prague powder #1, and five to seven days for the meat to cure. 
 
Two few helpful resources, should you choose to accept the homemade corned beef assignment: my Science of Salt article and Science of Curing Meats Safely primer.


After preparing the corned beef, you'll need no luck at all to put together a delicious St. Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage. Desalinate, and  add potatoes and carrots to boil with the corned beef. Cabbage goes in a little later since it needs less time to cook. While the main dish is boiling, fix up some Secretariat Horseradish sauce to accompany. It's not traditional, I know. But it's good.

 
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    • Easter is March 27. Yep, already.

    Find a properly trimmed, bone-in, precooked, wet-cured ham. Precooked, you say? Throw out the instructions that the ham comes with and follow our recipe to produce the Ultimate Smoked Ham. As the ham is already precooked, we want to heat it through without it drying out, impart some smoky flavor and smother on a delicious glaze.

    If the ham came packaged with a packet of glaze, toss that too. I recommend glazing the ham with renown pitmaster Chris Lilly's Spiced Apricot Glaze. If you'd like an alternative sauce, fix up a batch of Danny Gaulden's Brown Sugar & Mustard.
    But, what if I want to cure my own ham? Yes, Virginia, you can wet-cure your own ham.

    Similar to the Homemade Corned Beef recipe above, to DIY your Easter wet-cured ham, you'll need a few critical ingredients and time, about seven days. 

    Because typically 15 to 20 pounds of ham is so thick and an immersion cure alone takes weeks, we inject ours with cure, too, to speed up the process. (Check out our ratings and reviews of injectors.)

    If you haven't already, read my articles on Science of Curing Meats Safely and the Science of Salt. 
    Our favorite cuts of meat this time of year - beef brisket, leg of lamb, and ham - may come with a fat cap, a thick, often hard, layer of fat that can be up to two inches deep. Do we keep the fat cap on so that the melted fat will flavor the meat underneath?
     
    Sounds like a great idea in theory, but that's not what happens when fat caps are exposed to high heat. Science proves it.
     

    See why they're raving...

    "An amazing compendium of barbecue knowledge." -- Aaron Franklin, Franklin Barbecue, Austin, TX.

    "I have more than 250 barbecue books and this sets the bar. By far the most comprehensive I have seen." -- Dave Raymond, Creator of Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce

    "Meathead chops years of your learning curve with this encyclopedia of barbecue knowledge." -- Chris Hart, author of Wicked Good Barbecue

    Our Grill Roasted Lamb is a luxurious main dish for an Easter repast. Start with a leg of lamb, either bone-in or as a boneless roast or butterflied.

    For reasons stated above, y    ou'll trim off the fat cap and the silverskin, adding gashes to help the marinade penetrate our lamb leg. Into these gashes, and all over the meat, goes Dolly's Lamb Rub of rosemary, mustard seed, and other spices. In a two-zone setup at 225F, we grill the lamb on the indirect side until it reaches 110F internal temperature. After searing, we finish our lamb tableside with Chef Adam Perry Lang's Board Sauce of mint and rosemary.
    Smokers based on an ancient Japanese "kamado" design are all the rage. The best are made from ceramics that are very efficient, holding heat and using very little charcoal. They can also be used as grills, but the cone shape of most of them doesn't make them ideal for 2-zone cooking, a technique we consider vital for grilling. There are a few exceptions, however. The two Primo models are oval shaped and can be easily set up with two zones for great grilling. XL is the biggest Primo Oval. We like the Primos better than the Big Green Egg (read our review of the BGE), the model that has been around the longest. Made in the USA.

    Our review of the Primo Oval XL includes a list of components with videos and a list of key guidelines. Scroll down the page after the review to check out our reader's comments about their Oval XLs.

    For more reviews of smokers like the Primo XL, and grills, pizza ovens and hog roasters, check out AmazingRibs.com's barbecue equipment reviews and ratings.
     
     
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    Here are some of our most popular articles with direct links.

    Table Of Contents

    TECHNIQUE: For both the beginner and expert, here are articles on how to get 'er done right.

    Meat Temperature Guide 
    Science Of Wood & Smoke

    RECIPES: Scores of tested restaurant quality recipes carefully explained so even novices can be great cooks.
    Smoked Bloody Marys

    EQUIPMENT REVIEWS: Unbiased recommendations for the best products for the back yard cook.

    Smokers & Grills 

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