Making Turkey Pastrami

I love turkey pastrami and thankfully, it's easy to make. :)
Served with a spicy mustard, smoked cheese and some twangy green tomato dill pickles. Makes a nice meal.

The dry cure is made by combining
1/4 cup of brown sugar
2 1/2 TBS cracked black pepper
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp of mustard seeds
1/4 cup of kosher salt
1/4 cup of paprika
1/4 cup of coriander seeds, crushed
1 thumbsized piece of ginger root, peeled and chopped




Use a whole turkey breast, you can bone it but it's not required.




Combine the dry cure ingredients and rub all over breast.







Place the breast in a container to catch the juice, cover and let it cure in your fridge 24 hours.



After curing overnight, wipe most of the cure off using a paper towel.

Place the breast on your smoker. Smoke at 250 degees until you reach an internal temperature of 170. You can check the temperature of the breast using an instant read thermometer.

I used hickory to smoke this breast.

I added a wheel of compasino cheese for a short while, you can smoke what ever cheese you like.

I pulled the turkey off of the smoker at 170 degrees, and let it rest for 30 minutes. At this point you can use it right away or let it chill in the fridge.

The smoked pastrami is juicy and tender.

The finished pastrami, with spicy mustard, smoked compasino cheese and some twangy green tomato dill pickles. The leftovers are good too!