Super Bowl Batch!

Just finished a great batch of Pastrami.  Found a good local spot to do the smoking thanks to the town of Menlo Park.  Whichever team you want to win the Super Bowl, just make sure you get a nice sandwich and a good brew!  Kick back and have some fun on Super Sunday!

National Hot Pastrami Day - January 14, 2011

Aukie's is proud to recognize National Hot Pastrami Day!  I will be smoking a new batch of  Brisket and Turkey Pastrami this weekend.  I have let these babies cure for a good 2+ weeks and I am really excited for the final product.

Once I have the vacuum sealed packs ready for sale, I will post availability on the website(http://www.aukies.com/), and I will contact my regular crew of fans!

In the meantime, I think we are stuck with Togo's unless you take a ride over to The Refuge in San Carlos or up to SF for a chance to experience Moishe's Pippic Inc.

Final Product - Third Batch

Here are a few samples of the final product from the third batch... Hope you were able to grab some.

FEAR the TREE!

The tailgate for the Oregon State game went very well.  Besides Stanford winning and securing the #4 ranking in the BCS poll, Aukie's pastrami had huge interest!

The above pix is a good glimpse of the "outside kitchen with the brisket bong".  I did not need to put the tubing in water since the temperature was cool and it rained for most of the time.  I was out there for 24 hours.  I slept in the back of the minivan.

Here are the steps I took after I got the fire going, and hunkered down for a good 24 hour smoke.

I opened the cured pastrami packages and gave them one last good rub before I put them on the smoker.

Here is the brisket after the "final rub", and before i put it into the cold side of the smoker.  I did find that the best technique is give the meats a long cold smoke on the cold side (approx 100 degrees), and then a braise on the hot side (approx 220 degrees).  I am definitely getting a better understand on how to use the Brisket Bong.

Here is the turkey in the "turkey rub box" for the final rub before going on the cold smoker.  The correct amount of rub is very tricky.  The small piece can get over flavored, but all in all everyone seemed to enjoy the samples I gave away.  The dark meat turkey Pastrami was particulalry poplular.

I put the turkey in tin foil and on the top rack of the cold smoker.  I wanted to be very careful not to have the brisket drippings from the fat get on the Turkey.  I think I was successful in keeping the meats seperated so the flavors did not get mixed up.  The cold smoker side easily fit the 6 half-brisket, 3 turkeys butchered(breast, thigh and leg meat), and 4 blocks of cheese.

Here is a good shot of the cold side with the turkey in foil.  You cannot see the brisket next to it.  Also, the top grill with the cheese is not shown.






It was a great experience.  The meat came out great, and I really enjoyed hanging out with the other tailgaters.  Everyone who stopped by to ask about the smoker enjoyed the sample sandwiches I was giving out.  Everyone thought it was still for making moonshine.

The Golden Ticket

Dear Lunchers,

I made another executive decision!  Fans of Aukie's will be called Lunchers from now on.  The nickname reminds me of Lurch from the Adamms Family.  I am almost positive that I ate next to Lurch at Katz's on a "blurry" friday night in the early 1990s after catching a Bad Brains show at the old Ritz. 

As I remember, Lurch ate a Pastrami/Corned Beef combo with fries and a chocolate egg cream soda.  We grinned at each other because we both liked the half-sour tomatoes you get for free when you order a sandwich at Katz's.

Papa Was a Rollin' Stone

Here is the deal with the Blog and my Pastrami making operation.  My neighbors hate the cold smoker.  It fills their homes with brisket infused smoke.  Personally, this smell makes me "high", but the freaky lady who lives above me goes ballistic.  She shouts at me when I smoke my meat, and complains to the landlord.  Therefore, I have decided to take the show on the road...

The cold smoker is portable.  I can throw it in my minivan, and find interesting locations throughout Northern California to set up shop.  This will provide hours of good blogging.  My plan is to take "The Brisket Bong" to state parks and other locations throughout Northern California where I can smoke in peace.  Hopefully, someone will offer me an empty space where I can get the peace of mind I need to smoke meat for 24 hours, but until then I will have to drive around Northern California looking for good smoking spots.  Fortunately, there are miles and miles of coastline and wilderness not to far from my home. 

As a test run before I head into the wilderness, I have decided to try the portable smoking operation at Stanfurd's last home game this weekend.  I have a Golden Ticket that will get me into the primo tailgating location outside the stadium for this Saturday's finale against Oregon State. (Big thanks to my cousin Todd for giving up his tickets.  He can take his kids to a basketball game or something.. I need that parking pass!) 

I will be blogging on my laptop from the tailgate which I plan to set up on Friday afternoon.  So check back if you want to find my location so you can drop by to taste my meat.   I will not be giving away too much Pastrami because I want to give it time to rest after smoking it so that the flavors fully develop.  I also want to create the vacuum sealed packages so it can be properly distributed to my "Lunchers" all over the world.  However, I will throw some steaks, ribs, and sausages on the hot side of the "The Brisket Bong" for visitors to enjoy if they stop by my tailgate.

Update on the Turkey Pastrami

The turkey breasts are ready for the rub.  They dried out nicely after the brine.  I just love the aromatic fragrance the meat has after the juniper berry brine.  These are nice thick pieces of white meat turkey, and will make good Pastrami. 

In this container are the pieces of dark meat from the turkeys.  I was careful when I butchered them to get nice pieces of thigh and leg meat.  I removed all tendons and bone to get clean and neat pieces of meat. 
I added lemon zest to the rub for the turkey pastrami.  I thought a little citrus flavor might add a nice touch.  I bought 12 lemons for about $2.25 and I made plenty of dried lemon zest.  5 oz bottles in the spice rack where selling for $7... suckers !!

You know what is gonna happen now!  Rub-a-dub-dub... stroke that meat so that every inch is covered with flavor!

Add a schmatter of garlic and wrap them tightly with plastic.  I am creating cocoons of flavor around the turkey pastrami.

Here are all of the Turkey pastramis.  Breast, thigh and leg meat nicely trimmed and in their little blankets of flavor. 


SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND! 


Don't they look like kilo "bricks" of cocaine?  I feel like Tony Montana after he just got to Miami, and had his first successful coke deal. 

Here is the stocked mini-fridge full of Turkey and Brisket Pastrami.  They will hang out there until gameday, and I get the fires going at the Stanford tailgate. 

ASIDE: The BCS is gonna screw Stanford even though we have the best offensive line in College Football.  The Rose Bowl should be Stanford v. Wisconsin.  Too bad the powers that control College Football care only about money.  It is bullshit that they stripped Reggie Bush of his Heisman, too.

Please remember to CLICK on the Ads so I can pay for shipping meat to the "Lunchers".

Gmen v. Filthadelphia Birds

A good late game in Filthadelphia tonight.  Let's hope Justin Tuck breaks Michael Vick's dog-abusing face!

As you might figure, I listen to lots of sports radio.  This was particularly enjoyable during the San Francisco Giants amazing World Series victory this year.  I would have loved to seen the Yankees beat the Giants for baseball's ultimate prize, but i gotta thank Los Gigantes for providing the whole Bay Area with an awesome sports viewing experience. 

One of the biggest pricks on sports radio (there are many) has got to be Jim Rome.  It makes sense that an asshole of this proportion would be from Los Angeles.  If you have ever listened to Rome then you know that he calls his listeners, "The Clones".  I could never dial-in to "Rome is Burning", and have this prick refer to me as a "Clone".  I would much prefer to be a Howard Stern "Wack Packer" than a Jim Rome "Clone".

Regardless, the concept of giving a nickname to followers does seem like a good idea for a Blog.  Unfortunately, at this point, it appears the only followers of Aukie's blog are two good friends and my ex-wife.  That sounds more like a "menage-a-trois" than a legion of fans.  However, I am trying to come up with a good nickname for my Pastrami lovers.  Let me know if you have any good ideas for a nickname for the legion of carnivores who will soon discover Aukie's Pastrami. 

I am struggling here... "Gourmets" sounds like something from a Williams and Sonoma catalogue.  "Epicureans" sounds like Caligula's grape-eating perverts.  "Mentshes" sounds like you just read a good Torah portion at your Bar Mitzvah.  "Carnivores" is to broad and visions of Barney haunt me.  I will keep working on a nickname for you, but please let me know your thoughts. I will not degrade my followers since they must have sophisticated palates if they are Pastrami conniseurs.

Also, CLICK ON THE ADS!!  I get money for the click-thrus and I will use this for shipping the pastrami to you.  So, if you are a taste tester..CLICK ON THE ADS.. Please :)

I'm in love with a man... a man called God.

I cut up and brined the turkeys tonight before I watched "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".  It would be fun to hang out with Green Man.  We could tend the fire in the cold smoker, discuss old girlfriends and talk baseball.

Here is what I did today:

Took defrosted Turkeys out of the fridge, sharpened my knife, and put those butchery skills to work.

Butchered them up.  Taking breast meat, thigh meat and drumstick meat off the bone for the Pastrami brine.  The other parts I will use for stock.

Bucket of pieces for Pastrami!

Bucket of parts and carcasses for stock. I did a good job of getting the meat off the bone.  My grandpa would have been proud of how I broke down these birds.

Parts for Pastrami in the brine.  I think the thigh meat is gonna be really tasty as Pastrami.  Will let the turkey meat Brine for about 72 hours.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE KELLY!