Pastrami Brisket with B4 Barbeque

I absolutely love pastrami. I love pastrami brisket and pastrami beef ribs. We have had a pastrami brisket and reuben recipe on MeatChurch.com for many years. In fact, pastrami is something I have been know for as I regularly take this to Hawaii Food & Wine.

Great friends of mine, Nolan Belcher and his wife Emily, own B4 Barbeque & Boba in Mabank, TX. B4 it is located in the Mabank Feed Store. Having a BBQ joint in a feed store screams Texas BBQ. B4 Barbeque landed a spot on the famous Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ Joints list in May 0f 2025. Nolan and I previously did one of our well known Guest Pitmasters YouTube videos (The Best BBQ Side Ever) which, at the time of writing this recipe, had over 1.1M views. Nolan and I decided it was time we collaborated again. Since he is well known for his pastrami, I thought it was only fitting that we get his take on his version of this recipe to celebrate making this list.

Meat Church How To YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/l8MoVTHt7no

Guest Pitmaster Series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLlcC6gl4PGLGoWiDmoTCpO5f8X-bixi_

Ingredients

• 1 15 - 17 lb whole packer brisket, trimmed
  

Pastrami Seasoning Ingredients:

• 16 mesh pepper to taste
• Meat Church Holy Cow to taste

Pastrami Brine Ingredients:

• 2 yellow onions, sliced thin
• 4 C pickle juice
• 1 C minced garlic
• 1 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1 1/2 C Kosher salt
• 3 T pink curing salt (Prague powder #1)
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 C red pepper flake
• 1/4 C all spice
• 1/4 C cloves
• 1/4 C whole corriander
• 1/4 C black peppercorn
  
• 1 gallon water

Prepare your brine
Combine all brine ingredients in a large container with 1 gallon of warm water.

Stir until the salt and sugar dissolves.

Brine the brisket
Place your brisket in a food safe container and cover with the brine mixture. Add more cold water if necessary to completely submerge the brisket.

Place the container in the refrigerator and at least 7 days. Flip the brisket 3 days into the process. 

Pro tip: Use pulled pork claws to poke holes in the brisket prior to brining to assist with brine penetration.

Brine for 7 days.

After 7 days remove the brisket from the brine and COMPLETELY rinse it off.

Pat the brisket dry. 

Season the brisket
No binder is needed due to the brisket being wet from the brine.

Season the brisket on the meat side with 16 mesh black pepper. 

Season the brisket with Meat Church Holy Cow. 

Allow the seasoning to adhere for at least 15 minutes or up to overnight in the refrigerator.

Prepare your smoker
Prepare your smoker at a temperature of 250 degrees. B4 uses post oak, hickory or pecan. 

Smoke the brisket
Smoke the brisket for 5 - 6 hours until your desired color is allowed. 

Remove the brisket from the smoker and pour some melted beef tallow over the top. 

Wrap the brisket tightly in unwaxed butcher paper. 

Place the wrapped brisket in a foil boat underneath the bottom of the brisket which will add protection when we increase the temperature of the smoker. 

Return the brisket to the smoker and increase the temperature to 300 - 325.

Cook until the brisket reaches on internal temperature of 203.

Remove the brisket from the smoker and rest for 45 minutes at ambient temperature. 

Wrap the brisket, which is still wrapped in butcher paper, in food service film (cling wrap) and place in the brisket in a warmer at 145 for the same amount of hours as you smoked it. That is generally about 12 hours. 

Remove the brisket from the warmer and cut open the food service film and remove the brisket.

Pour our any of the residual au jus all over the brisket.

Slice and enjoy!