Pastrami from scratch, recipe listed. Pictures added

[Cal-B-Que]

I dry cure my pastrami about 7-10 days depending on thickness of the brisket; smoke for 3 hrs, and steam for 1-3 hrs til I reach 165 degrees internal temp. You can steam it without losing flavor by wrapping the meat in saran wrap than seal it in a freezer ziplock bag. I then place it on a rack in a covered chafing dish pan with water on the bottom, heated in oven to 200 degrees. No moisture lost, no flavor lost, awesome pastrami!

Bill's method probably works good because he has all the fat of the point portion to keep it moist. My method works for the flat - or the whole brisket (and leaves it moist); you can also use this method for tri-tip pastrami. Another option is to foil the meat after 3 hrs of smoke, preferably with a half cup of apple juice or cider inside the foil - thus steaming the meat on the smoker in foil.

[havasteve]

I'm Drooling, now I'm gonna try this.
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[Harry Nutczak]

I answered Chzhed question in a PM, but I figured I should post it here too.

I was unable to find pickling spice in any name-brand spice lines, but I was able to get it in a bulk form. Many grocery stores offer less expensive spices in bag form hanging on a rack near the produce section, I found it there.

I still have a bit less then 1/2 pound of this stuff left, some friends & associates got samples and the requests are starting to roll in for more.

I recently did 2 more whole back loins of Canadian-Style bacon for someone else.
If you want that recipe I believe I have it in the "Smoked Foods" thread.
Dry cure for that too, with sugar and black pepper as the only additions.
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Just remember that the toes you may step on during your climb to the top will also be attached to the a$$es you'll be forced to kiss on your way back down!

[jib]