Many muscles on a deer, elk, or bear are not great to throw in a pan and cook as a steak. Shoulder muscles are generally too tough to do anything besides make pulled meat or grind it into sausage. I like ground meats, but I prefer food made from the whole meat. This smoked elk pastrami is an excellent way to use the tough meat from the shoulder and create food you can take to work or on your next hunt on a sandwich.

Use Big Muscles for Elk Pastrami

The shoulder has large muscles that are good for pastrami because they hold together well. You could make this recipe with any large muscle from any animal. It’d be a great way to use a bear that was up there in years.

Remove the muscles from the shoulder as whole pieces. Shown here are the two largest muscles from both shoulders of a cow elk. You need to soak these in brine for at least five days, but the longer the better. I brined this meat for three weeks. You can brine a lot of meat and smoke a lot of meat at once, so don’t be shy.

Use this brine solution from the corned elk recipe. To hold the meat and the brine, I use one of those plastic containers made for holding breakfast cereal. It’s tall and narrow and takes up the least room in the fridge. While the meat is curing in the brine, rotate it every few days to ensure all surfaces get a chance to soak it up.

The difference between corned elk and elk pastrami is the smoking. And the rub. The rub is proportional, so one part of pepper to one part sugar, etc. It just depends on how much meat you’re doing. I started with one cup of black pepper, and I ended up with about 1/3 leftover after these four pieces of meat. I put the leftovers in a container to use next time. So, I’m writing it as one cup, but you could do 1/2 cup for less meat and do alright. Just be sure you pack it on.

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What You Need

• Large pieces of meat. Use shoulders from elk, deer, bear, moose, antelope, or…even beef.

For the Brine

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/4 cup Pink Salt #1. You may find this at your hunting store, but you can order it on Amazon, too.
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground Allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup juniper berries (my kids picked them in the hills)

**If you have whole options of any of the above, use a Tablespoon instead; i.e. 1 Tablespoon whole cloves, etc.

For the rub

• 1 Cup ground black pepper
• 1 Cup brown sugar
• 1 Cup coarse salt
• 1/2 Cup ground coriander
• 2 Tablespoons ground mustard
• 2 Tablespoons granulated garlic
• Olive oil for rubbing on the meat

What You Do

Combine all the brine ingredients in hot water, about 8 quarts. Dissolve all the sugar and salt, and keep heating until it’s dissolved. Add ice to cool the brine so you don’t cook the meat in it. Submerge the meat in the brine. Brine the meat in the fridge for 5 to 14 days (or longer).

Remove the meat from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub olive oil on the meat and set it on a rack to dry. Leave it for about an hour to allow a pellicle to form on the outer surface — this will help the rub stick to the meat.

Combine all the rub ingredients. Place the meat on a tray and pat the rub onto the meat so it is completely covered.

End Up With Smoked Elk Pastrami

Smoke the meat at about 220°F for about 4 hours. It depends on the thickness of the meat, but keep an eye on the temperature. The collagen in the tendons breaks down when the temperature is above 160°F for an extended time. However, you don’t want the outer portion of the meat to heat too fast or too long and become dry.

By the way, I got my smoker as a gift and didn’t think I would use it that much. It turns out that I use it all the time. If you don’t have one, I highly suggest you get one as a gift. I have a Camp Chef Woodwind, and I love it.

Serve the meat warm or cooled. Make a tasty sandwich, add it to a hamburger, or serve it with cheese and crackers. Smoked elk pastrami is an awesome way to use tough meat that would otherwise be headed for the grinder.

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