Here’s the recipe I used. It’s from ThermoWorks, but I did some tweaking.
INGREDIENTS
· 1 slab pork belly, about 8–10 pounds
· 1 gallon water
· 3/4 cup kosher salt
· 1/2 cup sugar
· 2 tsp pink salt (sodium nitrite, Prague powder #1)
· 5 cloves garlic, crushed
· 2 Tbsp pickling spice
For the seasoning:
· 1/3 C whole coriander seed
· 4.5 Tbsp black pepper
· 2 Tbsp all-purpose beef BBQ rub
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the brine
· Crush the pickling spice roughly and put it in a pot with the garlic, sugar, salt, and curing salt.
· Add 2 quarts water to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salts.
· Pour the concentrated brine into a vessel large enough to hold the pork belly.
· Add 4 lbs ice to the brine and stir.
· Submerge the pork in the brine and weigh it down if needed. Put it in the fridge to cure for 6 days.
Season and smoke the pastrami
· Preheat your smoker to 250°F (121°C),
· Toast the coriander in a hot dry skillet until very fragrant and a little toasty, with whisps of smoke just starting to form.
· Cool the corriander somewhat and grind in a spice grinder until medium-coarse. Combine with the BBQ rub.
· Retrieve the pork belly from the fridge and rinse it well, removing any whole spices from its surface.
Pat the surface of the pork belly dry.
Slather in yellow mustard then season liberally with the spice mixture. We used all of it—don’t skimp!
Place the pork belly in the smoker, inserting a probe into its thickest section and cook to 165°F (71°C).
Smoke the pork until the high alarm sounds, about 3 hours then wrap in foil.
Cook to 195°F (91°C) then let rest for 30 minutes before slicing.