Beef Round Pastrami?

Actually there are 3 primary muscles in a beef round; top, bottom and eye. A lot of commercially produced Corned Beed & Pastrami is prepared from the bottom round.

Any of the round cuts will suffice your goal.

Preparing Pastrami from scratch is not very difficult and the end results are IMHO, superior. My 1st attempt several years ago involved a packer brisket. The process involves dry or wet brining, rub application and smoking, steaming and slicing. Here's the related thread. HERE

Thanks Max. I considered a while back making my own corned beef, but decided based on one trial years ago (just for corned beef, not pastrami) that the time and effort weren't worth it for me. As I said, I have had great success with commercial corned brisket flats, which IMO produce pastrami that is far superior to any deli product I've had, including in NYC - they never seem to get the smoke right for my taste. This is the first corned round I've tried, and the package doesn't say what cut of round it is. I just wondered if anyone has experience of brisket vs round as to the cooking process. I'll post results.

I would treat the round as I would the brisket. Both are tough muscles. Good luck.

Just reporting back. I smoked the corned beef round yesterday, about 4 lbs, after soaking 24 hours changing the water 3 times. I used dls's rub of pepper, coriander, mustard and minced garlic. Used hickory and smoked at 220 - 230 for about 13 hours to IT of 164. Removed, wrapped in foil and refrigerated overnight. Today I steamed it for about 2 1/2 hours for an IT of 192 - 194 (water boils at 198 here). The piece was very thick, about 5 inches at the largest end. The result was spectacular - best pastrami I've made. Very, very lean, but tender and perfect flavor. Sliced thin against the grain and made hot pastrami "sandwiches" sans bread - just a pile of pastrami slices topped with sauerkraut (rinsed and simmered with beef broth and paprika), and topped with a slice of provolone (didn't have swiss) under the broiler until melted, and finished with homemade Russian dressing. Just a great meal. I will definitely use corned beef round again for pastrami. Now I know where the large deli slices come from!