The pastrami I'm used to comes from togo's in california. Labored hard with brining etc with recipes that took me days if not weeks. On whim I picked up a corned beef from sams, yes the one that has the mix and everything included. Smoked that until it came up to temperature. Funny thing, it came out closer than anything I had done before.
Live and learn, looks good though. Once you figure it out you can rub it in on all of us and tell us how great it is.
It looked good! Better luck next time. I was sure hoping you found the secret.
I did one about 6 or 7 years ago and followed another guys recipe. IIRC, it brined for 3 weeks, soaked in water for 24 hours, dried, put on rub, let set for a couple of hours with rub on. Smoked at 225 till it was 160* inside. Placed in covered pan with apple juice in the bottom until temp was 200ish??? It was fantastic, but a lot of prep. I'll see if I can dig that recipe up.
