Pastrami Attempt

Tried to pastramify a brisket last week. Took a full packer-cut brisket and brined it for 5 days in salt, demera sugar, and pickling spices. The spices had things I wanted -- bay leaves, peppercorns, cloves -- along with some things I didn't really want in there -- allspice, cinammon -- but I couldn't find juniper so gave up on doing my own spice mix. Rubbed with cracked black pepper. Smoked it over hickory for 6 hours then wrapped in foil and finished in 240F oven for 4-5 hours. Let cool overnight, then fridged all morning, sliced then reheated on an on-demand basis. Was really tasty. Perfectly tender but still sliceable. The fattier part had that wonderfully buttery texture, and the leaner part was also excellent. The flavor was still closer to salt beef/corned beef than pastrami, although it was definitely on the road to pastramihood [Yes, I know that pastrami is generally cold-smoked and not hot-smoked.] It needed more smoke and less salt. Next time need to soak in in fresh water after the brining, and be more aggressive with the smoking. Also need to find juniper, and add juniper both the brine and the rub. Coriander seed would do nicely as well.