Corned Beef

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Been making our own corned beef for a couple of years now, usually following a modified version of Alton Brown's recipe (I cut his amount of salt peter, sodium nitrate, by about 6).  This time I decided to try the version from Charcuterie (Ruhlman & Polcyn) using a nitrite cure.  If you haven't done this yet and like corned beef, I highly recommend you try it.  It's easy and once you do your own you may just never go back to the commercially packaged variety.

Corned beef starts with beef brisket, and is an excellent candidate for a market trimmed brisket flat weighing about 4.5 -5.5 lbs.  I can buy trimmed, USDA Select grade flats down here typically for $1.89 -2.29 per pound.  For corned beef Select works fine.  This time I decided to splurge a bit.  Found some of these little gens at Sam's a couple of weeks ago ... USDA Choice Angus flats, a bit pricey but look very good.





After a brisk wash under cold running water, paper towel dry and a wee bit if trim on the lean side, here is what I have (2469 g / 5.43 lb)




I always mixed my own pickling spice in the past, but this time I got this from The Spice House.  This is their Corned Beef Spice (they also have a Pickling Spice blend, but this is the version for corned beef).  The aroma of this stuff is incredible!



Made a brine following the recipe in Charcuterie, adjusting the amount of pink salt to suit my own desires.  The brine:

4 qts water
400 g salt
100 g sugar (~ 1/2 cup)
20 g Corned Beef Spice (~2 1/2 Tbl)
3 garlic cloves, coarsely minced
56 g Cure No. 1  (~3 Tbl)

In a 6-8 qt pot heat the water to a simmer, add add the salt, sugar, corned beef spice and garlic, Stir to dissolve salt and sugar, then cover and  allow to cool to room temperature. Once the initial brine mixture has cooled to room temperature add the Cure #1 (pink salt) and stir to dissolve.  Cover and refrigerate overnight to chill the brine to 36-40 °F.

Here's the finished brine mix ready for the refrigerator



With the brine chilled it's time to start the pickling or corning.  I use a 2.5 gal Hefty Zip bag, but a large plastic container will work just as well.  Place the cold, ready brisket in the container and add all of the brine.  If your using an open container place a plate or something similar (nonmetallic) on top to weight down the meat and keep it submerged and then cover the container.  If using a zip bag, close the bag excluding as much air as possible.  With the bag I use a secondary container just in case something breaks.  Loaded and ready headed back into the refrigerator.



There it will rest for 5-7 days at ~ 38 °F.  Timing within that window is not critical.  The desired temperature range is 36-40 °F. During the cure overhaul the meat daily by either turning it over, reweighing and covering the container or, if it's in a zip bag, by rotating and massaging the bag enough to remix everything.

Time now for the wait ... to be continued.

[SouthernSmoked]

Dang Eric, this sounds awesome and will be trying this soon!

Just placed order for the "Corned Beef Spice" and a few more...

Will stay glued to the tube - well to this post that is!!

[ArnieM]

Good looking hunk of Angus Eric.  I see you don't trust zip top bags either.

I haven't made any in some time.  I agree that it's better than the commercial stuff and you can make it YOUR way.

[3rensho]

Just finished a batch myself and it's vacuum packed in the freezer.  I agree that it's far better than store bought.

[deb415611]

I have Charcuterie open today also.   I saw someone (might have been here) use eye round for corned beef or pastrami so I'm going to try it.  I have some of that corned beef spice and think I'll use your idea instead of what's in the recipe. 

[KyNola]

Thanks for the post BLSH.  I'll bet that makes some good corned beef.  Going to take it on to pastrami once it's cured?

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Thanks for the post BLSH.  I'll bet that makes some good corned beef.  Going to take it on to pastrami once it's cured?

Not this one.  But, I have the sister flat in the freezer and that will go to pastrami.  I will probably change the brine a bit for that.

[KyNola]

Once I retire and have the time, I will definitely be using your post to make my own corned beef.  Looking forward to your pastrami.  Thanks again for the post.

[squirtthecat]

But, I have the sister flat in the freezer and that will go to pastrami.  I will probably change the brine a bit for that.

What would you change?

[BuyLowSellHigh]

More Cure #1 - probably close to 2X, both for flavor and for safety. 

Since the brisket will be braised in hot water the only protection I need against spoilage is during the 1 week wet curing time itself.  In the corned beef I am primarily trying to fix color without intruding excessively on the beef flavor.  For that reason I am seeking a sodium nitrite level of 50-80 ppm in the brisket at the end of the cure.  The brine is formulated for 80 ppm with a 10% weight gain or brine absorption at cure finish.

For pastrami I want that a strong cured taste, as well as the protection for the slower temp transition during smoking.  For that I will target 150 ppm sodium nitrite in the cure-finished brisket.  With more cure in the brine the added salt will be reduced for the amount that comes with Cure #1.  I will probably also increase the sugar/sweetener amount to help balance the smoke and added spice that comes with the pastrami.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Time to wrap up the Corned Beef saga ...

The brisket came out of the brine yesterday, got a 2 min rinse under cold running water, and dried with paper towels.  Before curing, the brisket weighed in at 2469 g.  After 6.5 days of immersion curing, rinsed and dried to as nearthe same state as I could figure it weighed 2684 g.  So it absorbed ~215 g of brine.  That leads to an estimate of ~ 70 ppm of sodium nitrite in the beef.  In reality it's probably ~ 10- 15 % higher in the meaty portion as the fat  layer will not absorb as much.  But that's right about where I wanted it.

The corned brisket was bagged and refrigerated for cooking today.  That was 6.5 days of soaking.  So after curing and just before cooking here is what it looked like. Pretty boring and gray.



One goof I made before curing was not trimming most of the fat cap off the brisket.  I like to leave some to add some richness and flavor in the braise, but the amount on this brisket was just too much.  So I trimmed most of it off just before it went into the pot.  It would have been better too do so before the brining.  Seems I had my head stuck in that warm, dark place where the sun doesn't shine, which I am prone to doing for prolonged periods.

Oven was preheated to 350 F.  The brisket was placed in a large pot with 3 qts of water, 3 Tbls of the same Spice House Corned Beef Spice used in the brine, plus 1 carrot, 1 stick of celery, and 1 onion all cleaned/peeled and quartered.  Pot was placed on the cooktop, brought to a boil then covered and moved to the oven.  Here it is in the pot on top of the stove just before going into the oven



Put in the oven, reduce the temp to 325 °F, wait three hours then first check for tenderness.  First check showed it was just getting done, a bit sooner than I expected.  The covered pot was removed from the oven and the pot allowed to rest on top of a cold range burner for 30 mins.  The brisket was removed, placed on a platter, covered with foil and put in a 170 F oven to keep it warm while the rest of the meal was being prepared (about 30 min's).

Everything  ready, time to eat.




That's with those wonderful Syracuse Salt Potatoes and a sauteed mix of winter root veggies (onion, carrot, parsnip and turnip).

Final assessment ...
Incredibly good, but the Charcuterie recipe leaves it a bit saltier than I prefer. I went back and looked at my previous versions and they were all at about 20 -25 % less salt in the brine, but also about 25 % more sugar.  Some may prefer this version as is, but for both my wife and I a tad less salty would be preferred.  One possible alternative is to up the sugar a bit.  The next one I do will use 310 g of salt in the brine and leave the sugar where it is.

The one other standout was the Corned Beef Spice form the Spice House.  This was obviously very fresh and made with the best ingredients.  This really stood out more so than any spice combination I have tried previously.  For those who would prefer a less aromatic corned beef, you may want to reduce the amount of the mix in the cook.

This brisket flat was some really decent beef, and it showed in the end.  The beef taste showed through the curing and the spice, and was truly fork tender.  This is now my standard, and will be better after tweaking next time.

[SouthernSmoked]

Heck Yeah!

That looks awesome!

[ArnieM]

That looks great Eric!  I could picture that on some rye bread for a sammie.  Or, chop some up with some of the root veggies for hash.

I'm going to bed before I salivate all over my keyboard.

[Tenpoint5]

I'm thinking ruban sammies

[FLBentRider]

That is some great looking corned beef.