Corned Beef - original recipe by Barry L. Kramer. [last update: 05 March 2012]
Cure your own corned beef! It is much better than the ones you buy, and it's easy. It just takes a while.
Start it two weeks before the day you want to cook it. Measure accurately.
Before starting this, find a plastic container about 2 gallons capacity, with
a lid that seals (if not perfectly, then at least decently). It took me a long
time to find one. One person I know uses a 5-gallon plastic bucket with lid
(which is also good for brining turkeys), but I don't room for that in my refrigerator.
Do not use a metal container or mix with metal spoons. They will corrode and
be toxic. Glass would work too, but I've never seen a glass container that large.
Preparation time: about an hour
Curing time: 14 days
Cooking time: 30 minutes of attendance and about 4 hours simmering
Obtain the following ingredients:
a beef brisket, 4 or 5 lbs. is typical, although it doesn't matter much if
it fits in.
I have done them up to 9 lbs. cut in two pieces.
14 C cold water (two cups less than a gallon)
2 C kosher/uniodized salt - do NOT use regular salt. This is important!
1 and 1/4 C packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 teaspoons saltpeter (potassium nitrate) - check farmer's markets and drugstores
to find
3 T crushed garlic
3 T pickling spice (coriander seeds, mustard seeds, peppercorns, bay leaves).
I like the McCormick one, but it's expensive.
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
3 whole cloves if your pickling spice is not generous with them.
1. Open a very large trash bag, flatten it out on the table. Put the container
in it.
2. Add water, salt, saltpeter, and baking soda. Dissolve completely.
3. Add brown sugar and dissolve completely.
4. Add spices and mix.
5. Rinse beef, trim off any loose blobs of fat.
6. Put beef in brine and mix it around and immerse a few times. Cut the bottom
off of a plastic cup and cut some holes in the side, and place it between the
beef and the lid so it holds it down completely immersed in the liquid (it will
naturally float). If using a larger container, you can put a heavy non-metallic
object on it (like a glass bowl).
7. Refrigerate in a cold refrigerator for 14 days, turning and stirring every
day so beef surfaces cure as evenly as possible. The trash bag will catch
any splashing when you turn and mix it.
8. On the 14th day, remove and rinse beef, and discard brine. It cannot be reused.
Cook it like you would a regular corned beef. This is approximately what I do:
Put beef, one cut up cooking onion, and about 10 peppercorns in very large pot and fill with cold water. Heat on high until it starts to boil. If you want it to be less salty, you can change half the water after it first gets hot (I usually do that). Once it boils, reduce heat so it is barely boiling, and simmer, covered, about 3 hours or until beef is beginning to get tender. The cut and the temperature affect how long that will take. Skim floating material and fat if desired.
Then add vegetables (potatoes first, carrots after 10 minutes, cabbage after another 15 minutes) and cook until they achieve your desired texture. Adding them later prevents them from being overcooked while still getting the beef tender. It will take a total of about 4 hours.
Remove beef to a cutting board; scrape off fat, and then slice it against the grain with a very sharp knife.
Note: I have sometimes used 2C less water and cured for one day less to meet
a schedule or if the meat did not fit in the container with that much liquid.
If unsure, reserve 2C of the water, and try it. If it fits or is not completely
immersed, you can add it back in.