Who's making their own corned beef for St. Patty's?

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Making boiled dinner or corning your own brisket? There's a big difference.

We make boiled dinner more than just on St Patrick's Day and I've only brined a brisket for pastrami.




That looks GOOD! Thanks for the link!

I've used several recipes from Sean. They're all solid.
 
I was seriously considering it but then decided it wasn't worth it since I am the only one that would eat it.
 
I meant "corning your own brisket"... c'mon guys... it's the meat curing forum!

Yeah, I'm doing the same and taking the recipe right out of Chacuterie (my new bible).

I'm at work and will try to post the recipe in the next day or so Strat... I have a HBC meeting today so I'll be running around like a mad man all night.
 
I meant "corning your own brisket"... c'mon guys... it's the meat curing forum!

Yeah, I'm doing the same and taking the recipe right out of Chacuterie (my new bible).

I'm at work and will try to post the recipe in the next day or so Strat... I have a HBC meeting today so I'll be running around like a mad man all night.

Already posted in another thread. Here's the recipe:

Brine:
1 gal water
2 c kosher salt
1/2 c sugar
1 oz pink salt (insta-cure or equivalent)
3 garlic cloves minced
2 T Pickling spice

5# brisket
2 T pickling spice



Pickling Spice:
2 T Black Peppercorns - toasted, then cracked
2 T mustard seed - toasted, then cracked
2 T coriander seeds- toasted, then cracked
2 T red pepper flakes
2 T Allspice berries
1 T ground mace
2 small cinnamon sticks crushed or broken into pieces
24 bay leaves crumbled
2 T whole cloves
1 T ground ginger

Combine brine ingredients in a pot large enough to hold the brisket comfortably. Simmer, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved. Cool then refrigerate until chilled.

Place brisket in brine, keeping it submerged, refrigerate 5 days.

remove brisket, thoroughly rinse

Place in large pot. cover w/ enough water to cover brisket

Add remaining 2 T pickling spice, boil, reduce heat to simmer ~ 3 hrs or until fork tender.
 
I plan on doing my own brisket.....gotta get out and get one soon.
Thanks for the reminder!
 
We always get our briskets from Armando's in Pawtucket...

Also... thanks for the idea... :)

One of the benefits to living in my region is the farmer's markets, small butcher shops, and Amish stores. I get fresh beef (ribeye is 6.70/lb and brisket is $2.75/lb), the spices are fresh and sold in bulk quantities, and there's an abundance of newly butchered pork products.:fro:


Last Saturday, Mrs. Jass, the lil'Jasses and I took a couple of hours to visit some places ~20 min. north of me. Came home with 6# fresh side for bacon and 6# of pork butt for less than $30.:rockin: :mug:
 
I've got mine going right now. Picked up a choice cut brisket for $1.99/lb- 7 pounds of flat is corning, and 5 pounds of point is brining for pastrami.

Next time short ribs go cheap(er) I'm going to try corning them, too.
 
I've got mine going right now. Picked up a choice cut brisket for $1.99/lb- 7 pounds of flat is corning, and 5 pounds of point is brining for pastrami.

Next time short ribs go cheap(er) I'm going to try corning them, too.
This thread has me interested.

What is the difference between corning and brining? Contact time? I guess I thought pastrami and corned beef were 'cured' the same way just cooked differently.

But I did notice the site that said that said the pastrami was too salty and the corned beef was perfect. Do I have enough time to brine a brisket for smoking it this Sunday?
 
Pastrami and corned beef are essentially the exact same thing. They are both "cured" by brining in pickling spices (among a few other things). The difference is really that pastrami, after curing, is smoked with a crust of crushed pepper and coriander whereas the corned beef is simply boiled.

I'm not sure there is a difference between "corning" and "brining"... except for maybe the pickling spices.

You mean do you have time to make a pastrami for this sunday? You should. The recipe I have says it simply stays in the brine for 3 days. (Corned beef is five)
 
Pastrami and corned beef are essentially the exact same thing. They are both "cured" by brining in pickling spices (among a few other things). The difference is really that pastrami, after curing, is smoked with a crust of crushed pepper and coriander whereas the corned beef is simply boiled.

I'm not sure there is a difference between "corning" and "brining"... except for maybe the pickling spices.

You mean do you have time to make a pastrami for this sunday? You should. The recipe I have says it simply stays in the brine for 3 days. (Corned beef is five)
Yeah, I wanted to know if I started brining it tonight if it would be ready for the smoker on Sunday (but I now realize that in order to boil/cool the brine it wouldn't go in the brine until tomorrow morning). I could wait a whole nuther week if needed. I can boil the corned beef on a weeknight (like Wednesday the 16th). Looking around the 'net I've seen brining times from 3 days to 3 weeks (using similar methods). Some say poke holes all through it, some don't.

I have a foodsaver, would putting it in bag and pulling vacuum on it speed the process?
 
The length of the brining depends on how thick the cut is. Also, keep some of your liquid out of the boil, chill it in the sink (kinda like you're cooling the wort) then add ice to make up the water difference. You'll be done in an hour. :mug:
 
solid point... it's not like beer where you need to sanitize everything. The salt will pretty much handle any nasties that aren't supposed to be there.
 
Careful.... It is a forum on HBT for a reason. Curing has addictive qualities similar to brewing. Be warned!!!

If not even more so. I can go and easily buy really good beer but getting really good bbq/sausage/charcuterie locally just doesn't happen.

What is the difference between corning and brining? Contact time? I guess I thought pastrami and corned beef were 'cured' the same way just cooked differently.

Technically corning and brining are very similar but corning usually has pink salt in it to cure the meat. Corning is also a much longer process since you are not just flavoring but actually curing.

I have a foodsaver, would putting it in bag and pulling vacuum on it speed the process?

I would NOT vac seal it. You are not marinating it where you would want as much sucked into the meat as possible. You want to give the osmosis process time to work and do it thing and you don't want it to pull too much into the meat. Hope that makes sense.
 
I couldn't find any pink salt/insta-cure so it looks like homemade corned beef for St. Paddy's day ain't gonna happen. I'm still gonna order the stuff online and make pastrami though.

dataz722 said:
Technically corning and brining are very similar but corning usually has pink salt in it to cure the meat. Corning is also a much longer process since you are not just flavoring but actually curing.
That might explain the huge differences in contact times I've seen, as low as 3 days and as much as 3 weeks. Does this mean that a brisket that has 'cured' for only 3-5 days isn't truly 'corned' beef (even if it had pink salt) but just a brined/boiled brisket?
 
I couldn't find any pink salt/insta-cure so it looks like homemade corned beef for St. Paddy's day ain't gonna happen. I'm still gonna order the stuff online and make pastrami though.

I bought my pink salt from butcher-packer dot com. The cure was ~$2 for one # and the shipping was ~$7:eek:

Morton's sells a product that's pre-mixed w/ salt, sugar, nitrate, nitrite. It's called "Tender Quick". I chose to go the other route, but I know people who've used the Morton product with success.

If you're really interested in curing/brining/smoking (really meat preservation), I'd highly recommend "Charcuterie". It's a straight forward book. It lays out the process in layman's terms. All of the recipes I've tried are VERY solid, too.
 
Yeah, I was hoping they'd at least have the Tender Quick but neither store I went to (big supermarket chain and a small specialty store) even had that. There is a Whole Foods but it's a bit of a drive and not sure if they'd have it either.
 
You are going to have trouble finding it at any grocery stores or department stores. Try a local butcher or if you have big sporting goods store around they may carry it.
 
For anyone really interested in Corned beef and it's history etc. here's a paper written by a friend of mine who owns Gallaghers Boxty house in Central Dublin. He presented the paper at the recently past Oxford Food symposium.

http://arrow.dit.ie/tfschcafcon/10/

Well that doesnt suprise me seems like most things we associate with Ireland TURN out to be Irish-American only But, whatev I heard on the history channel that there are more people in America that trace their ancestory to Ireland than there are Irish in Ireland. So hear, hear! too being Irish-American.

Im a Heinz 57 and i like to celebrate anything that includes me eating a large meal and drinking lots of beer
 
Well it's eaten here that's for sure, I'm not knocking it, believe me. The paper this guy produced was as a celebration of Irish culinary history and the presentation at the Oxford Food symposium exactly the same.
I eat it growing up, my wife loves the stuff, I'd not be so fond of it these days.
 
Brisket it trimmed. Going into the brine.

I can't eff'ing wait for St. Patrick's day :ban:
 
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