Corned Beef At Home: Recipes, Tips, etc.

[dcarch]

Cut off the fat layer and deep fry to crispy. 

 

Better than bacon.

 

dcarch

[kayb]

I'm putting my bottom round in a 5 percent brine tonight. Ruhlman says five days. I think I've done longer than that before. What's everyone's recommendation?

 

Plan to SV mine. It has some nice marbling. Time/temp on the SV recommendations?

 

6 hours ago, rotuts said:

 St.P's day is not until March 17th

 

DownTown here  there was green beer, lots o vomiting , and maybe a Parade

 

its colder here than in N'Oleans

 

same sort of thing

 

Id guess

 

 

I spent St. Patrick's Day in downtown Chicago once. Never saw so many drunk folks in one place in my life. Green river and all.

 

5 hours ago, HungryChris said:

I got 2 flats at S&S today, biggest and leanest ones I could find. They are in the freezer and will soon be joined by several of their mates. 

HC

 

No freezer cleanout points for YOU!

 

[gfweb]

@rotuts I don't see why a corned beef brine needs to be so salty if one is corning for taste rather than preservation. Might be a good topic for experimentation. Looking at weight gain/loss during the cure as well as the cook...and taste/texture.

 

If I ever stop traveling it will be first on the list.

[HungryChris]

3 hours ago, kayb said:

No freezer cleanout points for YOU!

 

There is a time for every purpose. 

HC

[rotuts]

I let my CB go overnight and pulled a pack out at about 21 hours  , 140 F

 

 

 

 

this was still on the tough side , which surprised me.

 

I also leaned that the papain added at least to this brand made no difference at all w the tenderness. at leaf at 140 X 21 H

 

I assume that the papain was denatured early on , when the core got to say 62 C   2 hours ?  + /- ?

 

I looked over my old notes and Ive done CB ( point , trimmed  ) at 145  x 24 and  142.5 x 24 and 140 x 24.  the last notes suggested

 

that those CB did best at 140 .  that's what I chose here.

 

the above would make a good sandwich , with some chew left in the CB.   

 

If I ever bothered to take my ChefChoice slicer out of the Box  and sliced this thinner , it would be fine

 

however , sometimes thin slices make up for too tough meats.

 

I put three bags back in the water and set the Anova for 145 and will leave it in for 6 and see

 

my take :  point tastes better , and gets tender sooner than this very lean flat

 

trimming point to my liking takes some time , and has quite a bit of waste.

 

Ill see how the 6 h at 145 changes this cut 

 

then Ill have to decide my Bulk Plans soon to get the better Bags

 

years ago when I and the problem w the papain bags making the final CB mushy might have had more to do w the fact I

 

kept the bags in the refrigerator , still very cold for some time before I got around to SV.   shy of the use by date l,

 

but there were in there a while until I had time to do a bulk SV

 

 

[rotuts]

@kayb  

 

before a even heard of St.P'day

 

I spent 4 years on the Chicago  S. Side.

 

to get to the middle of chicago from the Sw.Side

 

you took the IC  ( a commuter train -- double decker !)  also known  as the 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Central_Railroad

 

 

once I went down town

 

and noticed at each intersection

 

there was stenciled on tha pavement so you could not miss it :

 

"" Mayor Daley  wishes you and your family a happy St.P's day  Please enjoy the parade "

 

no kidding

 

tje IC also stopped in mid Chicago

 

no need to go to the North Side !

 

Just saying

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Edited March 5, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[Lisa Shock]

BTW, I use a modified version of Ruhlman's recipe.

I use 1/4 less salt.

I don't use cloves because I don't like them and usually don't have them around. I substitute juniper berries.

I add a tablespoon of molasses to the brine.

[HungryChris]

I did up the Cattlemans's Ranch flat cut Corned Beef from Aldi tonight. It has been in the freezer for a few weeks and does contain papain. I did it in the IP, covered with water, about a 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, a half cup of Crystal hot sauce, 5 bay leaves, 5 cloves of garlic, peeled, for 90 minutes at high pressure. Natural release (took about 25 minutes) and wrapped it in foil and put it into a warm oven. Then I put the potatoes, cabbage and carrots in the IP with the pot liquor at high pressure for 5 minutes and pressure release at 10 minutes. Nice and tender and sliced well hot, which means it will slice even better for sandwiches, when chilled. We loved it.

HC

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by HungryChris (log)

[ElsieD]

@HungryChris. Oh, Lordy, that is one of my favourite meals.  Looks delicious.

[rotuts]

Im going to have to give this a try , esp w the seasonal additions to the CB , and then the potatoes etc

 

did the cabbage have some firmness left in it ?   I like it that way.

[HungryChris]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

Im going to have to give this a try , esp w the seasonal additions to the CB , and then the potatoes etc

 

did the cabbage have some firmness left in it ?   I like it that way.

Yes the cabbage and carrots were al dente in a good way.

I will be heading out to S&S for flat cut # 5 & 6 today, then I may get a few points for smoking pastrami. Shoprite has a coupon for one flat cut @ $1.88pp starting Wed and I'll do that as well.

HC

[rotuts]

I just went to S&S to pick up twi more flats.  I looked over the point

 

and was surprised how much better it was trimmed that the stuff at marketBasket.

 

I have not opened the packs yet , I got two , but I didn't see those huge globs of fat between and at the ends of the meat.

 

these looked like the larger hunks of point , and the gobs of fat may have mostly been trimmed away.

 

im sure there is going to be some attached to the meat on the opposite side that you can't see , but that's true for flat.

 

I might put these two in the SV'd early this PM and Ill take a pic.

[rotuts]

here is the S&S points , and I got two :

 

 

 

 

 

 

this was the first of the two that I pulled out of the refrig to trim.

 

17 % fat, which you see on the L.   the second one had even less !

 

Ill check my Industrial Rig upstairs later today , and make sure MC has not further chew'd the hard plastic that the bubbler 

 

gets connected to .   Its a SousVideMagic, my rusty but true work-horse.

 

if the bubbler tube is working or needs a simple repair    ( an aquarium pump is connected to the rig , and air bubbles through a large

 

Aquarium stone and that moves the water around,  works fine. )

 

Ill go tomorrow to S&S and get 4 more Points  , and them do the 6 pieces you  see here :

 

 

making a total of about 20 tranches.

 

Ill then smoke them at < 135 on the weber w wood chips for an hour or two and debag and rapidly chill and freeze is my

 

Semi-CO'd  freezer downstairs    now known as F_{A  ,}   Thanks go to @Anna N !  

 

that's going to make for some tasty sandwiches this spring and summer !

 

those w Eagle Eyes note the Chef-ey  butchers twine to get a more uniform thickness ?

 

No ?   you are welcome to look again !

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

BTW this is my downstairs Anova Rig , for re-heating and Experiments.

 

 

that a Colman cooler.  this one :

 

https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-9-Quart-Excursion-Cooler/dp/B000G62SJE/ref=pd_sim_468_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VRK5AFXYYF5VCHSTGBQX

 

those w experience in the Arts of SV  note that there is not a lot of extra water.  Works fine as you see it.  tested the temp at the far corner many times

 

w the thermapen at equilibrium and its the same as the rest of the bath.  I cover w plastic wrap and then some cut hard foam insulation.

 

loose almost no water over 24 Hs.

[Toliver]

16 hours ago, HungryChris said:

I did up the Cattlemans's Ranch flat cut Corned Beef from Aldi tonight. It has been in the freezer for a few weeks and does contain papain. I did it in the IP, covered with water, about a 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, a half cup of Crystal hot sauce, 5 bay leaves, 5 cloves of garlic, peeled, for 90 minutes at high pressure. Natural release (took about 25 minutes) and wrapped it in foil and put it into a warm oven. Then I put the potatoes, cabbage and carrots in the IP with the pot liquor at high pressure for 5 minutes and pressure release at 10 minutes. Nice and tender and sliced well hot, which means it will slice even better for sandwiches, when chilled. We loved it.

HC

 

 

I got a flash of "kimchi" looking at your hot sauce-ish cabbage. My head is spinning thinking about that combo.  

 

This weekend I cooked up the corned beef I had in my freezer. What a complete failure. First off, the corned beef was slathered with pickling spices...I mean totally and completely covered on all sides with the stuff. I thought it was odd since the spice usually comes in a small plastic envelope wrapped in with the beef and you add it to your beef water when you cook it. This meat ended up tasting like bread & butter pickles!  If I had been thinking properly, I should have knocked off/rinsed off most of the spices before cooking it. Live and learn.

Plus, when the cooking time was up, I lifted the lid to see that the beef has shrunk to about the size of a softball. Yikes! I blame the bastards at the grocery store where I bought the beef for selling crappy cuts. I won't be going there this St. Patrick's Day to buy my next corned beef.  Live and learn, again.

[rotuts]

here is my precision smoking rig :

 

dont I love that old 3 burner weber  !

 

 

the last 24 H CB's on grill GrillGrates  next to the smoking tube , whose name ive forgotten  

 

it was 19.95  but made very well w heavy steel.   some Back Cherry hardwood pellets you start w a torch

 

a Redi-Check  dual channel thermometer that transmits to a station by the Comp.

 

front and back temps.   I keep the back temp 130 or so   no more than 140  

 

front weber burner is on as low as possible.   this rig does not work so well when warmer  weather comes by.

 

 

note the brick that regulates cold are inflow.   its  42 outside.

 

gets the job done.   I had a series of hardwood spacers I made years ago , but who knows what happened to them

 

always check you experimental work station before you begin your Experiments !

 

I used to use a used aluminum pie plate for the wood pellets  after I ate the pie.  worked well

 

but was not as cool his heavy duty Smoke Tube.  can't find the URL , sorry.

 

that tube will last about an hour which is all this need.

 

the de-bag  and rapidly chill and freeze

 

Good Eating in thee Future Id say !

[rotuts]

here is The Tube :

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/A-MAZE-N-Pellet-Tube-Smoker-6/dp/B00IXMPW5K/ref=pd_sim_86_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=QYNW6N2SGAPSSG23X92V

 

it dropped 2 bucks since I got mine !

 

don't like Pie or can't get any really good stuff , consider the above.

Edited March 6, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

my dinner tonight :

 

A:

 

 

B :

 

 

this the Mutt you see above second from the R

 

 

see that ?

 

its from a trimmed Point  its not from the round !

 

 

mum dinner tonight , sliced from the above

 

indeed it not thin.  and that deep mahogany you see on the Rim  : it does have a nice chew it it

 

although not as thin as you might like from the Deli counter ,  the inner bits melt in my mouth !

 

I though about getting 4 more CB points from S&S

 

Ill study them more carefully and get more that that of the above is easy for me to do !

[Lisa Shock]

On 3/4/2017 at 2:41 PM, ElsieD said:

For those of you who will be corning their own beef, how do you avoid getting that grey middle?  The last time I corned some beef, I even injected some of the corning liquid into the meat and still got a grey band in the middle.  

 

I brine for a minimum of two weeks (I do a whole brisket, about 16+ lbs) I turn it regularly, I poke tiny holes in it, and I even (occasionally, depending on how I am serving it) will butcher it down to smaller sections. I do use some food grade saltpetre, but just a bare minimum, I get grey centers. I have given up on trying to get pink all the way through. I am assuming it has something to do with commercial brining or vacuum packaging. Honestly, I stopped worrying about trying to fix it. I just tell my clients that I make it the old fashioned way, like people did in the 1600s. I explain how I use fresh, whole spices that I roast and crush by hand in my brine. I also explain that I use a bit less salt in the brine than 'factory processed' beef -enough to still be safe, but I definitely let the spices take center stage. I also roast and crush a second set of spices when I cook the meat and vegetables, to make sure the vegetables taste authentic. So, basically, I just push the 'fresh, handcrafted, real spices' angle and characterize the pink stuff as a factory product.

[Tri2Cook]

The small number of times I've done this, I've always done 7 - 10 days depending on thickness. I try to keep things no more than 3" thick and have never had the grey center issue. I don't inject and don't poke holes. I just toss the meat and brine in a bucket, put a big Ziploc full of brine (so if it leaks, things don't get diluted) on top to keep things submerged, put a lid on it and toss it in the fridge. I don't think there are any secrets or magic tricks involved, I think it's just a matter of sufficient time for the curing salt to find it's way completely through the meat. I've been assured by people I've discussed the subject with that ten (or even more) days isn't going to hurt anything even if it was fully brined and ready to go at the five or seven day mark so I tend to go a little longer than I think I actually need to.
 

[robirdstx]

On 3/5/2017 at 7:47 PM, HungryChris said:

I did up the Cattlemans's Ranch flat cut Corned Beef from Aldi tonight. It has been in the freezer for a few weeks and does contain papain. I did it in the IP, covered with water, about a 1/2 cup of cider vinegar, a half cup of Crystal hot sauce, 5 bay leaves, 5 cloves of garlic, peeled, for 90 minutes at high pressure. Natural release (took about 25 minutes) and wrapped it in foil and put it into a warm oven. Then I put the potatoes, cabbage and carrots in the IP with the pot liquor at high pressure for 5 minutes and pressure release at 10 minutes. Nice and tender and sliced well hot, which means it will slice even better for sandwiches, when chilled. We loved it.

HC

 

 

 

Hi HC, I followed your method for my corned beef and cabbage dinner last night, except I used only the spices in the packet and only half the hot sauce. My husband really liked the heat the hot sauce added to the cabbage! Thank you!

 

[Lisa Shock]

For those who make their own brine, I just remembered that at some point I want to try adding some Angostura bitters and see how that works out. (I'd add after the brine is cooled, to prevent damaging the flavor.) Next time I corn some beef, I'll try it and let you know how it went.

[Tri2Cook]

Yesterday, I did a 5% brine with water, kosher salt, brown sugar and added lots of pickling spice, some chile flakes, cloves, allspice and cinnamon stick, fresh garlic and prague #1. Gonna let it go until next Friday and then toss it in the sous vide tank.

[gfweb]

Did a dry rub last night on a nice cheap piece of flank steak. Mustard, garlic, allspice, coriander,pepper, salt, instacure. Going to go 6 days and then SV

[rotuts]

I realized this AM how close home smoked Cb is to Ham.   its better.