Corned Beef At Home: Recipes, Tips, etc.

[johnnyd]

I did the Ruhlman method as posted in the NYT last week, curing for six days. After much searching, I found a butcher who gave the exact amount needed for my 4.5lb point in one gallon of water - he gave me one and 1/4 tblspoon. With 2 cups kosher salt, that brine was mighty salty. The cut was maybe two inch thick. It was pink all the way through, and damned tasty. We are on our third day and hate to see it go!

[rotuts]

the last of the CB this year :

 

 

2 bags of 3 + lb  trimmed and bagged into 6 bags.

 

i could not resist.   I was going to do 48 + at 131 etc

 

but these are 145 F  for 24 +    in this case 27 for conveniennce

 

I did note that these two bags  are OK  I hope but not as nice as the bags they stocked at S&S early on.

 

I can't imagine them grading them , and I can't imagine these have been sitting in the S&S meat bit for 2 weeks

 

go figure    :

 

Buy Early , and Buy Often.

 

 

[rotuts]

Yikes !  

 

the above , sampled one for dinner :

 

Goooooood !

 

Im pleased that St.P  didn't get a Month of Days !

 

Id have to get F_C  , F_D   etc

[kayb]

And on the Saturday after St.Patrick's Day, one must have corned beef hash. I think it's a law.

 

 

I saw nice eye of round roasts at Aldi yesterday. I'm thinking I may have to corn something else. There's maybe one meal worth of corned beef left out of that bottom round. It also made a quite excellent sandwich this morning, with some horseradish cheddar.

 

[Tri2Cook]

5 minutes ago, kayb said:

 

I'm thinking I may have to corn something else.

 

I'm thinking the same thing. But now that the corned beef has been done, I'm thinking about making the base 5% brine (water, salt, sugar, curing salt) and playing around with other flavors besides the traditional pickling spice. I already have some flavors in mind for both beef and pork.

[Tri2Cook]

I'm very happy with the salt levels of the finished product using the 5% brine. Without the need for the preservative aspect of a heavier brine and since I won't likely be going back to the boil it in a big pot of water method of cooking corned beef, I don't see a situation where I'd ever use the 10% again.

[Tri2Cook]

And because where I live always seems to be just slightly behind what's happening everywhere else... this weeks grocery store flyer is advertising "whole beef brisket" for what is a good price for here.

[David Ross]

Well, if we start soon, we'll have a moist and delicious corned beef to serve on St. Patrick's Day.

[donk79]

The other evening I borrowed an Anova from a friend and cooked up a beef tongue prepared according to Thomas Kellers Corned Beef Tongue Pain Perdu from Under Pressure.  I skipped the whole pain perdu part, sliced it chilled, and warmed it in a non-stick skillet before placing on a baguette with some mayo and mustard.  Amazing!  The recipe called for 28 days of brining, so don't delay too long!

[gfweb]

16 minutes ago, donk79 said:

The other evening I borrowed an Anova from a friend and cooked up a beef tongue prepared according to Thomas Kellers Corned Beef Tongue Pain Perdu from Under Pressure.  I skipped the whole pain perdu part, sliced it chilled, and warmed it in a non-stick skillet before placing on a baguette with some mayo and mustard.  Amazing!  The recipe called for 28 days of brining, so don't delay too long!

28 days is a crazy long brine, esp for a little tongue. Given 1 cm brine penetration per day it should take much less.

[donk79]

I will not dispute you on theory.  All I know is the results!

 

Editing to say that I know the results of the 28 day brine.  I cannot testify that a briefer brine would not be just as good.

 

Edited February 15, 2018 by donk79 (log)

[Okanagancook]

Our local German butcher makes amazing corned beef around St Pats day.  I cannot make any better so I will go in early and reserve a hunk.

[AlaMoi]

here's  wild thing . . . . it's not unknown, lots of methods/recipes out there but . . .

 

consider the well baked corned beef.

 

I had a (commercial brand/vacuum pack)  frozen/thawed half and decided it was time to try it.

not rinsed/soaked (it was too salty - I'm gonna' rinse it next time....)

the usual corned beef spices on (fat cap) top (coriander and the crowd . . )

bake fat cap up - 345-375'F - watch the fat - it needs to bake at high enough temp to start a rendering on the fat.

cover it initially; remove cover to crisp toward the end.

served with sharp mustard as conventional.

 

I brought the internal up to 185'F, then let it cool.  took 2.25 hrs.

 

the texture is different than boiled - cross section had a marbled look like some of the top Wagyu grades.

does not fall apart ala the usual wet prep.

 

I thought it was great; DW gave it a downer and prefers the 'usual' prep.

[Tri2Cook]

A quick question, just to be on the safe side before corned beef time gets here. I had to order more Prague #1 recently and got it from a different source than I usually do because they had some sausage making supplies I wanted. All the information on the label is identical to the one I usually order and I don't doubt the supplier but the powder is white instead of pink. I know the pink is added just for easy identification but is it particularly unusual for a manufacturer to leave it out?

[gfweb]

50 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

A quick question, just to be on the safe side before corned beef time gets here. I had to order more Prague #1 recently and got it from a different source than I usually do because they had some sausage making supplies I wanted. All the information on the label is identical to the one I usually order and I don't doubt the supplier but the powder is white instead of pink. I know the pink is added just for easy identification but is it particularly unusual for a manufacturer to leave it out?

I've never seen Prague 1 that isn't pink, but it isn't a worry I don't think. 

 

Why not not test it on a scrap of beef over night and see if it gets red after cookng. or contact the seller...

[Anna N]

5 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

A quick question, just to be on the safe side before corned beef time gets here. I had to order more Prague #1 recently and got it from a different source than I usually do because they had some sausage making supplies I wanted. All the information on the label is identical to the one I usually order and I don't doubt the supplier but the powder is white instead of pink. I know the pink is added just for easy identification but is it particularly unusual for a manufacturer to leave it out?

 I always thought it was compulsory to add the pink dye for safety. This  company however appears to sell it without the dye. 

[Tri2Cook]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

 I always thought it was compulsory to add the pink dye for safety. This  company however appears to sell it without the dye. 

That's not the place I got it from but it looks exactly the same as I what I have... and now I have another in-Canada sausage supply site to check out! 
 

7 hours ago, gfweb said:

I've never seen Prague 1 that isn't pink, but it isn't a worry I don't think. 

 

Why not not test it on a scrap of beef over night and see if it gets red after cookng. or contact the seller...

I did send an email to the seller but thought I'd ask here anyway. There's generally somebody here who knows the answer to my questions and I usually get a reply from them faster than I do from the average company responding to an email.

[Kerry Beal]

I've seen it at the Punjab Market without colour.

[Tri2Cook]

6 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I've seen it at the Punjab Market without colour.

Between Anna's link and your market siting, I was already convinced all was well but I also got a response from the supplier assuring me it's the right stuff... so no more worries.

[gfweb]

For the first time in ages , I bought a pre-cured CB at the market.  The last of the St. P's day batch at a great price.

 

It was pink, so I know it was cured, but it had no taste of spices etc.

 

Is this the standard?

[rotuts]

@gfweb

 

I can't really say.

 

the CB's I get on deep sale  have that little spice packed in the pack which I do not use.

 

I used to use it when the CB's were simmered long ago.

 

Id say the ones I get taste more of Beef than Spice

 

should you SV yours , try a cold smoke for a bit after cooking then re-bag and freeze

 

or eat right then

 

Id say mine taste like lightly smoked beef

 

no spice.

 

next year Im going to do 1/2 of my haul as Ive done this year

 

and the other 1/2  w pastrami like pepper and spices

 

the ' plain smoke ' CB I have is out of this world for sandwiches

 

and not anything I can buy

 

even at the new DD-Wagman's

 

 

[kayb]

If I bother to use the spice packet at all, I combine it with a tablespoon or so of pickling spice.

 

[gfweb]

Yes, that's ...it Beef, no spice.

SVd at 160 for a day. Nice meat but not CB as I imagine it.

[rotuts]

@gfweb

 

interesting

 

what I made is what I consider to be CB.

 

I grew up in CA and im wondering if there is an Eastern view that sees CB as something close to what Id call pastrami

 

not necessarily great pastrami , but a cow what wandered in that general neighborhood.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@gfweb

 

interesting

 

what I made is what I consider to be CB.

 

I grew up in CA and im wondering if there is an Eastern view that sees CB as something close to what Id call pastrami

 

not necessarily great pastrami , but a cow what wandered in that general neighborhood.

 

Might be true.

 

The Eastern deli CB I've had has some flavor in the pastrami spectrum...not smoked of course...and a somewhat leaner meat.

 

On the other hand, the stuff I made is probably what the Irish would've had for CB, if indeed they had CB at all.  Meant for eating with cabbage and potatoes and not for reuben making

Edited April 30, 2018 by gfweb (log)