Corned Beef At Home: Recipes, Tips, etc.

[rotuts]

@TdeV 

 

what brand did you get ?

 

the way the strands of muscle are ' loose '

 

suggests to me it might already be papained to death

 

id follow  @gfweb advice and cook conventionally 

 

if  you want to learn something , cut it into two pieces

 

soak one overnight very coldest part of y0ur refrigerator 

 

the other on just cold

 

figure out a way to differentiate them 

 

then cook.

 

it may not turn out well viz texture 

 

but you know if 24 h cold water soak changes the salt content.

 

its al least  something .

 

and that's a lot of brining solution for a CB in a bag.

 

seems quite low end.

Edited March 18, 2022 by rotuts (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Cooked sous vide 60C/140F for 48 hours. Very tender, a little more dry than I expected (maybe should have tried 36 hours) but not unpleasantly so, easily sliced without crumbling or mush. 

 

 

I should have rinsed off the ground spices before cooking. Cooking with the ground spices seemed to really pull the pepper to the forefront. At least, I'm assuming that's what's causing the sharp peppery aftertaste I'm getting. Also, the spices were a tad gritty after cooking so I decided to rinse them off which was a royal pain in the rear. They'd latched on pretty good, definitely would have been easier pre-cook. The minor issues were unnoticeable once it was piled on rye with mustard so I'm happy overall.

[rotuts]

@Tri2Cook 

 

fine looking CB !

 

it looks to me that you did a flat .  they do turn out drier

 

than point.  Im thinking intramuscular fat ( to the degree you enjoy )

 

helps a lot w the dryness . if the bag juices are not too salty 

 

consider using some of that jus over the cut meat.

 

but you nailed it :  once in a tasty sandwich w the right additions :

 

Heaven itself .

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

@rotuts

 

Thanks! 

 

It was a flat I had in the freezer so I wasn't expecting juicy but maybe slightly less dry than I got. But it's fine, not too dry to eat even without condiments.

 

The bag juice wasn't too salty to use but the mustard was more than sufficient to solve any problems so I didn't use it.

[Kim Shook]

On 3/15/2022 at 8:36 AM, scubadoo97 said:

Soaking in fresh water to leach out the salt, and do one or two water changes until the water no long taste of salt

Usually when cooking in water this occurs naturally.   More often than not, I use these prepared corned beefs to make my version of  pastrami.   After desalination, the meat is dried overnight in the fridge and covered in a pastrami spice blend.   I use mustard as the binder to hold the spices on.    Then it goes in the smoker and finished in the oven over steam.   I set up a foil pan with water off the boil and a rack on top to hold the meat and cover with another pan with clips to hold the top on and pop it in the oven to steam finish.  May not be Katz Deli but it gets close 

Looks and sounds fantastic!  Do you use a commercial rub or one that you've devised?  If yours, I'd love the recipe, if you would share.  I'm thinking that Mr. Kim and I could cooperate on this.  

[heidih]

Silly "holiday" messed with my food plans. NO green cabbage at market just now - all sold ouit! I like to keep a slaw on hand. Ended up shelling out $5.22 @ $1.49/lb for a 3.5 pound organic red - like a bowling ball/lethal weapon. Apples and onion around so it will get used but grrr! 

[Norm Matthews]

I simmered my brisket for 3 1/2 hours the day before and refrigerated it in the water it cooked with.  That way, when cold, it slices quite nicely and then is returned to the broth and reheated. 

[Kim Shook]

@Norm Matthews- great looking meal!  I've gone to your blog and grabbed the soda scones recipe.  That sounds fantastic!  

[gfweb]

The CB labeled as no papain was SV at 143 for 48 hours. 

 

Nice and firm, but tender. Perfect. 

[TdeV]

Rinsed, soaked forr 24 hours fresh water. I'm am doing mine for 9 hours at 178°F. Will report.

[gfweb]

I usually SV my CB with about a cup and a half of water in the bag.

It de-salts nicely.

 And its available to simmer cabbage and potatoes in.

[TdeV]

41 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I usually SV my CB with about a cup and a half of water in the bag.

It de-salts nicely.

 And its available to simmer cabbage and potatoes in.

 

I added some water, but not that much (about 75 ml). And the spice packet.

[rotuts]

@gfweb 

 

Nice and very Nice 

 

Ive done that , based on smaller pieces 

 

and perhaps not so much water 

 

hard to say 

 

but that's that idea !

 

Kudos your way .

 

there are other Kudos , for pics D and C 's ?

 

see ?

 

but that's a very fine CB ' tip ' and not Flat !

 

cheers all

 

Corned Beef Students !

[donk79]

I made CB the other day with a prepacked/brined flat from the supermarket.  I drained the package and rinsed the flat, added some spices, and put in SV for 48 hrs at 140.  I put the flat in dry, and probably had 1-2 cups of liquid after cooking.  I normally save drippings obsessively, for future cooking, but have never tried it with CB (this is my first).  Has anyone used these drippings in cooking?  Should I throw them away?

[rotuts]

@donk79 

 

nice !

 

I keep the Jus and think about its salt content 

 

based on that 

 

thickened a bit

 

makes a nice sauce for Hot CB&cabbage etc 

 

if you use your CB for a sandwich 

 

a little bit of that , on the sliced meat 

 

improves both its flavor and ' dryness '

 

you will make other CB's

 

the days on price 

 

but a cooked , chilled SV CB 

 

has so much potential 

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, donk79 said:

I made CB the other day with a prepacked/brined flat from the supermarket.  I drained the package and rinsed the flat, added some spices, and put in SV for 48 hrs at 140.  I put the flat in dry, and probably had 1-2 cups of liquid after cooking.  I normally save drippings obsessively, for future cooking, but have never tried it with CB (this is my first).  Has anyone used these drippings in cooking?  Should I throw them away?

 

 

I will dilute them to cook the potatoes and cabbage.

 

My typical CB sauce is diluted bag juice with a bit of dijon and honey served  au jus style on the plate. 

[TdeV]

This was the corned beef packaged with watery solution including papain and a great deal of salt. @gfweb reported his first corned beef failure here which he attributed to the papain, and suggested a shorter sous vide cook.

 

Mine (below) was rinsed and soaked overnight in fresh water. It was cooked sous vide at 178°F for 9.5 hours. The bag had lots and lots of water in it. The meat tasted okay though.

 

[Owtahear]

When I was a kid, my dad always made a home made brined corned beef brisket around the holidays.   It was such memories, I loved the feel and taste of the brisket.   This was the 70's and 80's.

 

Finally this year, I did it.  I found his faded recipe card, validated it from online recipes (I mean food safety standards have changed), got a 7lb brisket flat from Crowd Cow, and made a brine solution, salt, sugar, pickling spices and garlic with Prague #1.     And I let it soak for 11 days in a fridge.  

 

WOW.   Perfect.  I nailed it.  I can't believe the flavor and unctuous fat and wow.   It immediately brought me back to being like 13 years old.   And my god, did they make killer Ruebens.  I ate a Rueben for like 3 days straight.   

 

The meat just tasted perfect.  Not too salty, but salty, spiced, had a great mouth feel just like the brisket of my youth.

[TdeV]

On 3/2/2022 at 10:08 AM, gfweb said:

 

I dry brine brisket as a routine. Salt, pink salt, allspice, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder rubbed in and refrigerated for about 1 day per 2cm of thickness of the brisket. Rationale is that salts penetrate about a cm/day and its coming in from both sides. 

 

I cook SV typically with about a cup of water in the bag for 2 days, 150 or so.  Nice product...tastes like deli corned beef.

 

I'll fight anyone who says it isn't corned beef

 

Just brought home 4.4 lbs brisket. Could you please suggest quantities of spice(s)? How long do I dry brine?

 

Edited to add: where do I find curing salt? Does brand matter?

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by TdeV (log)

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

 

Just brought home 4.4 lbs brisket. Could you please suggest quantities of spice(s)? How long do I dry brine?

 

Edited to add: where do I find curing salt? Does brand matter?

 

 

Salts penetrate at roughly 0.75 to 1 cm per day. (I've seen various numbers)They'll be coming in from both sides so the minimum time depends on thickness. A 1.5 cm thick meat would take a day for exp. 

 

Spices are larger molecules and not all that water soluble so they might take longer to enter or just stay on the surface. 

 

I generally dry brine for 3 days in the fridge. 

 

I use instacure #1 aka Prague powder 1 as curing salt. Supermarkets usually have a Mortons product called.. i think...pickling salt. I buy instacure #1 on Amazon. The mortons may be a little different than instacure...not sure

 

Ratios?  I'm seat of the pants. I use 1/2 tsp pink salt per half cup table salt. Spices are a tsp each per 1/2 cup of rub.  Might be way more nitrate than needed. 

 

I put it in a zip lock with air squeezed out and turn it daily in the fridge. 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by gfweb (log)

[TdeV]

@gfweb, how much of that spice mixture would be used on a 4 lb brisket?

[gfweb]

14 minutes ago, TdeV said:

@gfweb, how much of that spice mixture would be used on a 4 lb brisket?

 

guessing...half to 3/4 cup

[gfweb]

Bumping-up for the yearly reminder that most corned beef from the supermarket at this time of year has papain in the bag.

 

If you cook that sous vide at ~140 or so for a day or  two, you will have CB with the texture of cat food.

 

Erin go bragh

[lindag]

Had to look that one up.

[rotuts]

for a zillion years , in my area

 

Stop&Shop had the best sale on CB.

 

started a few weeks before St.P's say

 

then the pandemic , and the rise in prices .

 

this year , starting today :  Point Cut $ !.49 //lbs.

 

therearlier CB is of better quality than the CB near the end of the multi week sale

 

the WHPS has purchased 6 so far , for the Yoder .

 

hope more details on that in the WHPS thread.

 

based on the rise in prices , esp beef

 

that's a very fine price.

 

Ill look them over , and perhaps get one.  for SV

 

and checking carefully for the papain.