St.Patrick , AKA CornedBeef 2018

[rotuts]

@FeChef

 

I started late.   they come out of the SV-Cooler tomorrow

 

Ill post a pic if I remember of the cooler ;  20 + packages

 

but mine are rather plain.   this year after reading @gfweb  version

 

I added Penzey's granulated garlic to about 1/3d

 

lots of snow here.

 

after I rapidly chill  , and dig out my weber ,l Ill cold smoke  8 or so and debag those.

 

Ive done that before and they made the best tasting sandwiches all summer long !

 

but we all know

 

your 

 

 

gets my vote for Best of Show !

[rotuts]

here you go :

 

a little pre-view teaser :

 

 

the 20 ++ CB's are in this Cooler-SV'der    that an old SousVideMagic doing the work , covered by some old blankets.

[FeChef]

I couldn't let the rest of the  Pastrami and head of cabbage go to waste. Wife wanted Haluski, so i obliged.

[MelissaH]

Those of you who are cooking Wegmans corned beef: Did you do anything special to the meat? Reseal it without the liquid? Soak it first in something else? What about that little spice packet: Toss it? Add it to the bag?

[rotuts]

I don't use the spice packet for SV.  I used to use it for the simmer method.

 

mine's not Wagman's , but there is a Wag. opening soon very near me.  

 

they took over the local Macy's in the local Maul.

 

I try to be careful w industrial salt.

 

when i make sandwiches , I slice the cooked CB thin , and soak it in ice-water for a bit and pat dry.

 

I think it tastes much better that way.  same for  commercial ham ( ion a sandwich )

 

Ive tried soaking the portioned CB before SV and never got anywhere with is and it was a lot of extra work.

 

the jus in the bag of the cooked meat goes into the iPot w some water to cook the potatoes , carrots and float the cabbage on top

 

for iPotting the veg. ive thickened that liquid , I don't add a lot of water , and made a nice sauce fir the CBDinner.

[curls]

3 hours ago, MelissaH said:

Those of you who are cooking Wegmans corned beef: Did you do anything special to the meat? Reseal it without the liquid? Soak it first in something else? What about that little spice packet: Toss it? Add it to the bag?

I took the corned beef out of the packaging,

rinsed it,

dried it,

cut it into ~1 pound pieces, 

sprinkled it with the included picking spice (because it was there — not sure it had any impact on the final product),

bagged each piece,

sealed,

and sous vide’d

 

Was worried it might be too salty and wondered if I should have given it an over night soak in water but it was delicious when done. I think the manufacturers are salting the pre-prepared corned beefs less than they used to. If you’re sensitive to salt, I would recommend an overnight pre soaking in water.

[scubadoo97]

I always look at the sodium content on the label.  Can vary from 500 mg to over 1000 mg of salt per serving

[rotuts]

So Far , So Good :

 

based on @curls ref.

 

and some endemic lazy-ness here :

 

50 hrs  deliciousness was Revealed :

 

 

brought the bags downstairs , and decided to take 4 - 5 and put in the Local SV'der for an overnight :

 

 

w some plastic bags to preserve moisture :

 

 

then a towel for some Thermodynamics :

 

 

Ill take these  out in the Am and chill as I did w the bulk:

 

 

first cold tap water  ( 42 degrees )  for a bit , then a drain and more cold water w Fresh snow :

 

 

I let this sit for some time then dry , and refrigerate very cold or freeze.

 

 

Im interesting in learning if more than 50 H makes a significant difference on the 4 - 5 140 over-nighters.

 

heers !

 

I do hope to cold smoke many of these on the SnowBound Webber tomorrow or the next day

 

the debag cold and freeze.

 

[Kerry Beal]

5 hours ago, MelissaH said:

Those of you who are cooking Wegmans corned beef: Did you do anything special to the meat? Reseal it without the liquid? Soak it first in something else? What about that little spice packet: Toss it? Add it to the bag?

Removed from package, blotted dry, sprinkled about half the packet of spice on the fatty side. Resealed in chamber vac. Sous vide for 16 hours at 79.5º C. 

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

. Sous vide for 16 hours at 79.5º C. 

That's pretty hot. Texture OK?

And, as I've noted before, food cooked in Fahrenheit always tastes better than in Celcius.

[Anna N]

23 minutes ago, gfweb said:

That's pretty hot. Texture OK?

And, as I've noted before, food cooked in Fahrenheit always tastes better than in Celcius.

 I used 80°C for 16 hours back in 2011 and my notes say that it was great. 

Edited March 23, 2018 by Anna N (log)

[Kerry Beal]

39 minutes ago, gfweb said:

That's pretty hot. Texture OK?

And, as I've noted before, food cooked in Fahrenheit always tastes better than in Celcius.

Yup - texture excellent.

[FeChef]

51 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 I used 80°C for 16 hours back in 2011 and my notes say that it was great. 

 

I did a Corned Beef at 155F for 24 hours and it pretty much shredded with no effort. I am not sure if that is what you were shooting for, but i imagine 175F for 16 hours would have a similar end result.

[rotuts]

the CB cooked at these higher temps ends up like a braise.

If braise is what you want , then fine

 

but Ive yet to encounter a braise that had the mouth-feel of an appropriate temp'd and timed SV

 

of course . you get that ' gravy '

 

but otherwise .....

 

I like most of the gravy to still be in the meat.

Edited March 23, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

I decided to extend my cook 

 

to see is 60 + was different.

 

due to time issues i now have 5 bags of ' 66 '

 

will try one later for lunch as a sandwich.

 

no pic :  look the same as ' 48 '      I do wonder if they have more jus though  

[rotuts]

I couldn't stand it any longer :

 

I made a simple sandwich out of a hunk of ' 66 ' :

 

 

it was cold , and I did not ' de-salt ' the meat as I usually do.   I was hungry

 

Im very pleased to report that the meat was not mealy in any way.  it tasted fine.

 

I can't tell you if its that much more tender than ' 48 '  as I did not do a side-by-side

 

the good news for me is that its not mealy.   it is salty , as was the jus.

 

no harm was done to the meat w the additional time at 140 F

 

yes , F meat does taste better the C meat.

 

I had  minor concern as my Cb sat in its original bags in the refrig for about a week until I could get to it.

 

several years ago I let he Cb sit much longer in the refrig , but before the sell - date , and that batch ended up mealy for some reason

 

140 x 48.

 

the lesson Im taking home , and placing in the Red SV book is :   > 48 is fine , and possibly preferred.

 

thanks again to

 

@curls

 

for the ref. on different times for Cb

 

> 48 offers much more flexibility on Start / Finish times

 

I can tell this meat will be much better at room temp and briefly De-Salted.

 

 

Edited March 23, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

P.S.:

 

i hope I remember to do this test :

 

on both the 48 and 66 

 

weigh the meat  ' out of the bag '       and weigh the jus   

 

to see if the additional time added to the jus.       I no longer have easy access to test the NaCl  content of the jus.

 

since texture is fine at ' 66 '  , more just might mean less salt in the meat.

 

a + Id say.

[Smokeydoke]

@rotuts your pastrami looks great! Enjoy and thanks for this thread. I learned a lot.

[rotuts]

I do wish it were pastrami , but its CornedBeef

 

cheers

Edited March 23, 2018 by rotuts (log)

[Smokeydoke]

Yes, everyone was talking pastrami, for some reason I thought you made it too. Your corned beef looks great.

[rotuts]

smoking some tomorrow

 

then re-bagging

 

my apologies for my many typos.

 

its not the M.R.

 

its t\just because I need Computer Glasses

 

not available w/o a Rx

 

talk about a Hidden Cabal !

 

[FeChef]

@rotuts 

M.R. ?

[rotuts]

@FeChef

 

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/149804-methode-rotuts/?tab=comments#comment-1992606

 

***  burp ****

 

[FeChef]

I am even more confused then i started. Thought it was some serious medical condition like M.S., but its good to know you're just blind as a bat.

Edited March 23, 2018 by FeChef (log)

[gfweb]

3 hours ago, rotuts said:

smoking some tomorrow

 

then re-bagging

 

 

 

At what point does a smoked CB be classified as pastrami? Is it a matter of prior intent....or a function of location? Montreal Smoked Meat is for all intents and purposes pastrami...