Does Anyone Out There Make Homemade Corned Beef?
My family loves corned beef, but hate the fatty flats that come on "sale" before March. I've always bought the expensive corned beef rounds, which are less fatty and are delicious. My goal this year is to try to make my own, buying some round tip roasts. I have done a lot of research for recipes, but I'm not sure how the end product would come out. Do any of you make your own corned beef? Can you give me some tips, tricks or recipes?
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6 Comments:
I make my own corned brisket using Cooks Illustrated's recipe (which can be found here if you aren't a member: http://www.zenreich.com/ZenWeb/cornedbeef.htm) We love this so much I do it several times a year instead of our usual St. Patty's day dinner. I highly recommend, it's incredibly easy, but takes 5-7 days so plan ahead.
bobcatsteph3 at 8:19AM on 01/20/09
There are a lot of tricks to make the beef cure more quickly. Instead of using a saltpeter, try to find a curing salt Morton makes several, and spice houses carry some as well.. These are safer to use, and more diluted. they are also food grade, pharmaceutical grade may contain trace elements not allowed in food grade. Also, remember pure saltpeter if consumed is highly toxic, it looks like salt so be sure it is plainly marked in your cabinents. If you wish to shorten your brining time, take a Jacquard or needle tenderiser and puncture the meat uniformaly. THis opens the surface to allow the brine to penetrate more quickly and uniformly. Change the brine every 7-10 days, so the chance of spoilage is reduced. Handling the meat, and adding spices can introduce yeast, mold, and bacteria that can grow and sour in the brine. If you use a curing salt with Sodium Nitrite (Prague Powder, Quick Cure and Sure Cure are some industrial names) rather than sodium or potassium NITRATES the curing time will be reduced by about half. THere is an enzymatic process which reduces the nitrate to nitrite, and then to Nitrous oxide which is what cures the meat to fix the red color. THe meat may brown out a day or two into curing. THis is a normal reaction to the meat pigment attaching to the Nitrogen compounds, this is due to lack of air if it is totally submerged. Corning beef is easy, but the cure, sodium nitrite or Nitrate neeeds to be kept out of the reach of children or the uninformed as using it accidentally like salt can be fatal. 1/4 oz can cause the blood cells in your body to become unable to bind oxygen and cause death. Also, never mix the curing salt or saltpeter with anything acidic, this converts it to nitrous oxide, which can be fatal if concentrations are high in an enclosed area.
Meat guy at 9:01AM on 01/20/09
Last year's Bon Appetit magazine had a St Patrick's Day-themed issue that had a recipe for doing your own. The instructions were clear and easy to follow, but do require that you plan ahead. Try archiving their old issues online for the recipe.
moibec at 1:00PM on 01/20/09
The Cook's Illustrated recipe is great, and easy as can be. Try it with turkey thighs too. I don't cure the turkey as long and it comes out great. And my no-read-meat-eating friends can enjoy along with us.
kjgibson at 1:45AM on 01/21/09
sorry I messed up the link with my parentheses. here it is again if no one could get to it: http://www.zenreich.com/ZenWeb/cornedbeef.htm
sounds really good with turkey too! thanks kjg!
bobcatsteph3 at 12:16PM on 01/21/09
Thanks for all the responses. Now I'm scared. I think I will just buy it!!
lamora at 1:27AM on 01/23/09