Corn Beef

[coxhaus]

We have a very good tasting corn beef recipe that was my father's laws. It is an old family recipe. You use a brisket. I have always used a whole brisket but this time I am only going to use the tip and save the other for smoking.
There is one change in that we can no longer get saltpeter so we use pink salt. It turns the meat a nice pink color. I think it was better with the saltpeter so if you have it use it.
We always add carrots, cabbage, and potatoes.

 

[coxhaus]

We brined the brisket for a week. We are now boiling it. Here is the first picture.

Time to add carrots, cabbage, and potatoes.

Corn beef is ready to eat.

 

[M1k3]

We have a very good tasting corn beef recipe that was my father's laws. It is an old family recipe. You use a brisket. I have always used a whole brisket but this time I am only going to use the tip and save the other for smoking.
There is one change in that we can no longer get saltpeter so we use pink salt. It turns the meat a nice pink color. I think it was better with the saltpeter so if you have it use it.
We always add carrots, cabbage, and potatoes.

View attachment 164350

Amazon.com

 

[coxhaus]

Amazon.com

Yes, that is what we are using now. It is not the same as saltpeter which you can make gun powder out of. Saltpeter is potassium nitrate. Before homeland security you could buy saltpeter in a small jar. And I think it works great for making corn beef.

 

[Greasylake]

Yes, that is what we are using now. It is not the same as saltpeter which you can make gun powder out of. Saltpeter is potassium nitrate. Before homeland security you could buy saltpeter in a small jar. And I think it works great for making corn beef.

You can still buy it under the name saltpeter or potassium nitrate, just google it and go to shopping. I see a variety of bag sizes, it's even on Amazon

 

[M1k3]

Yes, that is what we are using now. It is not the same as saltpeter which you can make gun powder out of. Saltpeter is potassium nitrate. Before homeland security you could buy saltpeter in a small jar. And I think it works great for making corn beef.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0773N1CLG/

 

[coxhaus]

Great I guess I was looking before Amazon back in the old days. I am glad you can buy it again. I will buy some before my next corn beef. Thanks.

 

[WiriWiri]

Sounds good, and I wish you luck.

Did you know that even Buckingham Palace eats corned beef (and now I have this song in my head)

 

[coxhaus]

Yes, corn beef hash for brunch tomorrow with eggs.

Monday we will have Reubens sandwiches. This recipe makes great Reubens.

 

[coxhaus]

Corn beef hash with eggs for brunch.

 

[crockerculinary]

I hate being “that guy”, but thought you might appreciate knowing that it is corned beef and not corn beef. “Corned” is a dated term referring to salt curing with chunky “corns” of rock salt. I have no earthly idea why they were called corns in the first place, but they were.

 

[Rangen]

Love corned beef, especially home-corned. My perennial frustration has been that if I boil it long enough to be as tender as I prefer, it falls apart into strings in the water.

Just finished a successful sous vide beef brisket, 36 hours at 155, 2 hours in 300 degree oven. Moist and tender and soft. I'm thinking that's the treatment I'll give my next corned beef brisket, minus the oven part.

 

[Justinv]

Thanks for sharing the recipe. I appreciate any meat recipe involving nutmeg.

 

[Midsummer]

Thanks for the recipe. I love good corned beef (I learned something about the name). I look forward to giving this a try. I will order some salt Peter and some juniper berries.

Thanks!

 

[stringer]

Thanks for the recipe. I love corned beef. I have never tried saltpeter but I have used Prague Powder #1 for years which is another form of potassium nitrate and sometimes known as "pink salt" (but don't get it confused with the Himalayan stuff). I like the Hoosier Hill brand the best of those I have tried. I use it at my cafe for house cured Canadian bacon.

https://www.amazon.com/Hoosier-Hill...1&sr=1-1-d480d1aa-b7ef-43f7-ad0c-ebf27320e4d0

 

[coxhaus]

Thanks for the recipe. I love corned beef. I have never tried saltpeter but I have used Prague Powder #1 for years which is another form of potassium nitrate and sometimes known as "pink salt" (but don't get it confused with the Himalayan stuff). I like the Hoosier Hill brand the best of those I have tried. I use it at my cafe for house cured Canadian bacon.

https://www.amazon.com/Hoosier-Hill...1&sr=1-1-d480d1aa-b7ef-43f7-ad0c-ebf27320e4d0

We are using Wishful Seasoning. I will probably go back to saltpeter in the future.
Amazon.com : Wishful Curing Salt #1 Pink Curing Salt, Prague Powder 1, 6.25% Sodium Nitrite "Insta Cure" for Game, Bacon, Sausage, Ham, Jerky Cure, Corned Beef, Quick, Bulk, 2.5 lbs : Grocery & Gourmet Food
It is a Nitrite instead of a nitrate. You can't make gun powder out of it.

 

[Jovidah]

I hate being “that guy”, but thought you might appreciate knowing that it is corned beef and not corn beef. “Corned” is a dated term referring to salt curing with chunky “corns” of rock salt. I have no earthly idea why they were called corns in the first place, but they were.

Because in the past the word 'corn' was just a general term used for grains and kernels. Somewhere along the way maize came to be called corn.

 

[Michi]

Because in the past the word 'corn' was just a general term used for grains and kernels. Somewhere along the way maize came to be called corn.

In German, "Korn" means "grain". It can refer to a grain of salt, or grain of sand, or anything that's a small particle of some sort. It also can mean "grain" in the generic sense, i.e. cereal, such as wheat, rye, and so on. "Korn" is also the name of a clear brandy that's distilled from fermented rye, wheat, barley, oats, or buckwheat.

 

[Jovidah]

Yeah my understanding is it had the same meaning in English. Just changed over time to the point that it became synonymous with maize, but I think it's only the Americans who started using 'corn' to refer to maize. In Dutch we refer to it as 'mais', I think it's the same in German and something similar in French.
Korn was my grandmothers poison of choice. She made it past 90 on that stuff, so it must be good for you.

 

[Brian Weekley]

Back in 82 I was trying to get my software company established. Money was SCARCE!! My wife was settling her fathers estate and sent out a case of Hereford Brand Corned Beef. I gave half the case to my partner with the admonition to heat the contents before eating. My logic was that there was no avoiding the fact that the canned corned beef looked like cat food and eaten cold it tasted like cat food. …. Don’t ask how I knew that. Anyway I used my half of the case to prepare corned beef hash for 31 days straight. I extended the contents by cooking the hash with a substantial portion of cabbage and treated myself with the occasional egg steamed on top. The other secret was a substantial dose of dill weed in the hash mix. When my wife returned, I cooked it for her and she loved it. Life moved on, my business was successful, but I still cooked that corned beef has recipe and loved it. I also love corned beef and cabbage. Here’s a few pics of this weekend’s cook.

I did the entire cook in my Anova Precision Oven (sous vide, 195F, 100% steam, 4 hrs). It was good, but for the first time I think I could get superior results through a conventional cook of braising. Either way it’s a yummy dish and I saved half my cabbage for an old time corned beef hash dish. Stay tuned.

 

[Michi]

We are using Wishful Seasoning. I will probably go back to saltpeter in the future.

Be careful with saltpeter. Saltpeter is potassium nitrate, which is fairly toxic. It was banned by the USDA in 1975 and, since then, sodium nitrate is used instead, which is not as toxic.

Sodium nitrate is normally only used for meat that needs to cure for more than 30 days. It effectively is a time-release cure. The nitrate breaks down over time into nitrite; in turn, the nitrite breaks down into nitric oxide, which is what provides the anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant properties.

Usually, only salamis and other types of charcuterie that have a long curing/storage time use nitrate. The idea is to have nitrate/nitrite available in the meat only long enough for it to hang around until the moisture content has dropped sufficiently low to prevent spoilage. Ideally, most of the nitrate/nitrate has converted to nitric oxide at that point.

For corned beef, you can just use sodium nitrite. It provides the same colouring action and taste as sodium nitrate. If you freeze your meat, there is no need to use nitrate. I would probably shy away from using saltpeter (potassium nitrate) altogether.

 

[coxhaus]

Be careful with saltpeter. Saltpeter is potassium nitrate, which is fairly toxic. It was banned by the USDA in 1975 and, since then, sodium nitrate is used instead, which is not as toxic.

Sodium nitrate is normally only used for meat that needs to cure for more than 30 days. It effectively is a time-release cure. The nitrate breaks down over time into nitrite; in turn, the nitrite breaks down into nitric oxide, which is what provides the anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant properties.

Usually, only salamis and other types of charcuterie that have a long curing/storage time use nitrate. The idea is to have nitrate/nitrite available in the meat only long enough for it to hang around until the moisture content has dropped sufficiently low to prevent spoilage. Ideally, most of the nitrate/nitrate has converted to nitric oxide at that point.

For corned beef, you can just use sodium nitrite. It provides the same colouring action and taste as sodium nitrate. If you freeze your meat, there is no need to use nitrate. I would probably shy away from using saltpeter (potassium nitrate) altogether.

Good to know. I did not realize it was toxic. We used it for years.

 

[EnderzShadow]

Yes, corn beef hash for brunch tomorrow with eggs.

Monday we will have Reubens sandwiches. This recipe makes great Reubens.

Thanks for sharing. Looks amazing. And when you said Reubens, my mouth watered . Do you also make your own sauerkraut?

 

[coxhaus]

Thanks for sharing. Looks amazing. And when you said Reubens, my mouth watered . Do you also make your own sauerkraut?

I have not but a friend of my wife's gave us a jar that she had made, and it was wonderful. Much better than our store bought.

 

[Dan-]

We switched to dry brining in a chamber vacuum bag last year and are never going back to a wet brine.

 

[coxhaus]

Sounds nice. If I grew cabbages in my garden, I would be right there with you making sauerkraut.

I don't grow cabbages in my garden. I think Texas is too hot and dry with limited space in my garden. I have grown cabbage but to fight the bugs I need to poison otherwise I end up with lots of holes in my cabbage leaves. I use no poison in my garden so to me cabbage is out.

 

[Dan-]

Use this: Agribon+ AG-15 – 118" x 50' - Insect Barrier | Johnny's Selected Seeds