Salt (Corned) Beef
In this country we are used to corned beef out of a tin. The corned beef I am making is more like an unsmoked version of Pastrami. It gets its name from the 'corn'; grains of coarse salts used to cure it. Traditionally made with brisket it can also be made with other cuts – in this case a piece of topside weighing about 3lb.
Ingredients
Water 1500gm
Salt 180gm
Light Brown or Demerara Sugar 180gm
Cure #1/Prague Powder (5.88% Nitrite) 48gm
Juniper Berries 10
Cloves 2
Black Peppercorns 6
Parsley Stalks 2
Thyme Sprigs 2
Bay Leaves 1
Coriander Seeds 6
Method – see Everyday Ham for more detail.
Crush spices roughly and boil in water with sugar and salt. Cool and add cure. Pump with 10% of the meat's weight of cure and immerse in the remaining cure for 5-6 days.
I put this in to cure on New Year's Day. The meat weighed 1480gm, so was injected with 148gm of cure. Today, I have washed the meat in cold water and put it in a casserole with a chopped onion, carrot and a celery stick, along with about ½ pint boiling water. I shoved it in the oven for 2½ hours at 160°C.
There are thirteen comments
Hi, I have one question. On the Cure #1(Prague powder) I have, it states on the packet to not use more than 2.5g per Kg of meat. This contradicts the amount shown in your recipe. I am a little confused!! Which is correct?
Ah yes, it can be confusing. The 2.5gm amount is for dry curing and assumes that the meat will absorb all of the cure – it then gives a level of 150 mg/kg in the meat which is the main EU limit. The cure injection will give the same level (well actually 148 mg/kg).
The method of calculation is detailed on p19 (bottom) et seq of the document here:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSIS..
I hope this explains it, if not please feel free to contact me again.
Thanks Phil. You put my mind at rest!
I followed your recipe, and now have the results….. Absolutely fantastic! Thank you..
Hi Phil, Hope all is well bud. trying your recipe tonite. Did you have it covered while in the oven? tks
Yes, I pot roasted it at about 150-160C. That’s covered in a pot, sat on chunks of veg, with stock/water up to the bottom of the meat – i.e. below the meat but mainly covering the veg.
I hope that makes sense!
Please let me know how it turns out – it’s a mild spice flavour, but one we like.
Hi Phil, makes a lot on sense. I thought about the meat sitting in a bath of water and didn’t think that was right. I started this last night and its sitting in a heavy duty bag i the fridge. I was hoping it would be ready to pop in the oven Sat. which would be only 72 hours. its a brisket and no more than 2” thick. Do you think it will be ready for the the oven? How do I know when its ready?
Love your site BTW and apprciate that I can ask questions.
tks
Hi Carl, assuming that it was injected, it should be OK to cook in 72 hours. At worst. it could be a bit patchy – the time is to allow things to settle down and become ‘evened out’ in the meat.
I note that you are in Canada – it is quite possible that you prefer a more robust spice taste. As I said, this is very mild. If you feel that you would, you could cook the meat with spices added.
I hope you enjoy it.
I didn’t realize we had different palates when it comes to spices. Yes, I definitely have a taste for spices. I used 40 gr. of pickling spice. I don’t think my pickling spice mix had cloves and I see that your recipe does so I will add a half dozen or so to the brine. When you say “cook the meat with spices”, are you saying that I should layer the meat with pickling spices before cooking? Just thought of something. I will half the brisket and cook one with and one without and see what results I get.
Wow, Carl, hold up a bit. If you’ve already used 40gm of spice, I think that things should be spicy enough.
I hadn’t read your post at the forum before I answered this one.
Hi Phil
Just got round to making this and it is due out of the fridge tomorrow. Would this be ok cooked in slow cooker for about 8 hours or would that ruin the texture of the meat?
Thanks
Nice recipe, thanks