Corned Beef Brine

[foamheart]

Guess where that rinsed, chilled, rested, rubbed corned beef is now? It was in the smoker at Noon, after a fresh rub of smashed and ground semi dried  juniper berries, coriander, Ancho Chili pepper, 220 degrees, smoked mesquite. Pulled @ 9:00   at 175 IT, wrapped with a little beef broth, pickling spice, a couple of berries and a dash of coriander. Slide in the oven so I could cook inside without the assistance of the mosquitos. This sucker shrinks any smaller it going to make "a" sandwich only.

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• foamheart
• Nov 15, 2013

Left in the oven to 190 IT, turned the oven off an hour later it hit 200 IT, then started dropping.

Not gonna open till tomorrow ...... Its good practice for Christmas, right?

Still need to make some bread, maybe after the groceries get put up tomorrow.....

See you tomorrow!

 

[foamheart]

LOL... I am a bit slow, the neighbor built a really nice new barn and christened it last night with a big barn party, live Cajun R&B band, all the horns and whistles. Could not believe, he had to use my lots for parking .........

Anyway, I keep meaning to get to the great bread recipes I got and make some rye bread for the pastrami. <Chuckles> I decided I had better get a picture of what was left before there was no evidence of the crime.

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• foamheart
• Nov 17, 2013

Lets see that pastrami again guys..........

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• foamheart
• Nov 17, 2013

We've eaten easily over half of it already.

Its edible, it is food grade, its not blue ribbon! First time ever corning a brisket and didn't do too bad. The spices were spot on, for me it had the perfect taste. The texture/density was off. I have thought about it and ... I am going to suggest three possible culprits. Too much cure which leads right into the second possibility, brined/cured too long. The color was beautiful. The taste is most excellent, but the meat is hard. Which brings forth the third and must probably reason, improper cooking. When foiled and brought inside and placed in the oven, instead of 220 degrees, I forgot it at 275 until the beeper buzzed at 190. I cussed myself properly, and then thinking to beat out wrapping and storing I left it in the oven turned off. I was smart enough to reset the thermometer again to 200 which it did get up to.

Anywho, either amount of cure, cure time, or a bad cook.

BTW do not attempt to wrap up a corned beef in aluminum wrap before washing/rinsing..... It will eat the aluminum! Making me believe that there might have been a pinch too much cure....LOL

That's what I learned this time, its not my last foray into pastrami from scratch.

Thanks for looking in and........ even when not perfect, I still had to hide it so I could get these last pictures.

 

[disco]

 
LOL... I am a bit slow, the neighbor built a really nice new barn and christened it last night with a big barn party, live Cajun R&B band, all the horns and whistles. Could not believe, he had to use my lots for parking .........

Anyway, I keep meaning to get to the great bread recipes I got and make some rye bread for the pastrami. <Chuckles> I decided I had better get a picture of what was left before there was no evidence of the crime.

Lets see that pastrami again guys..........

We've eaten easily over half of it already.

Its edible, it is food grade, its not blue ribbon! First time ever corning a brisket and didn't do too bad. The spices were spot on, for me it had the perfect taste. The texture/density was off. I have thought about it and ... I am going to suggest three possible culprits. Too much cure which leads right into the second possibility, brined/cured too long. The color was beautiful. The taste is most excellent, but the meat is hard. Which brings forth the third and must probably reason, improper cooking. When foiled and brought inside and placed in the oven, instead of 220 degrees, I forgot it at 275 until the beeper buzzed at 190. I cussed myself properly, and then thinking to beat out wrapping and storing I left it in the oven turned off. I was smart enough to reset the thermometer again to 200 which it did get up to.

Anywho, either amount of cure, cure time, or a bad cook.

BTW do not attempt to wrap up a corned beef in aluminum wrap before washing/rinsing..... It will eat the aluminum! Making me believe that there might have been a pinch too much cure....LOL

That's what I learned this time, its not my last foray into pastrami from scratch.

Thanks for looking in and........ even when not perfect, I still had to hide it so I could get these last pictures.

I don't know, Foamheart. It looks pretty good to me. An old guy who used to live near me made the best pastrami. He refused to give me his spice mixture but did tell me how he cooked it. He double wrapped it in cellophane, but it in a plastic bag and then poached it in 200F water for 2 1/2 hours. I have only tried it once, on my Montreal Smoked Meat, but it really made the meat tender.

Disco

 

[foamheart]

Taking notes........ Thanks Disco, I really liked the spice. And I could see how poaching it would make a difference.... just wait next time I'll have  good pastrami AND artisan Rye!

 

[disco]

 
Taking notes........ Thanks Disco, I really liked the spice. And I could see how poaching it would make a difference.... just wait next time I'll have  good pastrami AND artisan Rye!

Just one question. If it isn't great, why is it disappearing?

Disco

 

[foamheart]

 
Just one question. If it isn't great, why is it disappearing?

Disco

I blame mice!

The taste is spot on, it is delightful, even the taste after you eat it is good. Sort of a lingering after taste..... No, not that twice eaten taste.

But the meat density suxor.  Here to learn and it is a first attempt.

 

[travisty]

The recipe in Charcuterie is just about the same, but for 5# of meat it calls for 4tsp of pink salt, is that safe?

 

[foamheart]

The recipe in Charcuterie is just about the same, but for 5# of meat it calls for 4tsp of pink salt, is that safe?

That was 5 months ago, I am still alive but the Corned beef wasn't what I was looking for if I read the thread right. Sorry its an old thread and I have slept since then.