Corned beef

[chrish]

i didnt know what section to put this under:

I take back the statment i made about hating any meat thats crocked or boiled, shame on me, I love corned beef and it has to be boiled but the best part is amking your own and its way better then the store bought stuff.
last tuesday i got my brine ready in a cooler and i trimmed up a brisket, what i had was a 12lb packers brisket and i cut off ALL the fat i could, i cut the flat off the point and cut the point in half through the fat line, (if anyone can fallow what im saying) cut all the fat off the meat, (fat hinders the affect of a brine)

day 1 pic:


well today being friday i boiled some up and its fantastic


I get this corned beef spice from www.sausagemaker.com for a $10 tub of spice you can do 50 lbs of meat and it works wonders with game meat, i like using deer meat.

 

[kew_el_steve]

Nice Job!!! I like SausageMaker. Got my grinder there. I use their Italian Sausage spice mix. I've been thinking about smoking some corned beef in to pastrami.

 

[scotty]

I used Debbies recipie and made my own brine. After that we continued and turned it into a pastrami.

I can taste your corned beef now. Looks great

 

[smoked]

welcome to making your own corned beef....been doing it along time myself but I don't use brisket, I use bottom round and tend to also take the extra step to rub it and smoke it into pastrami.......man that's good eats....

 

[cowgirl]

Mmmm, that looks great chrish!

 

[pgeobc]

From a guy that has been making corned beef for a long time.

Your product looks very good, so I don't see any reason to change it. However, if a shortage arises or you get the yen to experiment, you can try some of the following:

I prefer McCormick's pickling spice because its flavor is somewhat brighter than many of the commercial corned beef spices. It is, however, much more expensive. Many spice houses, including Penzeys, have corned beef mixes available. You can even mix your own spice.

Morton's TenderQuick (TQ) is available locally in most places. I have used it both as a dry rub cure at 1 Tablespoon full per pound and as a brine cure at the rate of 1 pound per gallon of distilled or carbon-treated water.

The brining method uses, on average, about one gallon per brisket. Most people simply put the brisket in the brine, but it is better to weigh it down and be certain that it stays submerged. I have a dinosaur gizzard stone that I picked up years ago that I use to keep it submerged in the covered food lug. Air exposure give a funny color that is, otherwise, harmless. Boil your water for 10 minutes and add your curing salt and spice and simmer gently for 3 or 4 minutes. Cool your brine and pour over the meat.

If you are going to dry rub with cure and salt or TQ, then vacuum pack it; that is the best way that I have ever found. Put the meat in the packages, rub in the spices and cure and seal. Throw it in the frig for the requisite number of days and voila!

I typically cut the thin end of the brisket off for boiling with vegetables and cabbage. Some people would change the water once during the process about half-way through and then add the vegetables. Others would soak the meat for 20 minutes or so before they cook it. At any rate, something needs to be done to get rid of some of the salt. I just use the broth and dilute it with water for cooking with the vegetables in another pot after the corned beef is barely fork tender.

The best part is the thick end. That I boil until barely fork tender, dry it, and then smoke for sandwich meat, etc. It is an exceptional delicacy and adding spices to the outside of the meat (you can find instructions and links for the process on this site) can get you pastrami.

BTW, what part of Iowa are you from?

 

[scotty]

here is the link from brisket to corned beef and then to pastrami.

I tested it
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downl...ysPastrami.pdf

 

[walking dude]

chrish is just south of me.......melcher-dallas area.........bunch of us iowa folks on this forum...........great site....

great info btw..........i bookmarked it.........i have been wanting to expand from justing smoking meat.......to corning, making hams......and making sausages..........


d88de

 

[chrish]

thanks guys, that was something i was wondering on how to do, i like pastromi and plan on smoking a chunk of it.

 

[pgeobc]

>chrish is just south of me...<

Interesting. I went to school from K-8 in Manson, IA and 9-12 in Indianola. Still have a lot of kin in Iowa, both above and below ground. Another new member I saw was from just north and west of Ft. Dodge.

 

[walking dude]

yeah........you got chrish down in the area you mentioned

allen up near the south dakota iowa border.......

smokebuzz outta nevada.........

stringcheese outta omaha.........but close enuff..........

we have others, but they don't post much......sad......but true........

then me........a transplanted NEWTON-ite..........stuck here in Des Moines...


d88de

 

[chrish]

hay WD we should keep all the iowa people talking and some get togethers going, a good spot would be at lake red rock, about central iowa, good location, maby make it a camp out for a week end, if anyone has a boat maby do some fishing and smoke them up too., i have a boat or 2 that can be used, if not fishing i could give some tures of the lake, i know some really neet sights from the lake.

 

[chrish]

more pics here:



with my family corned beef is a staple of the fall season so i only have it 2-3 times a year so thats why i love it so much.

 

[deejaydebi]

Looks good Chrish! I love the stuff myself. Make it alot in the winter just to add steam-heat to the house.


Pgeobc
I use the vacuum sealer to brine and just suck up all the air. Take less space in the fridge that way and all the meat is completely covered. I do double seals on the bags to make sure they don't leak. No problems yet!

 

[pgeobc]

Debi,

> I do double seals on the bags to make sure they don't leak. No problems yet!<

That is the best way that I have found, too. Too many times, the vacuum will suck meat juice up and ruin the first seal. Well, most of it is OK, but it seems as if there is always just one little teeny leak. The second sealing does the job.

I have no real preference as to whether I brine the meat or vacuum seal it, as I have a frig dedicated to hobby pursuits (you know: beer, sausage, pickled fish, and other really good, necessary stuff). The recipies that I use give pretty much the same results either way, except that the brined meat is full of moisture when taken from the brine and, when cooked, is a little lighter pink until it dries some.

 

[breck]

AWESOME IDEA!

I live about 10 minutes from Red Rock.
It's a great camp if you can find room, a lot of snowbirds there who book it up all year.
Marion County park (Knoxville) is also a good little camp and real friendly for group camps.

 

[walking dude]

howell station below the damn is a excellant area

breck.......what small town?

knoxville.......monroe......pella.......???

 

[breck]

The great ivory metropolis of Monroe.

 

[walking dude]

my wifes family is from monroe

kingery's