Over the weekend I thawed out two of those cheap store-bought overly-red corned beef brisket flats. I’ve made it before and the texture ends up very different from regular beef jerky. My best guess is the odd sheen and super chewiness is from the sodium phosphate they pump into it. So I set out to find a better way to make jerky from this cheap package. When you take them out of the package give them a good aggressive rinse under cold water to wash off that slimy sodium phosphate.
It needs to be soaked overnight with at least two changes of water. The first time I soaked the whole flat. This weekend I sliced the flats first and then soaked them which turned out to be the preferred way to desalinate them. It draws out more salt than soaking the entire flat. Don’t even try skipping the desalination process. It will be inedible. I made that mistake for you so don’t do it.
Second, I love to cut my jerky with the grain. So one flat I used my preferred cut and the other flat I cut across the grain. By the way, I cut all my jerky rather thick at 1/4”. It turns out that cutting it across the grain is far superior and makes the jerky much more chewable. Cutting it with the grain is far too chewy, even for me.
I got some corned beef jerky spice in bags from my local Penzey’s and I ground it up rather fine In my spice grinder. Penzey’s sells empty spice jars for cheap so get one while you’re at it. You can even ask for the sprinkle topper with the larger holes in it. After I lay out the strips on the drying racks I coat one side with this “rub.” It doesn’t have any salt because lord knows this meat doe not need more salt.
I put it in the dehydrator at 150 for 6-8 hours. I check them after 6 and start pulling the pieces that are done. Sorry, I don’t have pictures of the whole process. I only took one of the with-the-grain slices.
To recap, my recommendation is to slice across the grain and soak 8-10 hours changing water at least once. Temp, time, and topping are up to you.
This is as they are starting the dehydration process. They look rather pale from the long soak.
It needs to be soaked overnight with at least two changes of water. The first time I soaked the whole flat. This weekend I sliced the flats first and then soaked them which turned out to be the preferred way to desalinate them. It draws out more salt than soaking the entire flat. Don’t even try skipping the desalination process. It will be inedible. I made that mistake for you so don’t do it.
Second, I love to cut my jerky with the grain. So one flat I used my preferred cut and the other flat I cut across the grain. By the way, I cut all my jerky rather thick at 1/4”. It turns out that cutting it across the grain is far superior and makes the jerky much more chewable. Cutting it with the grain is far too chewy, even for me.
I got some corned beef jerky spice in bags from my local Penzey’s and I ground it up rather fine In my spice grinder. Penzey’s sells empty spice jars for cheap so get one while you’re at it. You can even ask for the sprinkle topper with the larger holes in it. After I lay out the strips on the drying racks I coat one side with this “rub.” It doesn’t have any salt because lord knows this meat doe not need more salt.
I put it in the dehydrator at 150 for 6-8 hours. I check them after 6 and start pulling the pieces that are done. Sorry, I don’t have pictures of the whole process. I only took one of the with-the-grain slices.
To recap, my recommendation is to slice across the grain and soak 8-10 hours changing water at least once. Temp, time, and topping are up to you.
This is as they are starting the dehydration process. They look rather pale from the long soak.
