Curing chuck or arm roast

[sirsmokey]

Ok so I have yet another quarter beef in my freezer that I just picked up. Thing is, I still have some chuck and arm roasts from my last cow. I was curious on the process of curing a couple of these. I don't care so much if it comes out like pastrami or corned beef, as long as it tastes good. I tried searching threads and didn't really find much. The only one I found didn't really give a ton of info. I have used pops brine for bacon a couple times now and it comes out perfect! I notice In the thread where pops recipe is listed that it says beef roasts. I was thinking of using his brine but cutting the sugar back to avoid an overly sweet flavor on the beef. Any advice would be appreciated . I plan on slicing the roasts horizontally prior to smoking to make them not so thick. How long would the brine time be using pops brine? I see pops suggests 10-20 days but that's kinda broad lol. Roasts are about 3-4lb. Any opinions on cutting back the sugar? Adding anything to the brine? Thanks guys

 

[crankybuzzard]

You can use pop's brine and reduce the sugars without issue. For the roasts you have, they will make for good corned beef. After mixing the normal brine solution (reduced sugar if you want) add some pickling spices for a true corned beef flavor.

I would inject each roast with the brine solution in several locations until you increase the weight of the roast by 10-15%. Then submerge fully into the brine solution, refrigerate, and then let sit for a minimum of 2 weeks. I'd move the meat around every few days (overhaul) depending on the size of the brine container.

After 2 weeks, slice it like you were talking about and then slice off a small piece and gently pan fry it to see if your finished with the cure. If not, toss it back into the bucket for another 3-5 days.

Pop saying 10-20 days is a range that would cover different sizes of roasts, or a full packer brisket.

Let us know how it goes and post pics.

 

[sirsmokey]

Hey! Thank you a ton for the guidance , I really appreciate it. It's not often you ask a question in life and get an answer so good that you don't have one single question to ask lol I can't wait to try this. I just gotta find a good day to do it. I will post pictures for sure ! Thanks again.Thumbs Up

 

[chef jimmyj]

One addition...If the chuck is like I normally get, the grain runs vertically rather than length wise like a brisket. If you want nice slices and don't plan to shred it, cure and cook it whole. Cut strips about 2" thick the width of the meat or separate the muscles. Turn the strips 90° onto the cut side, then slice across the grain pencil thick...JJ

 

[sirsmokey]

Sorry jj , I fell off the planet for a few months. Still haven't got around to trying this yet but just wanted to say thank you for the response . I will be giving that a goThumbs Up