Does my corned beef look normal? Updated Q- View

[custom99]

I just pulled my flat and point out of the brine after 10 days. Does the meat look right? I expected it to all be a reddish color. As you can see in the pics it has a lot of brown. Is this normal. Never tried this before.

Update:

Totally amazing how great it turned out. I was so freaked out when I took it out of the brine. The meat was scary looking.

Thanks to everybody for reassuring me it was fine. I boiled it for 3 hours. 

My wife would not stop eating it. We both feel it is the best corned beef we ever had. It has tons of flavor and is so tender it melts in you mouth. I will be doing this again real soon. Cant wait to make some reubens. The pastrami will be going in the smoker Monday.

 

[rbranstner]

What brine did you use? Can you post the recipe.

 

[custom99]

1 gallon cold water  

1 cup kosher salt 

2-1/2 tsp Prague powder #1  

3 oz white sugar 

6 bay leaves 2 tsp cloves 

2 tsp garlic powder  

* 2 tsp juniper berries 

2 tsp black peppercorns

Taken from http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downloads_files/DeejaysPastrami.pdf

 

[custom99]

All of the meat was well submerged the whole time. I used a 3 gallon plastic ice cream tub and weighted them down.

 

[daveomak]

Custom99, evening.... Yes the meat is perfectly normal.... It will not take on the red, pinkish color until the meat comes up to approx 145 degrees F..... If you have any concerns, I will PM you my address and even pay the shipping .....

... I know you won't do it now that I explained the real deal..... Cook, smoke and enjoy the brisky.... Dave
[h2]Cured Meat Color[/h2]
The color of the cured meat depends on the type of meat, nitrite and cooking temperature. Meat color is determined largely by the amount of myoglobin (protein) a particular animal carries. The more myoglobin the darker the meat, that simple. This color is pretty much fixed and there is not much we can do about it unless we mix different meats together. Cured meats develop a particular pink-reddish color due to the reaction that takes place between meat myoglobin and nitrite.

If an insufficient amount of Nitrate/nitrite is added to the meat the cured color will suffer. This may be less noticeable in sausages where the meat is ground and stuffed but if we slice a larger piece like a ham, the poorly developed color will be easily noticeable. Some sections may be gray, some may be pink and the meat will not look appetizing. To check your cured meats, take a sample, cut across it and look for uniform color. About 50 ppm (parts per million) of nitrite is needed for any meaningful curing. Some of it will react with myoglobin and will fix the color, some of it will go into other complex biochemical reactions with meat that develop a characteristic cured meat flavor. If we stay within Food and Drug Administration guidelines (1 oz. Cure #1 per 25 lbs of meat - about 1 level teaspoon of Cure #1 for 5 lbs of meat) we are applying 156 ppm of nitrite which is enough and safe at the same time. Cured meat will develop its true cured color only after submitted to cooking (boiling, steaming, baking) at 140-160° F (60-71° C). The best color is attained at 161° F (72° C).

http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-making/curing   Here is the full page.... Enjoy.... Dave

 

[custom99]

Thanks Dave.  Thats a relief. I just got a little freaked out when I was expecting it to be all red. I will get some pics up once I get it all cooked up.  

 

[venture]

Dave has you covered.

Cook that puppy up and give us a sliced pic so we can drool!

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[daveomak]

Excellent.... we love pics and I'll bet the meat is a beautiful pink..... Dave

 

[smokin vegas]

The meat doesn't look pink until after you smoke it.  I take the prague is cure #1 aka pink salt

 

[hoity toit]

Custom99, evening.... Yes the meat is perfectly normal.... It will not take on the red, pinkish color until the meat comes up to approx 145 degrees F..... If you have any concerns, I will PM you my address and even pay the shipping .....

... I know you won't do it now that I explained the real deal..... Cook, smoke and enjoy the brisky.... Dave
[h2]Cured Meat Color[/h2]
The color of the cured meat depends on the type of meat, nitrite and cooking temperature. Meat color is determined largely by the amount of myoglobin (protein) a particular animal carries. The more myoglobin the darker the meat, that simple. This color is pretty much fixed and there is not much we can do about it unless we mix different meats together. Cured meats develop a particular pink-reddish color due to the reaction that takes place between meat myoglobin and nitrite.

If an insufficient amount of Nitrate/nitrite is added to the meat the cured color will suffer. This may be less noticeable in sausages where the meat is ground and stuffed but if we slice a larger piece like a ham, the poorly developed color will be easily noticeable. Some sections may be gray, some may be pink and the meat will not look appetizing. To check your cured meats, take a sample, cut across it and look for uniform color. About 50 ppm (parts per million) of nitrite is needed for any meaningful curing. Some of it will react with myoglobin and will fix the color, some of it will go into other complex biochemical reactions with meat that develop a characteristic cured meat flavor. If we stay within Food and Drug Administration guidelines (1 oz. Cure #1 per 25 lbs of meat - about 1 level teaspoon of Cure #1 for 5 lbs of meat) we are applying 156 ppm of nitrite which is enough and safe at the same time. Cured meat will develop its true cured color only after submitted to cooking (boiling, steaming, baking) at 140-160° F (60-71° C). The best color is attained at 161° F (72° C).

http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/sausage-making/curing   Here is the full page.... Enjoy.... Dave

Thanks for that info... I have one I just took out after 8 days..going to smoke tomorrow.

 

[pops6927]

Yes, it can be many shades of pink, purple, brown, gray, etc. until it's smoked and cooked.  Prague Powder no. 1 is cure no. 1.  Perfectly normal, you will like what it turns into, I guarantee it!

 

[custom99]

Yes the prague is cure #1. Its amazing how fast the meat turned red. I put the flat in water and brought to a boil and started changing color really fast. I guess i will see how it tastes in a few hours. I rubbed the point and put in fridge. How long will the piece I am using for pastrami be good in the fridge? It's looking like I can not smoke it until Monday.

 

[daveomak]

Yes, it can be many shades of pink, purple, brown, gray, etc. until it's smoked and cooked.  Prague Powder no. 1 is cure no. 1.  

Perfectly normal, you will like what it turns into, I guarantee it!

HOLY MOLEY, You are blessed to have Pops guarantee...   You are special now....  I guarantee....  Dave

 

[smokin vegas]

Keep it in the brine with the cure #1 and it should be fine until Monday.  You might want to make a fresh brine with pickling spices corriander and mustard seeds red pepperscloves garlic  juniper berries etc.

 

[custom99]

I know, I saw that guarantee he gave me. That makes me feel really good. Like I have said before, it is so nice to have such a great group of people that give you instant and safe responses.

 

[SmokinAl]

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

[pops6927]

heh heh heh... wondered if anyone would catch that... a takeoff from the Men's Warehouse Ads where Zimmer says, "You're going to like the way you look, I guarantee it..!" 

HOLY MOLEY, You are blessed to have Pops guarantee...   You are special now....  I guarantee....  Dave

 

[scarbelly]

Looks like it all worked out great - congrats man 

 

[smokin vegas]

Looks good to me more important how does it taste?  Did you trim off all the fat before you smoked it?  A layer of fat keeps the meat moist.  

 

[custom99]

Looks good to me more important how does it taste?  Did you trim off all the fat before you smoked it?  A layer of fat keeps the meat moist.  

I trimmed the fat cap that was on it when I was butchering it but I left about 1/4 inch on it. This flat was not smoked, just boiled. I will be smoking the point today or monday.

The flavor is the best we ever had. We decided last night that we are going to buy a bunch of packers and make more. We love corned beef so many ways, hash, reubens, corned beef and cabbage, etc.