Who is corning their own beef brisket in preparation for St Paddy's day?

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You putting all the meat in together ?
Yes, there are 6 good size chunks 2-2 1/2' thick that are going into the brine.
I used 1/2 salt like you recommend. The 1/4 cup pickling spice I can always add more if need be. This is a 2 gallon brine batch.


I have more Burger than I know what to do with. LOL!!!

I also cut up 2 prime Chuck roast too mix into the brisket grind pile I think it gives the burgers a much better bite.

Thanks a bunch.
Dan
 
That is correct. Turns out wonderful, and much cheaper.
Chuck roast out here cost almost twice as much as brisket out here in CA.
I know people that use Eye Of Round for corned beef I'm actually going to pick a few up to add to my brine.
I thought I would get a lot more trimmed meat than I did out of 3 prime brisket. I'll have enough burger for the summer with the trim I got off the three prime brisket I also added two prime Chuck Roasts to the grind pile because it holds the burger together and gives the burgers a better mouth feel in my opinion.
 
I think that would work . 3 gallons of brine ?
Two gallons 4 TBSP of pickling spice per gallon is what I went with. I found that amount in one of my curing books, so I rolled with it.
 
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Okay here is what I went with.

"I made two gallons Pop's (lower) salt brine"
I converted everything to grams, so it's more accurate and easier to duplicate for me.
I need simple when I'm doing something for the first time. So here are my gram conversions I either rounded up or down depending on which was closer.

#1 curing salt- 35grams=2TBSP.
Fine sea salt-125grams=1C.
White & brown sugar 125grams=1C of each.
That is for 2 gallons of base brine.

Then for the Corn beef spices I used the following.
Store bought Pickling spice=95grams=1/2 cup+ a touch.
Dehydrated onion-30grams= 2TBSP.
Celery seed-15 grams= 1TBSP.
Allspice- 3grams= 1/2tsp+ a touch.
Whole cloves= 10.
1 Whole bulb of garlic de-papered & smashed.

We will see how this turns out I'm kinda excited and hope it lives up to my expectations.

Let me know how bad I botched my conversions.

"Edited by me several times due to nine Shiner Bock's"


Thanks for reading.
Dan 🤟🖖😲😂
 
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Sounds like you have it figured out . Just make sure the brine covers everything . If it doesn't , make another gallon . I don't half Pop's formula . I always do it by full gallons . That's what his amounts are based on .
I'm sure this will be good . Do you have a SV ? Last time I did pastrami I followed Al's method of smoke then SV . Came out really good .
 
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Sounds like you have it figured out . Just make sure the brine covers everything . If it doesn't , make another gallon . I don't half Pop's formula . I always do it by full gallons . That's what his amounts are based on .
I'm sure this will be good . Do you have a SV ? Last time I did pastrami I followed Al's method of smoke then SV . Came out really good .
The 2 gallons covered everything by over an inch then I filled a 2 gallon Ziploc bag half full of water and sucked the air out to use it as a weight to make sure everything stays submerged in the brine. I'm going to look for a few nice Eye Of The Round to toss into the brine this afternoon. I'll inject brine into them to make sure I get full penetration of the brine with in the 18 days that they will be in the brine.
Furthermore, I'll turn the chunks of meat every few days to make sure they get brined thoroughly.

I won't be making pastrami this time around everything will be used for St Paddy's Day supper.
Yes, I do have an Inkbird SV machine and for sure I'll be making Al's Pastrami soon.

Thank you for your help I really appreciate it.
Dan
 
I just posted my recipe and procedure in a different forum but I don't think it's been "approved" to be posted yet.... <sigh>
The meat is in the brine already... fingers crossed. LOL!!!
 
I'll be corning a flat for the first time. Going to use a semi-wet brine like I do with loins and butts, but using proper pickling spices. A semi-wet brine seems to work as well and saves space. I brine in 1 or 2 gallon Ziplocks. If I see tri tips on sale this week, I'll corn one of them, too.

Will definitely use Prague #1, but less salt than most recipes call for. I had to pre-soak and change water for 12+ hours the last few commercial corned beefs I bought because they were too dang salty. They were cheap, though; corned brisket points, flats, and beef rounds for 39 cents a pound after St. Patrick's Day.
 
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Started my "space saver corned brisket" this morning. 4 lb brisket flat, trimmed of 9 ounces of fat, and cut in half. Pickling spices, garlic cloves, brown sugar, and salts (Prague #1 and fine sea salt) added to 3 cups water. I created a spreadsheet that does the calculations for ingredient amounts. Double bagged in Ziplocks with air squeezed out. Will flip daily.

Thickest piece is about 1 1/2 inches. The rest is closer to an inch. Planning on 7 days of brine.
20210308_102613.jpg
 
Awesome, I can't wait to hear how it turns out.

My outside/ garage frig smells amazing I think these are going to be awesome if the saltiness is right.
 
Yeah, around my house, that probably wouldn't make it..... :emoji_grin:
Same here, last year even with reduced numbers at Ma's house due to C-19 we still cooked up 6 big bruiser corned beefs. I swear I can eat a whole one by myself, but I really look forward to the sandwiches and hash in the days after, If you think we go through a lot of C.B. you should see the empty bottles of Red Breast and Jameson's. :emoji_joy::emoji_joy::emoji_joy:👍
 
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Boiled up my corned beef today. Waiting on the potatoes as I type. 7 day cure. Beef came out corned red from the Prague #1 and very mild flavor. No soak at all needed to desalt, which was great! Next time, I'll use less brown sugar and more garlic. Salt level is low enough that the eater can adjust the flavor with table salt. I'm calling this first attempt a success! Going to find a $2.98/lb Select grade tri tip and make pastrami next.

Edit: always double bag when brining. The second day, when I went to flip the brining bags, the outside was wet and sticky. Ah, crap, a leak. Transferred everything to two new bags and scrubbed the fridge. No leaks rest of week.

20210315_182630.jpg
 
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Boiled up my corned beef today. Waiting on the potatoes as I type. 7 day cure. Beef came out corned red from the Prague #1 and very mild flavor. No soak at all needed to desalt, which was great! Next time, I'll use less brown sugar and more garlic. Salt level is low enough that the eater can adjust the flavor with table salt. I'm calling this first attempt a success! Going to find a $2.98/lb Select grade tri tip and make pastrami next.

Edit: always double bag when brining. The second day, when I went to flip the brining bags, the outside was wet and sticky. Ah, crap, a leak. Transferred everything to two new bags and scrubbed the fridge. No leaks rest of week.

View attachment 489316
Damn, that looks great…how long did you simmer it for and did you add beer to the braising liquid?

My Ma taught me to add two halved yellow onions, 1 tall Bud heavies, 2 tall Guinness beer to the pot and a palm full of pickling spice. That is for a big pot that has 4-6 roasts in it. I'm pulling mine out of the brine tomorrow depending on how I feel I might cook some up for supper so all I have to do on Paddy's day is to reheat them.

I've heard of people cooking them in the oven I just don't know how to do it. I've had it cooked in the oven, and it was excellent I guess I need to learn how to do it. It just makes sense to me that it would be more flavorful if it wasn't boiled.

Nice job on the C.B.
Dan
 
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Hey, Dan. I did a medium simmer in water and pickling spices for three hours until probe tender. My wife isn't a fan of beer braising so I kept it simple. Usually, I simmer the commercial ones with water, onion, and garlic. I pull them out and boil the potatoes in the simmer water, adding shredded cabbage as the potatoes are almost done.

Today, I wanted to really taste the results of my corning recipe. When the meat was ready, I pulled it from the pot and shredded it. Boiled four cubed/peeled baking potatoes in a separate pot with a couple Tbs of butter, tsp of salt, and 2 cups of simmer liquid. Skipped the cabbage.

We put the tender potatoes in a bowl, added the shredded meat, and added a little more of the simmer water. Turned out great with a little salt to taste.

We both agreed to skip the brown sugar in the next brine. It mellowed the flavor too much.

Happy early St. Patrick Day!

Ray
 
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Edit: always double bag when brining. The second day, when I went to flip the brining bags, the outside was wet and sticky. Ah, crap, a leak. Transferred everything to two new bags and scrubbed the fridge. No leaks rest of week.
Yeah, happens to me too ... actually as we speak with 2 chucks corning ... I always put them in the garage fridge and in a bottom crisper tray for the cuts that fit ... easy wash/rinse in the garage slop sink.
 
Hey, Dan. I did a medium simmer in water and pickling spices for three hours until probe tender. My wife isn't a fan of beer braising so I kept it simple. Usually, I simmer the commercial ones with water, onion, and garlic. I pull them out and boil the potatoes in the simmer water, adding shredded cabbage as the potatoes are almost done.

Today, I wanted to really taste the results of my corning recipe. When the meat was ready, I pulled it from the pot and shredded it. Boiled four cubed/peeled baking potatoes in a separate pot with a couple Tbs of butter, tsp of salt, and 2 cups of simmer liquid. Skipped the cabbage.

We put the tender potatoes in a bowl, added the shredded meat, and added a little more of the simmer water. Turned out great with a little salt to taste.

We both agreed to skip the brown sugar in the next brine. It mellowed the flavor too much.

Happy early St. Patrick Day!

Ray
Yum, that sounds great. I had a rough night with my back last night I didn't sleep until noon today and had to do a few things with the little lady. So I'm planning on starting them early tomorrow morning then reheating them at supper time.

Tonight I have to make a few soda breads up for us and my mom and dad.

My mom had an unexpected surgery a few days ago, so she isn't cooking for the family this year. I'm going to bring them corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, Plochman's stone ground mustard and horseradish and a nice soda bread.


It's going to be amazing if this meal gets done I can hardly walk right now with the change of weather my back, neck, hip and hands flared up horribly a few days ago. (I'm a mess):emoji_joy::emoji_joy::emoji_joy:
All I can do is laugh about it at this point.

Thanks for the tips.
Dan👍
 
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