Corned Beef

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I have not tried this recipe yet, but fully intend to soon. I want to try it on a Sirloin Tip Roast so that I have slices big enought to to make a really good sandwich. We love Reubens here. I looked in the Deli Dept of our local supermarket and it was $10.99 per pound. That is outrageous!!!! One question tho= Wasn't Saltpetre used on prisioners in the jail to reduce the libido? Do I really want to use that? Then have to resort to other medicines later on? I quess the Pickling Spice is what I will use. I'm sure the Pharmacy would have a good laugh over it all.....maggie

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Very easy worth the effort! I cooked mine in the crock pot and my husbands exact words were "That thing was freaking delicious!" Used mcormick pickiling spices and some penzey's ..only brined it 7 days. Used instacure #1 from sausagemaker.com. My hubby goes to Buffalo,NY once a month for business so he just picked it up, they only charged him 5 bucks. If you've never made this before please try it! You Will Love It!

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I have used other recipes for corned beef but I must say this one produced one of the most tender ones and the flavor was excellent also. I could not get any saltpeter (tried all our pharmacies....got laughed at and lots of strange looks but not having any didn't hurt it at all, just not the nice red color. I wanted to try the Corned Beef and Cabbage but we didn't have any leftovers!
AB you're the best!

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We've had corned beef from local haunts to Pittsburgh's Strip District to Cleveland's west side to Buffalo all the way to the Carnegie Deli in NYC. I have made it from several recipes I found to my own to my late mother-in-laws (hers was fabulous, But this is the best we have ever had (hopeful she doesn't have the internet in heaven to read this!.

I varied the cooking by a little since I wasn't going to be home to babysit a pot. After rinsing, I placed the brisket into a CorningWare baking dish, added the veggies and covered with water. I then put the baking dish into my electric roaster (with the lid on both the baking dish and the roaster at 300 degrees and cooked it for 8 hours, removed it from the baking dish, drained it, dried it off and let it rest for half an hour before attacking. The leftovers were refrigerated. The next day I removed the fat cap and ran it on the slicer for reubens. OH MY! And yes - it was pink inside.

Notes:

- Drain and save the onions from the cooking liquid. They were great on ham and pastrami sandwiches with spicy mustard.

- The pharmacist at a little local pharmacy ordered the saltpetre for me. 8 oz. was less than $5.

- On the spice issue - purchase the big containers for $6 instead of the baby ones for $4. Even my local grocers sell the larger 16 oz. bulk containers for just a couple of bucks more than the name brand 1 oz. size and our town is only 14,000 people in size. Just place the extra in zip bags in the freezer or vacuum seal them - you will save money, I promise.

- Bought my meat from a local butcher. I got the size I asked for, it was fresh and IT WAS CHEAPER THAN THE WALMART PRICE!

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I just finished off the leftovers from my third corned beef using this recipe. It is simply delicious. Not the least bit salty. The texture is silky and, yes, the color is PINK. I just read the other reviews and agree that Saltpetre (Potassium Nitrate is a bit odd. On the jar it says "for technical use only" which got a few laughs from the guests I served the meal to. I took the advice of previous reviewers and found Sodium Nitrate or "InstaCure #1" on SausageMaker.com. I'll try that next. I also found 2 Gal. Zip Locks at Smart & Final. A perfect vehicle for brining. And, my Costco brisket was even better than Whole Foods at a fraction of the price. YUMMY!

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I'll say up front I have not yet made this recipe. I got a funny tickle in my brain while watching show and found out why this evening while re-reading one of my recipe books. According to the book "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing" by Rytek Kutas (the bible for most home sausage makers the author states that saltpetre is potassium nitrate. The book states that in 1975 the use of potassium nitrate was greatly restricted by the FDA and is no longer allowed in smoked or cooked meat or sausage. It can be used sparingly in dry cured meats such as salami. Corned beef falls into the cooked meats category.

What should be used, again according to the book, is soidum nitrite. Evan, in the post below, used the right stuff and even bought it from the the author's website (he has passed away but his family still runs the business. In short, nitrites are used for meats that will be smoked and/or cooked and nitrates are used for meats that are dry cured.

I'm not trying to tell Alton his business. He knows far more about cooking than I can ever hope to know and every one of his recipes I've tried have been fantastic. I'm also not a food nazi trying to tell you that nitrites and nitrates are bad for you. I love nothing more than great sausage, BBQ and anything else that's "bad" for me. I hope I haven't offended anyone. There has been a lot of suspect information put out over meat curing and I just wanted to get this information out there.

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This recipe is PERFECT! I too was concerned that the beef would somehow turn out gray in color, but to my total satisfaction I got that pink color that I had hoped for. I had a little trouble finding saltpetre but was able to get sodium nitrate online at www.sausagemaker.com. You can get the pickling spice there too. The saltpetre is sold as "InstaCure No.1".

Made homemade rye bread this morning then put the brined brisket in a pot to cook. It'll be corned beef sandwiches and knishes for dinner tonight!! (What else does a Jewish family from NY eat on St. Patrick's Day?

Will try to make pastrami using the same recipe. Once the weather warms up a bit, I'll smoke the brined meat instead of boiling it. I hope it's just as good!!

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This is a good recipe, but it does require a longer cooking time. I'm surprised to read how many reviewers are having trouble finding salt peter. My people have used Morton "Tender Quick" for more years than I would like to admit. It is available in most markets in the canning dept, you know, with the Ball jars and lids, pectin and so forth. It comes in a 2# bag and has the just right mix of salt and salt peter. The sub-title of this product is "Home Meat Cure". It isn't all that expensive ether.

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I was checking out the ingredients to make sure I had everything to do it again this year, and while reading reviews, could not believe I hadn't reviewed it already! This will be my 3rd year brining my own and I'll never buy the cryovac w/ picking spice ones again. Invest the time, shop for the saltpeter on line, don't worry if it looks grey on the outside - it is pink as it should be on the inside. The taste is so much more natural than the pre-packaged ones, the texture feels real while still ultra-tender - all at less than 1/3 the cost - eventually - granted, buying all the spices up front if you don't have them will set you back, but whole berry spices like this will keep - FOREVER. Do it, follow the timeline, then cook it anyway you normally love your corned beef and cabbage. AB's way's awesome, but do it your way so you have something to compare it to after all your brining prep!

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I was hoping for some kind of suggestion. I made the recipe exactly as written. Everything was measured exactly - even the saltpetre, and brining for 10 full days. However, the beef looks exceptionally gray and unappetizing - not the beautiful pink that I associate with corned beef. Any suggestions? It's not cold yet, so I haven't cut and tasted it, so I don't know how it is. But I was really disappointed to see the color. I kept thinking it would pink up, but it hasn't and looks awful. I guess I'll see how it tastes, but was hoping for suggestions for the next time I make it regarding the color.

TIA!