American style corned beef

[evilmunkey]

hI all, i was watching something the other day on youtube about Katz Deli in new york and saw just how different american corned beef is from the crap we get in a tin..... although i am partial to that crap with brown sauce in a sandwich.... I know it used a point end of brisket and was brined, does anyone know how this stuff is made, i would love to try to do some . Also does anyone know where to get a good point end ? all i seem to find is the rolled briskett here. im in leeds and i guess i may have to order it from my butchers , meeheys is guiseley but wondered also if there is a certain cut i should ask for and what the brining ingredients are ? thanks in advance too.

[thebraketester]

You'll need saltpeter

[Rollin]

2 litres of water in a large pan.

Add:

200g Kosher salt.

75g Sugar.

15g Prague Powder number 1 https://www.homecuring.co.uk/collections/curing-sa...

2 Bay leaves

2 Garlic cloves

15g Pickling spice https://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/pickling-spi...

Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.

Allow to completely cool.

Find a suitable container. I use a water tight sandwich type box. I disinfect it as best as possible using a bit of Miltons, but I suppose the brine itself does a good job of that.

Place 1kg of brisket in sandwich box and then fill to brim with the cooled brine.

Leave in fridge for a minimum of 5 days. Maximum I've left some was 9 days.

Give the box a gentle shake each day.

After brining, remove brisket and dispose of brine. The meat shouldn't smell bad in any way.

Place brisket in a large pan of water with a chopped carrot and onion and a bit more pickling spice if you like.

Simmer until meat is very tender, usually about 4-5 hours.

[MyM2006]

Even easier option is just buy a piece of salt beef and cook it

[evilmunkey]

Going to try the recipe posted by Rollin , sounds good, Always wondered what Kosher salt was, a quick google informed me its non iodized and the crystals are the perfect size for drawing juies from meat. every day is a school day. Also never had salt beef but there is a number of Jewish delis in Leeds so will have to try that too . again many thanks guys .

[ChrisnChris]

Maybe read this before following the recipe. The recipe seems to have 6x the amount of Prague powder recommended.

https://www.homecuring.co.uk/products/cure-1-pragu...

[Rollin]

Above recipe is from here...

https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/salting-brisk...

I've seen other recipes using similar amounts, some more, some less.

I'll add a disclaimer though, so don't blame me if you die from nitrite poisoning or botulism

[ChrisnChris]

I was interested in the recipe & tried to follow your link but it didn't work, I googled instead & that is what came up.
I thought posting it was a good thing, but hey, always pleased to give someone a good laugh

Why do people (not you) write this st if it isn't true, it makes us dumb fks very confused

[prand]

evilmunkey said:

Going to try the recipe posted by Rollin , sounds good, Always wondered what Kosher salt was, a quick google informed me its non iodized and the crystals are the perfect size for drawing juices from meat.

River cottage guys recommend Pure Dried Vacuum (PDV) Salt which although is much finer than Kosher salt works very well for curing/brining/penetrating.

[Jambo85]

ChrisnChris said:

Maybe read this before following the recipe. The recipe seems to have 6x the amount of Prague powder recommended.

https://www.homecuring.co.uk/products/cure-1-pragu...

I find curing recipes extremely confusing and don't claim to be an expert, but some of the reason for the discrepancy above is that the homecuring.co.uk link is talking about dry curing (I think) while the happyfoodie.co.uk recipe is for a wet cure.

evilmunkey said:

Also does anyone know where to get a good point end ? all i seem to find is the rolled briskett here.

Yes you'll need to speak to a butcher. Best plan I find is to phone ahead and ask them to keep you a whole one that isn't cut or rolled, get behind the counter with them and show them what you want. A brisket is two muscles - flat and point in 'merican terminology. You just want one of them... I always believed the flat to be better for curing as it is ... flat.. so cures more evenly. Butchers will tend to roll the flat and the point together and cut it in half getting two rolled briskets which are both a mixture of flat and point. If you unroll a rolled one and try to cure it you'll probably find it cures very unevenly.

[evilmunkey]

spoke to my butcher today on the phone , apparently he supplys a few american style paces and knows just waht i need , going over saturday and he has said he is happy for me to come round and show him the piece i want , i know what the flat is so going for that. got my curing spices and stuff on order so should be here in a day or so two . cant wait to get cracking, , thinking ill probably still buy the other bit of brisket too and just stick it on the weber smoker too with a dry rub and inject with apple juice now and again

[Vyse]

Is he on speed dial?

evilmunkey said:

spoke to my butcher today on the phone , apparently he supplys a few american style paces and knows just waht i need , going over saturday and he has said he is happy for me to come round and show him the piece i want , i know what the flat is so going for that. got my curing spices and stuff on order so should be here in a day or so two . cant wait to get cracking, , thinking ill probably still buy the other bit of brisket too and just stick it on the weber smoker too with a dry rub and inject with apple juice now and again

[evilmunkey]

Actually he is , hes a good mate of mine so often speak outside hours, good to have a mate in the trade him his dad and son are bloody great butchers, if ever in leeds the shop is just behind the woolpack pub just after the sainsburys roundabout on the way to guiesley, they do the best pork pies ever too ask for darren or brian . tell em ian sent ya

[dapprman]

Rollin said:

2 litres of water in a large pan.

Add:

200g Kosher salt.

75g Sugar.

<ingredients and cooking instructions chopped to keep the sizae of this reply down>

Place brisket in a large pan of water with a chopped carrot and onion and a bit more pickling spice if you like.

Simmer until meat is very tender, usually about 4-5 hours.

This sounds like salt beef, not corned beef - Carnegies sells both (or used to) in the same sandwich (the Woody Allen ?).

[Jambo85]

dapprman said:

This sounds like salt beef, not corned beef - Carnegies sells both (or used to) in the same sandwich (the Woody Allen ?).

I had always understood them to be the same thing?

[ZedLeg]

Jambo85 said:

dapprman said:

This sounds like salt beef, not corned beef - Carnegies sells both (or used to) in the same sandwich (the Woody Allen ?).

I had always understood them to be the same thing?

It is.

[prand]

Jambo85 said:

I had always understood them to be the same thing?

Me too, though I guess pastrami (which is a type of salt beef) is smoked as well.

And of course, the corned beef we get in tins from Argentina or Brazil is a very different beast.

[ZedLeg]

prand said:

Jambo85 said:

I had always understood them to be the same thing?

Me too, though I guess pastrami (which is a type of salt beef) is smoked as well.

And of course, the corned beef we get in tins from Argentina or Brazil is a very different beast.

Pastrami is corned beef that is then coated in a dry rub and smoked.

The Corned Beef we get in tins is cured using the same process as proper corned beef but it's usually made from even cheaper cuts than brisket and it's minced with extra fat and jelly to bulk it out as well.

The beginning process is the same for all corned and salt beef though.

[clarkey]

There are plenty of good mail order butchers now. I like Turner and George;

https://www.turnerandgeorge.co.uk

I work near JL in West Byfleet, but they post too:

https://jl-butchers.co.uk

And here is another well-known one that I haven't used:

http://www.bobsfamilybutchers.co.uk