Corned beef
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- 1 gallon water
- 450 g salt
- 100 g sugar
- 25 g pink salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- pickling spice
- 5 lb brisket
Boil the water with the spices until dissolved. Let cool to room temperature, then chill. When cool, add the brisket, making sure it stays submerged. Let cure for five days.
J. Kenji-Lopez Alt suggests a number of best practices:
- Dry cure instead of brine
- Cook for 10 hours at 180 degrees for maximum moisture / tenderness
Notes
Made my first attempt on March 11, 2012. Jessica complained that Ruhlman's pickling spice didn't contain juniper berries, and suggested I add them (since we already had them). Decided against it, since I want to try the recipe unadorned before experimenting. J. Kenji-Lopez Alt notes above that you can use whatever spice mixture you want. The key is to make sure you cure the meat and cook it correctly.
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Checked it on March 15, 2012. Looked good, except that the parts of the meat that were touching the pot were still red. I'm not sure if it meant it didn't cure at all. It's possible that there was salt penetration, but not water penetration. Or, it's possible that there are parts that are simply uncured. In any case, I moved the meat to try to get the red parts exposed to brine. Next time, I need to use a bigger container so that less surface is touching the container.
Took it out on on March 16, 2012. Parts were still red, but I decided to cook it anyway. I used a variation of Alt's technique. He suggests braising for 10 hours at 180 degrees in an immersion circulator. Since I don't have one of those, I stuck the pot in the oven at 200 degrees.
At 1 hour, the meat surface temperature was about 160 degrees.
At 2 hours, the meat surface temperature was about 200 degrees. I shut off the heat, and let it sit for another hour.
At 3 hours, the meat surface temperature was about 180 degrees. I turned the heat on again, this time for 30 minutes.
At 3.5 hours, the meat surface temperature was about 200 degrees again. I shut off the heat, and let it sit for another hour.
Given these increments, the meat is essentially cooking at an average of 190 degrees, so I'll repeat this process for a total of about six hours. If I wanted to cook it at a lower temperature, I could keep the heat on for shorter increments and off for longer.
The corned beef was a bit too salty. I might have cured it one day too long. Also, it was very stringy. It might actually be worth braising it for less time, before all of the collagen melts away.
Finally, I'd like to experiment with the pickling spice, as it wasn't strong.
J. Kenji Lopez-Alt suggests that cooking potatoes, carrots, and cabbage in the brine is part of the appeal. I disagree. It was too salty and unremarkable. It would have been better to serve with roasted potatoes or potato salad and a nice cole slaw or sauteed cabbage.
