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Let's talk about CORNED BEEF Shall WE....

I wonder if they got bought at some point by a larger processor who then cheaped it out?

That is a thought, the big brands are taking it in the shorts because generally their owners have loaded them down with debt to enrich themselves and people are increasingly buying store brands. Plus advertising, where much of their costs are, is not getting any cheaper. Very many have reformulated to cheaper products, as well as letting quality control go by the boards because they fired a good share of the workers to cut costs.....thus negating any reason to pay extra for a name brand in the first place.
 
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I wondered if there was a corned beef thread but I was not expecting the only one to be so old.

Have you ever brined your own? Here is a recipe 3-4 pounds of meat.

Corned Beef
1 cup no iodine or kosher salt
2 Tbsp curing salt (salt with sodium nitrite) or 1 tsp saltpeter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
10 whole cloves
10 allspice berries
10 juniper berries
2 bay leaves
3-4 lb brisket flat
Bring 2 cups water, salt, sugar, curing salt or saltpeter, spices, and bay leaves to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Pour into a large bowl and add 4 cups of ice water. The brine mixture should be cool to the touch.
Place the brisket into a large zip-top bag and pour the brine mixture into the bag.
Seal the top, carefully removing as much air as possible.
Refrigerate for at least five days, and up to two weeks. Flip every day or two.
Soak in cool water before cooking.

Brisket flat is traditional because it was a cheap cut. The flat has much less fat than the point which is better for slow cooking. Low-graded meat of any semi-lean cut is suitable. Also suitable are game meats, such as elk or gamey deer.

The recipe calls for refrigeration and a plastic bag. Cool (at or below 60° F or 15° C) but not chill temperatures are appropriate and quicker. Glass, ceramic, or stainless containers are better than plastic. Weight to meat to prevent any part from touching air.

When brining this way be extra careful to soak out the salt.
 
Thank you; I've just saved this into Word to pass along to my sister and BFF. I don't have the mustard seeds or berries on hand, and like everyfreakingthing else, spice prices are outrageous. I'm wondering, as obscenely expensive as corned beef has been the last few years, if buying the missing ingredients will work out to be just as costly.

But I still want to try doing this.
 
Thank you; I've just saved this into Word to pass along to my sister and BFF. I don't have the mustard seeds or berries on hand, and like everyfreakingthing else, spice prices are outrageous. I'm wondering, as obscenely expensive as corned beef has been the last few years, if buying the missing ingredients will work out to be just as costly.

But I still want to try doing this.
The salt and saltpeter (or sodium nitrite) do the curing. The rest is for flavor and therefore flexible.

I have seen recipes that use celery seed, pepper flakes, stick cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, garlic, etc. You can make a double batch of the spices and use the second half when cooking the meat.

Don't throw out the broth when you boil corned beef. Potatoes boiled in the broth have a special flavor.
 
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Thank you; I've just saved this into Word to pass along to my sister and BFF. I don't have the mustard seeds or berries on hand, and like everyfreakingthing else, spice prices are outrageous. I'm wondering, as obscenely expensive as corned beef has been the last few years, if buying the missing ingredients will work out to be just as costly.

But I still want to try doing this.
You can buy premixed pickling spice.

Ingredients For corned beef pickling spice​


  • 2 Tbsp

    tellicherry peppercorns
  • 3 Tbsp

    mustard seeds
  • 2 Tbsp

    coriander seeds
  • 2 Tbsp

    pepper flakes
  • 2 Tbsp

    ground allspice berries
  • 1 Tbsp

    ground mace
  • 2 md

    cinnamon sticks cover with a towel, and use a hammer to break into small pieces
  • 4 md

    bay leaves, crushed with your hand
  • 2 Tbsp

    whole cloves, give them a smack or two with a flat end of a kitchen knife to break them up a bit
  • 1 Tbsp

    ground ginger
 
I wondered if there was a corned beef thread but I was not expecting the only one to be so old.

Have you ever brined your own? Here is a recipe 3-4 pounds of meat.

Corned Beef
1 cup no iodine or kosher salt
2 Tbsp curing salt (salt with sodium nitrite) or 1 tsp saltpeter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
10 whole cloves
10 allspice berries
10 juniper berries
2 bay leaves
3-4 lb brisket flat
Bring 2 cups water, salt, sugar, curing salt or saltpeter, spices, and bay leaves to a slow boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Pour into a large bowl and add 4 cups of ice water. The brine mixture should be cool to the touch.
Place the brisket into a large zip-top bag and pour the brine mixture into the bag.
Seal the top, carefully removing as much air as possible.
Refrigerate for at least five days, and up to two weeks. Flip every day or two.
Soak in cool water before cooking.

Brisket flat is traditional because it was a cheap cut. The flat has much less fat than the point which is better for slow cooking. Low-graded meat of any semi-lean cut is suitable. Also suitable are game meats, such as elk or gamey deer.

The recipe calls for refrigeration and a plastic bag. Cool (at or below 60° F or 15° C) but not chill temperatures are appropriate and quicker. Glass, ceramic, or stainless containers are better than plastic. Weight to meat to prevent any part from touching air.

When brining this way be extra careful to soak out the salt.
i see that you write in a thread from 1917


that is ok with me, you know ….


but …
 
That works too.
Pickling spice minus the allspice berries is my favorite spice to add when I brine meat such as pork or poultry.
 
You can buy premixed pickling spice.
Seems somehow like cheating, but I'm happy to cheat if McCormick's is as good as whatever that little package of spices that comes with the store-bought meat is!
 
Do people actually eat that in the US? I have never seenit and thought it was a British thing, and by British thing - I mean it was in WW2 British rations and never again?
 
Seems somehow like cheating, but I'm happy to cheat if McCormick's is as good as whatever that little package of spices that comes with the store-bought meat is!
McCormick is likely a better grade. Ive used it to make corned beef and pickles.
 
I buy beef by the side, so I do always have brisket, but have never gone the corned beef route, just not enough personal call for corned beef.

There are deli restaurants that serve Reubens nearby, which is about the only form I have eaten corned beef. 😄

I actually do quite a few things with brisket, corned beef just isn't one of them. Smoking/bbq is the usual form, but I also do pastrami and other recipes.
 
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