The BEST Corned
Beef!
Make Your Own
St. Patrick’s
Day is one of my favorite days. But I’ll make my own Corned Beef; or I’ll do
without, thank you.
Whether you
buy your beef already commercially corned, or better still, make your own, I
think you’ll be very surprised at the full flavor you’ll get if cooked as
described below. Of all the methods I’ve tried for corned beef, the Oven Bag is
far and away simply the best. I’ve boiled it, baked it, smoked it, slow cooked
it, steamed it and roasted it. Nothing compares with the Oven Bag for the
ultimate, real flavor of corned beef
Whether you
make or buy your corned beef, put a tablespoon of flour in the bottom of an
Oven Bag, insert the Corned Beef, seal the bag and put it in a pan. It goes
then into a pre-heated 325 F. oven for 4 hours. We steam the cabbage and
carrots, and bake the potatoes, mostly, but that’s a matter of personal
choice—bake, roast or boil ‘em as you choose.
If you want
to make your own corned beef, be warned—you’ll never again be happy with any that’s
been commercially made.
To obtain
the traditional color and stop bacterial growth, you’ll need sodium nitrite.
There’s loads of misinformation and hysteria in some circles about sodium
nitrite and sodium nitrate. I’ve even seen lofty articles by lofty PhD’s, who
didn’t seem to know the difference between the two. Like anything else on this
planet, overused, misused and abused, both sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate
are poison. Correctly used, they’ve saved far more lives than have been damaged
by their abuse.
You can
order “Insta Cure #1” (Sausage Maker’s Trade Mark name for their curing salt)
from www.sausagemaker.com, in small quantities. If you do, follow the exact
instructions: 1 teaspoon per 5 lbs. of meat. If you use some other brand of
curing salt, it may call for some other measurement. The Insta Cure #1 is 3%
sodium nitrite and 97% salt, which should give you an idea of its potency. It’s
died pink, so that there’s no danger of confusing it with any other seasoning.
Sodium nitrite is what gives corned beef and cured sausages their distinctive
reddish color. Sodium nitrate is used only in meats that aren’t intended to be
cooked.
Recipe:
· 1
teaspoon Insta Cure#1 (or the required amount for 5 lbs. of meat of whatever
curing salt you’re using.
· 2.5 Tablespoons Kosher or Pickling Salt
· 2
Tablespoons brown sugar
· 3
Tbs. Pickling Spices
Mix the above
ingredients in a glass, ceramic, food grade plastic, or stainless steel bowl,
with 1 quart of water. Add the 5 lb. boneless chuck roast, and ensure the water
covers the roast. You can weight the meat down if necessary, as it will tend to
rise to the surface. If necessary, add enough more water to cover the meat. Cover
and refrigerate for 5-6 days, and either cook it or freeze it. Pickling spices are another “make my own” thing. There are
loads of recipes, and I vary mine depending on what I have on hand. Generally,
they all contain:
Pickling
Spices: This is one recipe, among dozens:
·
2
Cinnamon sticks, coarsely crushed
·
1
Tbs. mustard seeds
·
1
tsp. whole cloves
·
1
tsp. whole allspice
·
1
tsp. whole juniper berries
·
1
tsp. mace-either crumbled or powder
·
1
tsp. dill or fennel seeds
·
3-4
bay leaves
·
1
tsp. dry ginger, or a small piece of fresh ginger
·
1
tsp. dried red pepper flakes
This makes a
little more than needed for the 5 lb. chuck roast, so you might want to double
it. Put any leftover in an air tight glass jar, seal it tightly and put it in
the freezer for later use.
If you do a larger roast, adjust the
seasonings along the guidelines above. I’m in the habit of making 7-8 lb. hunks
of corned beef. I buy a whole boneless chuck, weighing 25-40 lbs. for making
corned beef, but that’s another story we needn’t get into.
