Home Cured Corned Beef

I am in the process of curing some corned beef at home. I got the idea one day when I was looking through the grocery store for some corned beef. For whatever reason, the corned beef around here sucks. I can do it better.

I did some research and found the book Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing. This book is a Revelation and I have many, many plans after reading it.

To home cure corned beef you are going to need a few things. First, you will need a well marbled brisket. These should be available at the grocery store. If not you can always order one from a butcher. I bought mine at Fareway.

The other thing you will need that is not immediately available is some pink salt. It is a salt for curing that contains sodium nitrite or some such thing. It is pink in color. I bought mine from Sausagemaker.com under the trade name Instacure #1. You will also need some pickling spice from the grocery store or you can make your own like I did.

First you have to make the brine for the corning of the naughty beef. You will want to make this up in a container large enough to hold your particular cut of beef. This recipe for brine makes enough for a 5 pound slice.

Brine
1 gallon water
2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 ounce (5 t) pink salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T pickling spice

Combine all the ingredients in your pan and heat until salt dissolves.

Cool to room temperature and drop in the beef. Weight down the beef with a plate to keep it submerged. Refrigerate for 5 days.

Mine is in the fridge now. I'll finish the recipe when I am on the next step.