We corned our own this week according to Ruhlman's recipe and it was fantastic. Previously, we had corned but we had avoided the nitrite addition but after reading his recent rant we decided to include it this time. We combined our own spices according to his recipe, and cooked it for a LONG time (simmered for 3 hours and then in a slow oven at 180 degrees for four more) and it was everything corned beef should be...tender, but not falling apart, extremely flavourful...i think he is right about the nitrite adding complex flavour. It is easy to do, little bit of care and you will love it.
4
Fantastic isn't doing this justice. I bought a brisket from my local, grass-fed, humanely raised farm, and used the recipe. My 93 year old aunt cooked it her way, and the result was so good, I was picking the meat off the slab in the pan. I never ate at the table because I ate so much standing at the stove.
Earlier in the week, I ordered a takeout meal from a local restaurant for my aunt who didn't want to let St. Patrick's Day go without CB&C, and it was beyond tasteless.
I will never buy a pre-corned beef ever again.
This recipe is amazing.
Earlier in the week, I ordered a takeout meal from a local restaurant for my aunt who didn't want to let St. Patrick's Day go without CB&C, and it was beyond tasteless.
I will never buy a pre-corned beef ever again.
This recipe is amazing.
3
I made some a few years back in a 1 gallon plastic bag, without nitrates, flipping it over for a month until friends came. The brown color of the nitrate free meat put my friend's spouse off until she saw how we collectively relished the delight. After a sample she conceded it was the best she had ever eaten and dug in. The next day I made a corned beef hash for breakfast from some of the boiled dinner and it was another hit.
I've never had a chance to try making it with wild game but there are recipes online and it is on my bucket list.
Do it!
I've never had a chance to try making it with wild game but there are recipes online and it is on my bucket list.
Do it!
1
And here I always thought corned beef was Jewish except in March when it became Irish or New England... Go figure. Tastes good but frankly I don't think I'll be curing my own, but thanks for all of the great info. And yes, New England boiled dinner.. altho frankly sometimes I think it best to only use a bit of the liquid the beef cooks in in the water for the cabbage, carrot, onion, potato -- start with carrot and potato and add cabbage and onion much later.. or even cook separately. Making a decent new England boiled dinner is an art.
"Making a decent new England boiled dinner is an art."
Nonsense. Yesterday morning I made a bed of potatoes, onions and carrots in the bottom of my crockpot. I put a nice cut of corned beef on top, covered it with the seasoning that came with it, and poured water over it so the vegetables were seasoned, too. Cooked it on Low all day. When I came home I added cabbage wedges, turned it up to High, and half an hour later we feasted on tender meat and cooked but not mushy vegetables with a nice sharp mustard. Couldn't be easier.
Nonsense. Yesterday morning I made a bed of potatoes, onions and carrots in the bottom of my crockpot. I put a nice cut of corned beef on top, covered it with the seasoning that came with it, and poured water over it so the vegetables were seasoned, too. Cooked it on Low all day. When I came home I added cabbage wedges, turned it up to High, and half an hour later we feasted on tender meat and cooked but not mushy vegetables with a nice sharp mustard. Couldn't be easier.
2
In response to the assumption beneath your question, "What if you could make it taste the way it does not in the Irish pubs of memory...", I find I need to say that have had some marvelous corned beef at Irish pubs here and abroad on Saint Patrick's and on many other dates. I hope everyone have an especially enjoyable dinner March 17th.
2
So many ideas - to each his own - like the majority of housewives I simply do what my mother did - buy a very large flat, lean cut of corned beef, - 4-5 lbs., sometimes two if we're having company - put in roasting pan surrounded by foil, sprinkle on top flavorings that come with it in the little cellophane container, add maybe 1/3 cup of broth and close up the foil all around the meat, bake at 300 degrees for maybe five hours. (open foil last hour) Veggies, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, etc. cook in large pot on top of stove. Meat is tender and easy to slice, tastes good too! For novices, NEVER salt corned beef. It's St. Patrick's day so I put a few drops of green food coloring in the batter for the cake I bake for dessert, buy mint ice cream, color the kids' milk green, even put a few drops of green coloring in our beer - FUN!
1
Really à rather stupid, snotty article. Many of us grew up with delicious, well made corned beef boiled dinners that strictly depended on timing. Putting the vegetables in at specific times ensured that everything was cooked to perfection.
The beef was always good quality because we had self respect.
I expected better from my NYT.
The beef was always good quality because we had self respect.
I expected better from my NYT.
3
My aunt used to prepare forty pounds of it for the St. Patrick's Day party. And every ounce was delicious.
Do you have a recipe with a pastrami as good as Kat's Deli?
My father's parents both came from Ireland. They associated corned beef and lamb (which to them was mutton) with the food of poverty. So we never had either growing up. The first time my New England mother in law came to visit she said "did you make Markie a nice boiled dinner for St. Patrick's Day?" Uh, no. While we were working she walked to the store, bought the ingredients and then went to an old hardware store and bought those big metal speckled pots. When I walked in the door the whole house smelled wonderful.
1
How do you prepare corned pork spareribs ?
what a waste of time. Regular corned beef and cabbage is so delicious and satisfying, why over think it?
Since you are looking for a long slow cook to a temperature of 185-190, can you do this with sous vide? If so, are there any suggestions you would give for doing so?
Oh my! Don’t get me wrong, I love Jewish pink corned beef. In fact, I love Jewish food so much that I married a Jewish man. But when Saint Patty’s comes along I do NOT want that pink stuff. We Irish Americans are not saltpeter people. Even if it means driving two hours out of my way to the Southie neighborhood of Boston, I will get my hands on GRAY corned beef for Saint Patrick’s Day. Pink? Oy vey!
3
I meant "Saint Paddy's". Apologies for the late night typing error.
2
Sorry, my poor Irish forefathers were much too poor to afford beef. That was more for the absentee British landholders. Pork was the meat to eat if you could afford meat at all.
I make a mean corned beef.
I use the pressure cooker. 30 minutes per pound with natural release. After rinsing, I cook the meat alone with some beer and chicken broth. Once the pot has regained normal pressure, I remove the meat. Keeping it warm, I then put new potatoes and carrots in for four minutes, quick release, then cabbage separately for 3 minutes, quick release.
I have put the meat with cold beer and frozen chicken broth in a pressure cooker with a timer before work, returned home to finish the vegetables separately, and had dinner on the table in 30 minutes on a weeknight.
Brining the meat yourself makes it even better. I use sodium nitrate and the spices listed here. I use a deckel cut brisket, a good cheap cut. After brining for a week and cooked under the pressure cooker, it's meltingly tender.
I use the pressure cooker. 30 minutes per pound with natural release. After rinsing, I cook the meat alone with some beer and chicken broth. Once the pot has regained normal pressure, I remove the meat. Keeping it warm, I then put new potatoes and carrots in for four minutes, quick release, then cabbage separately for 3 minutes, quick release.
I have put the meat with cold beer and frozen chicken broth in a pressure cooker with a timer before work, returned home to finish the vegetables separately, and had dinner on the table in 30 minutes on a weeknight.
Brining the meat yourself makes it even better. I use sodium nitrate and the spices listed here. I use a deckel cut brisket, a good cheap cut. After brining for a week and cooked under the pressure cooker, it's meltingly tender.
2
The only Irish thing about me is my birthday: March 17. And we always celebrated it with corned beef and cabbage, with mustard for the beef and a white sauce for the vegetables. The meat was always moist and fatty.
Well, just try to get a piece of brisket with that much fat on it today. The stuff they sell in supermarkets has had all the fat removed with surgical precision, and the meat is dry as cardboard no matter how one cooks it.
As with the salt, fat is unhealthy if eaten in quantity every day. But twice a year (corned beef for St. Paddy's and BBQ for the summer), it would can't hurt to tuck into a luscious piece of meat. People who don't want to indulge can always cut it off their own portions.
Vive la graisse!
Well, just try to get a piece of brisket with that much fat on it today. The stuff they sell in supermarkets has had all the fat removed with surgical precision, and the meat is dry as cardboard no matter how one cooks it.
As with the salt, fat is unhealthy if eaten in quantity every day. But twice a year (corned beef for St. Paddy's and BBQ for the summer), it would can't hurt to tuck into a luscious piece of meat. People who don't want to indulge can always cut it off their own portions.
Vive la graisse!
2
A deckel brisket will often have a fair amount of fat. If you're willing to brine it yourself, you can have a good, fatty corned beef. It prefer it a bit leaner but to each his own.
In my New Hampshire boarding school, corned beef, cabbage and boiled potatoes was fed to us on Sunday nights under the nom de cuisine of "boiled New England dinner." 50+ years later, it's still a favorite. Too bad it isn't available in restaurants except in March!
4
I started curing a brisket last week - bought a 12 pound brisket and cut it into two roasts. The other piece is in the freezer for BBQ. My wife is from Texas, so we both get what we want this way.
One thing about Ruhlman's pickling spice recipe is that it's heavy on the cloves. Really perfume-y, which is much different (better) than the corned beef from the store.
Once you see how easy it is, curing gets a little addictive.
One thing about Ruhlman's pickling spice recipe is that it's heavy on the cloves. Really perfume-y, which is much different (better) than the corned beef from the store.
Once you see how easy it is, curing gets a little addictive.
2
I'm doing the same thing here except I used Alton Brown's recipe. This is the fifth time I'm making my own corned beef and this time I'm taking half of it and doing homemade pastrami. I can't wait! The recipe just for the corned beef makes such a flavorful meat that I just can't do store bought any longer!
2
My favorite dish in the world! Great piece Sam!!!
1
The 'food of Ireland' that so many claim is not really Irish is, in fact, as Irish as it gets. It's just not necessarily 'of Ireland, the island, itself. It's of it's people who had to diffuse to other countries to survive, or make a better life for their families. It is the food of poverty cooked with love and pride.
Along the docks in Liverpool, which were manned by Irish workers, they would throw what they could get, including off cuts of meat, into a pot to make a stew called scouse.
Because Brits elsewhere in England had such disdain for the Irish in Liverpool - and other 'lower' members of humanity living in there, they resorted to calling the Liverpudlians 'Scousers.'
This is a name they carry with pride in Liverpool, perhaps the most kind and generous city of people you'd ever meet.
It is interesting how the Irish diaspora came up with ways to keep from starving to death as they labored in various places. When you eat a boiled dinner or an 'Irish stew' this month, you are doing something for your dining pleasure that my ancestors did to stay alive.
Corned beef may not have been a staple food in Ireland because many subjugated Irish couldn't even get their hands on a cow to eat - and that means any scrap of a cow.
However, when you eat corned beef in a boiled dinner, you can be certain it's as Irish as the struggles of the people themselves.
Just be thankful you enjoy it as a choice, as opposed to your only resort.
- John Francis Patrick Harrington
Along the docks in Liverpool, which were manned by Irish workers, they would throw what they could get, including off cuts of meat, into a pot to make a stew called scouse.
Because Brits elsewhere in England had such disdain for the Irish in Liverpool - and other 'lower' members of humanity living in there, they resorted to calling the Liverpudlians 'Scousers.'
This is a name they carry with pride in Liverpool, perhaps the most kind and generous city of people you'd ever meet.
It is interesting how the Irish diaspora came up with ways to keep from starving to death as they labored in various places. When you eat a boiled dinner or an 'Irish stew' this month, you are doing something for your dining pleasure that my ancestors did to stay alive.
Corned beef may not have been a staple food in Ireland because many subjugated Irish couldn't even get their hands on a cow to eat - and that means any scrap of a cow.
However, when you eat corned beef in a boiled dinner, you can be certain it's as Irish as the struggles of the people themselves.
Just be thankful you enjoy it as a choice, as opposed to your only resort.
- John Francis Patrick Harrington
31
Thank you! Like the Italian-Americans who served spaghetti with meatballs after arriving in the U.S., while not something you would have found in Naples during the same time period, one could be assured the many Italian-American adaptions of Old Country recipes had their genesis in Italy.
The Irish side of my family (McCallion's) came from Lough Swilly in County Donegal in the 1870s with 12 children and settled in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, Lakehurst to be specific. My grandfather, the 13th child was born here. He always tutored me and my brothers on the history of our Irish heritage. When it came to St. Patrick's Day and our family's corned beef and cabbage dinner, he told us in Ireland after Mass his brothers and sister were served lamb with boiled vegetables by my Great Grandmother but in America beef was more readily available than lamb so boiled beef became the meat of choice on St. Patrick's day.
The Irish side of my family (McCallion's) came from Lough Swilly in County Donegal in the 1870s with 12 children and settled in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, Lakehurst to be specific. My grandfather, the 13th child was born here. He always tutored me and my brothers on the history of our Irish heritage. When it came to St. Patrick's Day and our family's corned beef and cabbage dinner, he told us in Ireland after Mass his brothers and sister were served lamb with boiled vegetables by my Great Grandmother but in America beef was more readily available than lamb so boiled beef became the meat of choice on St. Patrick's day.
2
Right now Costco has an incredible good deal on corned beef kits (the raw but cured meat along with spice packet, in a heavy-duty plastic bag). I was concerned to notice (only after I got it home) that it was round of beef and not brisket -- but I was delighted to find the taste every bit as good, actually I prefer it because it's leaner than brisket, without the slightly greasy taste and mouth feel. I braised it in a Dutch oven at 300 degrees for 5 hours, and it was pull-apart tender. Reuben sandwiches, endless Ruebens!
8
I have bought some wonderful meats over the years from Costco, both prepared and uncooked. But the corned beef that I bought a year ago was a major disappointment. I *think* the brand name was Bailey's. I have been cooking corned beef for over 50 years now and LOVE it. I occasionally brine my own, keeping a whole brisket in the liquid for up to THREE weeks. Fantastic! So I *know* corned beef! And how to cook it. And the Costco one was very, very mediocre, one of the poorest I've ever eaten. Almost NO flavor at all. It was brisket, but had very little tenderizing fat in it or on it. I remember complaining to all of my foodie friends about it at the time.
4
@Hayford, it might depend on what part off the country your Cosco is located at.
I always thought the meat was called corned because it was salted with salt grains the size of grains of *wheat* (which was called "corn" in old England; what we call corn they call *maize"). I know -- nit-picky...
11
If you cure your own meats, it's important to understand the difference between sodium nitrite and curing salt (also called "pink salt" or "Prague powder #1." Sodium nitrite is just that, while curing salt is a mixture of a little sodium nitrite with a lot of ordinary salt.
Curing requires tiny amounts of sodium nitrite - so small that it's hard for a home cook to measure the proper amount. Also, in a dry cure it's hard to ensure that such small amounts are evenly distributed. Curing salt makes this a lot easier.
Of course, the amount of curing salt needed to cure a piece of meat is much higher than the amount of pure sodium nitrite to do the same thing. If you use curing salt in a recipe designed for sodium nitrite (or vice versa), you must adjust the amount. If you used curing salt in place of sodium nitrite without increasing the amount, there wouldn't be enough curing agent to do anything. If you used sodium nitrite in place of curing salt without decreasing the amount, there would be so much nitrite in the final product that it could be toxic.
There are also recipes that call for curing with sodium nitrate (not nitrite), or Prague powder #2. These curing agents are for meats that are aged after they're cured - things like country ham and hard salami.
Finally, you'll occasionally see a recipe that calls for saltpeter, which is potassium nitrate. The USDA has discouraged the use of saltpeter for curing since 1975. It's much more toxic that sodium nitrite (or nitrate).
Curing requires tiny amounts of sodium nitrite - so small that it's hard for a home cook to measure the proper amount. Also, in a dry cure it's hard to ensure that such small amounts are evenly distributed. Curing salt makes this a lot easier.
Of course, the amount of curing salt needed to cure a piece of meat is much higher than the amount of pure sodium nitrite to do the same thing. If you use curing salt in a recipe designed for sodium nitrite (or vice versa), you must adjust the amount. If you used curing salt in place of sodium nitrite without increasing the amount, there wouldn't be enough curing agent to do anything. If you used sodium nitrite in place of curing salt without decreasing the amount, there would be so much nitrite in the final product that it could be toxic.
There are also recipes that call for curing with sodium nitrate (not nitrite), or Prague powder #2. These curing agents are for meats that are aged after they're cured - things like country ham and hard salami.
Finally, you'll occasionally see a recipe that calls for saltpeter, which is potassium nitrate. The USDA has discouraged the use of saltpeter for curing since 1975. It's much more toxic that sodium nitrite (or nitrate).
28
This is a great explainer, Mr. Lichtman, and readers (and writers!) appreciate it. Thanks for writing.
15
I've also seen recipes for cured meat that specify "pink salt," and do not distinguish between Prague powder and pink Tibetan salt. That is careless and potentially dangerous. (I do a lot of curing and smoking, and the purpose of corned beef for me is hash. Nothing comes close.)
When the Pilgrims arrived, there was nothing. Later arrivals brought nothing, but money, perhaps. The Colonists quickly drew up a pamphlet with a list of mandatory stores required for a three year period of self-sufficiency, required for each new arrival. It specified that beef be preserved sailor-style, in brine. Much later, immigrants as single working men ate inexpensive food at communal tables. corned beef was the basis of the inexpensive, boiled New England dinner which also included beets. The next day, beets were served as red flannel hash. The Irish were the backbone of the working class in New England an ate many, many boiled dinners. This is why the Irish in Europe scratch their heads over the American association of the Irish and corned beef. Early American cookbook authors like Fanny Farmer looked down their noses at working class corned beef. When you eat corned beef and cabbage, you are celebrating Labor that built America.
35
Oh Lord, please help the food writers and stereotypers to see the error of their ways! Help them to realize corned beef is NOT and Irish meal and to embrace the truth that Ireland is too small an island to graze enough cattle for beef to be a national dish. And to realize that this food was only eaten because the new arrivals (a) had no money/jobs, (b) were confronted with NINA signs which barred them from jobs and (c) couldn't find the proper bacon. Lord: please help those lost in the darkness of this knowledge gap and learn to embrace Irish Stew, Lamb, and seafood. Amen.
(Besides, corned beef is one of the most awful foods ever to hit a plate or sandwich, ranks right down there with liver...)
(Besides, corned beef is one of the most awful foods ever to hit a plate or sandwich, ranks right down there with liver...)
4
Couple things. First, we said it's an Irish-American dish, practically unknown in Ireland, in the very first paragraph of the story. Second, corned beef is awesome. (As is liver, for that matter!)
26
This rationale is just like "St. Patrick's Day isn't really a big Irish holiday." But it IS a big Irish-American holiday. (And awesome like corned beef & liver!)
10
Cabbage is awesome, too!
5
My wife has been doing her own corned beef for years, sans the curing salt. We have a close friend who devours the stuff - the beef, not the salt. Anyway, for years she has been producing a brown-grey mass, more grey than brown, which while edible is pretty disgusting to look at. I've been getting dirty looks for saying the store purchased corn beefs taste better. Enter her brilliant husband who has been making his own panchetta, which most definitely requires curing salt. Last batch of corned beef, she included it in the brew. I thought it was the change in color that made it taste that good, the psychological effect of not seeing that hideous grey blob staring me in the face. Apparently the salt does indeed add flavor, and it is without a doubt more appealing to look at. Curing salt comes in 2 flavors, #1 and #2. #1 is sodium nitrite mixed with regular salt. In large quantities it is poisonous/lethal in large quantities, so it is colored pink to insure you don't substitute it for regular salt. #2 is a combo of sodium nitrite and nitrate. The nitrate breaks down into nitrite, and is intended to be used in dried cures with longer hang time. The pink color is the same. Both are available online. Here in Atlanta, the Buford Highway farmers market has it in the European food aisle. Happy cooking. As it turns out, we have a beef that is stewing in the fridge right now. Went in 2 days before this article. And yes, it has the curing salt in it.
9
Thanks for the instructions - and the Buford Highway FM tip! I go to the DeKalb FM regularly so I'll try there first, but will head out if they don't have it.
I worked 6 years in a shopping mall, and one of the places to eat was a Jewish deli/dining place called "Kaplan's ". I ate breakfast,lunch, and dinner there-they cured their own meats, baked all their baked goods,etc. Every March, people would line up before the place opened for breakfast to place or pick up orders of corned beef. The place was packed and lasted over 10 years from when it opened in the mall-it finally closed when the family that owned it opened more locations and went broke. Now the mall I worked at has mostly Asian food-mostly for the tour groups from China that visit the San Gabriel VAlley...
8
Snopes calls shenanigans on the Grade D, Edible meat classification.
http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/badmeat.asp
http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/badmeat.asp
4
When I pulled KP in Basic (this was going on half a century ago), the outside man had to separate the waste into trash and "edible garbage". I was led to believe that the edible garbage was destined for consumption by pigs, but I'm still not sure.
(Actually, I have to admit that the food in the Army was really not bad at all.)
(Actually, I have to admit that the food in the Army was really not bad at all.)
3
Edible garbage may well have been fed to pigs... which roamed early NYC as scavengers (urban vultures so to speak) recycling.
1
Looks gross.
I'll buy the one in the whole foods package thank you.
I'll buy the one in the whole foods package thank you.
2
I've been curing my own corned beef for a few years now, and it really couldn't be easier. The most difficult part is planning ahead and getting a good cut of brisket, so always keep one in the freezer. Same with the spice mix - buy enough to make a large batch and store the rest in a mason jar in the freezer to keep them from going stale. It's a world of difference between homemade and buying one of the precured packaged kits, and worth the effort!
5
How about celery powder to replace the nitrites? It's used as a "natural" source of nitrite, though I'm not sure where to get that either.
2
Celery salts contain nitrates. They are then chemically or biologically converted to nitrites. It's no different than using a curing salt, except the nitrite level is uncertain and thus potentially dangerous or ineffective. See this posting for more details
www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritesafetylevels.html
www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritesafetylevels.html
1
Would CelRay work?
I make my own corned beef, a New England style grey corned beef. I use a simple salt brine with a bay leaf or two and a very small amount of pickling spice. No saltpeter or sodium nitrate. It's delicious, though quite different from the red corned beef found in New York. I started making my own because I couldn't find a butcher who carried New England style corned beef. My neighborhood butcher gave it a try for me one year but he couldn't restrain his hand with the pickling spice. It was good, but not what I wanted. The next year I figured out how to do it myself.
3
I love the grey corned beef.
Such a great article! I'm going to have to take a trip to Savory Spice Shop and get some pickling spices and curing salt!
2
Indeed, for Irish peasants, cattle were much more valuable for milking than to waste on eating (though the swells would of course be able to afford the flesh of pastured steers).
Pigs, which grow to slaughter size within a single season and which happily forage, were for the eating. And corned pork in some form (in good times, though not in times of dearth) much more likely to be eaten than corned beef.
Buttermilk (the real stuff, the leavings after churning out butter) might be considered the archetypal food of the Irish land.
Pigs, which grow to slaughter size within a single season and which happily forage, were for the eating. And corned pork in some form (in good times, though not in times of dearth) much more likely to be eaten than corned beef.
Buttermilk (the real stuff, the leavings after churning out butter) might be considered the archetypal food of the Irish land.
5
I've cooked brisket, initially, in the pressure cooker and finished it off in the oven. The results were "on the tender, still sliceable end of the scale of doneness", so I guess it was a success by Mr. Wexler's standards. It sure was by ours. I say no to nitrates. Sorry.
1
Thanks for your input, pal.
A more authentic Irish meal is bacon and cabbage, but not North American bacon or what is called "streaky" bacon in Ireland. The bacon is similar to Canadian back bacon. I recall it was served at a midsummer festival , called "the Pattern" in County Roscommon a few years ago.
13
I had the bacon and cabbage in a Dublin pub last year; I had never seen nor heard of it before. Fantastic lunch, couldn't eat dinner that night. I would be great if we could do that here in the States. On par with, just different, from American corned beef and cabbage.
4
Some stores do sell Irish bacon. They have it at Whole Foods. It's pricey, but so good. It brings me back to my visit to (if you'll forgive me) Scotland, where I first had it.
2
The Butchers Block an Irish supermarket in Sunnyside, Queens has delicious boiling bacon.
1
Great aritcle especially the memories of the kids going to the city!
RE: It won’t harm you, he added, for the benefit of those who fear nitrates and nitrites. He was vigorous on this point. Mr. Ruhlman’s view: We already ingest a lot of nitrates in the form of vegetables that draw nitrogen from the soil. A few tablespoons of sodium nitrite added to a gallon of brine once or twice a year isn’t going to cause anyone problems. “It’s not a chemical additive,”
I agree it will not hurt but of course it's a chemical. Water is a chemical.
How about some explaination of what the cut the corn beef is and why so expensive?
RE: It won’t harm you, he added, for the benefit of those who fear nitrates and nitrites. He was vigorous on this point. Mr. Ruhlman’s view: We already ingest a lot of nitrates in the form of vegetables that draw nitrogen from the soil. A few tablespoons of sodium nitrite added to a gallon of brine once or twice a year isn’t going to cause anyone problems. “It’s not a chemical additive,”
I agree it will not hurt but of course it's a chemical. Water is a chemical.
How about some explaination of what the cut the corn beef is and why so expensive?
3
Brisket...
5
Caution needs to be taken by those who decide to do their own corning!
Sodium nitrite can be very poisonous. First, it is a chemical additive! When ingested it can produce an illness called methemoglobinelia, which ruins the way the blood carries oxygen. Roeuche wrote about the experience in which 12 men added sodium nitrite, aka saltpeter, to their porridge in the believe it was salt. All 11 turned blue and could have died had not the diagnosis been made and treatment given. Years later we had 2 outbreaks of a similar nature, from a slightly different source, but in which people became poisoned though exposure to the chemical. One of the episodes is discussed in my recently published book, "Medical Toxicology, Antidotes and Anecdotes, published last month by Springer.
Sodium nitrite can be very poisonous. First, it is a chemical additive! When ingested it can produce an illness called methemoglobinelia, which ruins the way the blood carries oxygen. Roeuche wrote about the experience in which 12 men added sodium nitrite, aka saltpeter, to their porridge in the believe it was salt. All 11 turned blue and could have died had not the diagnosis been made and treatment given. Years later we had 2 outbreaks of a similar nature, from a slightly different source, but in which people became poisoned though exposure to the chemical. One of the episodes is discussed in my recently published book, "Medical Toxicology, Antidotes and Anecdotes, published last month by Springer.
4
It's brisket, and it's expensive because it is also hugely popular for barbecue (in my youth, it was on the cheap end of cuts, since it's pretty tough unless cooked low and slow). The demand for barbecued brisket has really skyrocketed in recent years (it used to be pretty much just a Texas thing). Each cow provides only 2 pieces of brisket - so limited amount X heavy demand = high prices.
4
The best use of corned beef is a classic Reuben. Woohoo!
16
Well, yes, you can go to all the trouble of curing the meat yourself. Or, you can go to your local supermarket and buy a cured corned beef brisket in the meat section. Comes in a sealed, see-through packet with all the curing salt and pickling spices in brine right in there with the meat, which you wipe off after opening the packet. It will also have a seasoning packet inside that I advise to throw away. To cook it, you put a couple of cups of water in your pressure cooker, close the lid and cook it at pressure for about an hour. Makes the best corned beef you ever tasted. Corned beef on rye with yellow mustard is better than you can remembered. Corned beef and cabbage... mmmmmmmmm.
7
Agreed, that is the quickest way. The real reason for doing it yourself, aside from the shear pleasure of the process, is that you get to choose the quality of the brisket you buy. For example, at Costco, I am able to buy a prime cut. I know many supermarkets use "select" grade. Big difference.
1
That recently purchased fresh batch of corned beef spices - and my probe thermometer - will be put into service this week!
Could you sous vide it?
1
If you want to learn a bit more about nitrite safety, plus try out a calculator that makes it easy to adjust curing salt levels, see http://www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritesafetylevels.html
185F sous vide, or a 200F dutch oven, is the way to go.
185F sous vide, or a 200F dutch oven, is the way to go.
2
Absolutely correct! "Boiling" corned beef should be banned by come sort of constitutional ammendment.
Sounds great. Any hints on where to find the curing salt without ordering through Amazon?
Google butcher packer supply in Michigan. Great people to deal with.
if you don't want to have to buy a pound from butcher packer then find a Sur La Table store. i've seen it there in small spice bottle size. i was not thrilled with the corned beef i made using ruhlmann's recipe, but the bacon and pancetta come out fine. a little off topic, but his pastry cream recipe is very good.
1
Asian groceries often have it in the spice aisle.
Thanks Sam, looking forward to corned beef season. Having a hard time with "low tide" analogy.
1
If you have never tried making your own corned beef you don't know what you are missing. I make my own a few times each year. Try using eye of the round, very lean and delicious.
10
4
Charcuterie is a great cookbook.
I bot it a few years ago and the recipes are from easy
to moderately difficult, but the final products
are amazingly good. You will never go back
to grocery store products after you taste
your home made/ cured meats----gs
I bot it a few years ago and the recipes are from easy
to moderately difficult, but the final products
are amazingly good. You will never go back
to grocery store products after you taste
your home made/ cured meats----gs
5
As per Alton Brown's recipe, you must use Juniper Berries to get that great floral smell and taste, which is especially noticeable as the brisket is cooking. Or, as I learned in my fruitless (heh) search for the elusive Juniper Berry, use cheap but reputable gin as a suitable substitute.
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Yeah, but Alton Brown also recommends saltpeter which haha okay.
Healthy ( salt ! ) and sophisticated anglo food at its best !.
1
It is peasant food, JPH.
Sorry, I don't remember those corned beef, brisket or pastrami sandwiches from the Blarney Stone and similar railroad style restaurants (steam table on one side, bar on the other) as being so bad. Plus back in the 60s and 70s if you gave the guy slicing the meat for the sandwich a buck tip he would give you a terrific sandwich loaded with meat. Those restaurants were Terrific! Blarney Stone, White Rose and a couple of others. All gone to make way on the Avenues for the big skyscrapers. The bar had a set of signs above the back offering shots for $.35 cents or so. I miss those places like I miss Horn and Hardart.
31
We used to refer to the steam table as an "Irish Sushi bar".
LOL! I loved your post but truly, those bars/restaurants were awful! The smell alone as I walked home after work was enough to turn me off. Still, how nostalgic to remember...
I couldn't agree more before a game at the Garden or a late night bite there was nothing better. Stand at the bar knock back a couple of beers and a great sandwich covered in mustard.
2
There are few sandwiches as delectable as a grilled corned beef on caraway rye. With the bread buttered on the outside and the dressing brushed on the inside, baby Swiss cheese, and corned beef shaved so thin you can almost see through it stacked on each slice, then grilled over medium heat with a cover over it, all you have to do is spoon the slaw on one side just after you take the sandwich out of the pan, nestle it together and let your tongue throw a party in your mouth.
The Jewish deli I found in Hamtramck in 1981 made this to perfection, and I've been doing me best to duplicate that perfection for over 35 years.
The Jewish deli I found in Hamtramck in 1981 made this to perfection, and I've been doing me best to duplicate that perfection for over 35 years.
16
Butter on a corned beef sandwich? Could not have been that Jewish of a deli!
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Butter AND cheese on a corned beef sandwich? That's a pretty goyishe Jewish deli.
Just not Kosher, that's all.
2
"What if You Could Make Great Corned Beef?"
Duh. I'd obviously eat more corned beef.
Duh. I'd obviously eat more corned beef.
9
It's often challenging to safely scale a recipe containing curing salts. I've put together a simple java calculator to make scaling simple and safe:
www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritecuringcalculator.html
My favorite way to cook corned beef is sous-vide at 185F, or alternatively, in a dutch oven at 200F. Very tender and foolproof.
www.genuineideas.com/ArticlesIndex/nitritecuringcalculator.html
My favorite way to cook corned beef is sous-vide at 185F, or alternatively, in a dutch oven at 200F. Very tender and foolproof.
10
How long do you do the sous-vide? 6 hours?
I remember buying corned beef tongue at Bucks Butchers on Irwin in San Francisco. That is the only place I have seen it, and they are no longer in business.
I've been able to make corned beef tongue by making a soluution of curing salt (available in Asian markets), some sugar, bit of salt dissolved in a quart of water, cool, add some liquid smoke and inject the tongue all over using an injecting needle and then simply put in big pot of water and simmer for several hours. It will be done and quite good, as good as what the markets used to sell and faster to boot.
2
Salt and sugar :sophistiaced anglo healthy cooking...
2
Yesiree, and throughout pretty much all cuisines in some form or another.
13
What is insulting is when that same culture is coming to invade Europe with big corporations enforcing bad food and cheating not to pay taxes.We never insulted British or Americans to eat bad stuff .We are just not quite happy when you come steal from us and make our children sick.
1
I am not insulting anybody here. I am criticizing food that is not sophisticated at all and very unhealthy .Just boiled cheapest piece of meat in water with salt and sugar.Boiled a long time so that all nutiritients are dead,and just leaving salt and sugar and the meat fibers.
Great article. While I favor pastrami, I first brine/corn the beef navel or brisket for up to 21 days in a brine that is highly flavored and does use Prague powder (pink salt). I have now moved on to other cuts of beef like short rib or chuck flat. I have even used beef belly, or karubi, to make a sort of beef bacon (tougher than other cuts, but cooked as bacon it becomes nicely crisp). As Mr. Sifton notes, this is not difficult stuff, but it does require patience and a bit of attention to dates and agitating the mixture some to get the spices and salt to move onto the meat. The results will impress you and your friends.
6
When my Irish husband moved to the US around 1990, he was touched if bemused by the American enthusiasm for St. Patrick's Day. But he was confounded that the traditional meal featured corned beef. He said that growing up in Belfast and later Dublin, his family rarely ate it, and when they did it came from a tin (as did the corned beef I had with cabbage as a child in West Virginia). He has always been adamant that the proper St. Patrick's Day dish is salmon, served with soda bread, green peas, and champ (mashed potatoes beautifully scented with scallions). And Guinness, of course.
And don't get him started on the leprechauns …
And don't get him started on the leprechauns …
39
Thank you for this! I've always felt odd about "corned beef" (that pink is just too weird!), but I love everything about salmon, soda bread, peas and spuds & scallions. Yum! Thanks for giving me an idea about how to celebrate this odd American holiday with a little Irish authenticity in terms of the food, at least! (Is "St. Patrick's Day" even celebrated in Ireland?? Indeed, given the history, wouldn't ALL days be "St.Patrick's Day," given the ridding of the snakes and all??)
4
And I thought Sam's Irish tacos were from County Kerry ;-)
2
Perhaps the early Irish-Americans ate this and it is no longer eaten in Ireland. America is Europe-in-Aspic on occasion. They may have adapted it to New England Boiled Dinners.
1
The term "corned" beef does refer to the large crystals of salt used to prepare the brine, but has absolutely nothing to do with corn kernels. "Corn" as we Americans understand it, is actually maize, but in England, the word corn, used to refer to any whole grain seeds, such as wheat, rye, or barley (as in John Barleycorn). The traditional "Corn Bread"sold in Jewish delis was actually from the German Korn Brot, and also referred to bread made from grains like rye, not from maize. The expression "corned beef" and "corning" to refer to prparing a brine using coarse salt crystals comes from England and Ireland well before maize became known in Britain.
46
What a great fat-cap on the corned beef in the photo! As a kid the corned beef I remember most was served at the Holy Name Society lunch after the St. Patrick's Day parade at the Newark Elks Club. I still think Katz's is the cathedral for both corned beef and pastrami but to skip the trip to the City I will definitely give this recipe a try. A question for Sam, eliminate the crock pot/slow cooker for your recipe?
9
Jay, you can definitely cook the corned beef in your slow cooker. Set to LOW, and keep a close eye on it.
3
Thanks!
Thanks for that Sam. I just might try those Irish Tacos
4