Home Brined Corned Beef Brisket
Every year, we look forward to the special meal we prepare on St. Patricks Day. You can eat potatoes, cabbage, and brisket any day of the year, but we like the tradition of the holiday. This week, we’ll show you how to brine your own corned beef to make it even more delicious.
Brining is a simple and traditional way to preserve food with salt. Your taste buds will be overjoyed with just a few simple ingredients, a short amount of preparation time, and about a week in the brine!
Not only is it delicious, but you can choose the ingredients. And when you eat a One Straw brisket you know youre eating premium, nutrient-dense, mindfully-raised, 100% grass-fed beef!
This is our familys recipe. It produces a mildly flavorful, not overly salty, delicious corned beef where the flavor of the beef itself really comes through.
[**Note regarding nitrates, food safety, and finished product color Most, if not all, commercial corned beef recipes you can find online contain nitrates in the form of curing salt, also referred to as pink salt, prague powder, or instacure. These nitrates are added due to concerns about food safety as well as to give corned beef its distinctively pretty pink color. However, our recipe does not call for nitrates/pink salt.
Our opinion is that it is safe to omit the nitrates because we are making the corned beef for ourselves and have control over the entire process. We preserve the meat with a salt brine and store it in the refrigerator until we cook it. In addition, we thoroughly cook the brisket, which is what gives it its fall-apart tenderness, so if you follow our recipe, the finished product will be the color of a typical un-brined roast (see above photo). For our family, the meal’s flavor is not diminished by this aesthetic
However, you should trust your gut if you prefer the traditional pink color of corned beef or are concerned about food safety issues. One Straw brisket can still be used in a number of recipes that call for pink salt and result in delicious corned beef!]
How to Brine Your Own Corned Beef Brisket
Combine all brine ingredients in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. Cool. If you brine in a zip-top bag, two quarts of brine are sufficient for a brisket that weighs between 5 and 6 pounds. You might need more brine for brining in a rigid container in order to completely cover the meat.
Reminder: Prepare one quart (half batch) of brine for a 3 lb brisket.
Step Two – Brine the Brisket
In a zip-top plastic bag, add the brisket to the cooled brine. Put in the refrigerator in a container (just in case it leaks). To ensure that the brine permeates the brisket uniformly, flip the bag over each day. Brine at least 7 days, or up to 14 days. Alternately, brine your brisket in a large enough stainless steel pot, glass bowl, or crock. Weigh down the brisket to keep it completely covered. Although this method will require more brine, you won’t need to turn or stir the brisket.
Step Three – Cook the Corned Beef.
Drain the corned beef brisket and discard the brine. Place brisket in a pot. Add two cloves chopped garlic and 1/2 tsp pepper. A tablespoon of prepared pickling spice or a small amount of each of the brining spices may also be added. Use just enough water in the Instant Pot to barely cover the brisket. Use enough water in a slow cooker or on the stovetop to cover the meat about halfway. If there is too much water used, the flavor of the brisket and the broth will be lost. Cook according to the directions below.
Stove Top: Simmer 2 1/2 – 3 hours
Frequently, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and onions cooked in the brisket cooking liquid are served with corned brisket. We enjoy serving brisket with Irish soda bread, sautéed cabbage, and garlic mashed potatoes. Yum!.
Originally published 3/3/21 Charlotte Frederickson
Delicious CORNED BEEF | Brine & Cooking Process
FAQ
Can you over brine corned beef?
Too much curing time is not good, so avoid it. It can be tolerated by a large, dense muscle, but you can only corn chicken for 24 or 36 hours. Brine changes the muscle. Too long and it almost falls apart.
How long do you brine a brisket?
What ingredients go into making the brine for corned beef? Water, kosher salt, brown sugar, pickling spices, and pink curing salt are used to make the brine for corned beef.
What is the brine for corned beef made of?
It’s best to rinse corned beef before cooking it, so yes, you should. Rinsing it aids in removing the excess salt, preventing an overly salty dish from being produced.