Corned beef is a cured beef that is slow-cooked to a pink color and dense, tender, loose-fibered texture.Corned beef is named after large "corns" of salt historically used to make the brine, which preserves and flavors it.The beef used is a relatively inexpensive, tough cut that needs long cooking to become tender and enjoyable.Corned beef is often eaten around St. Patrick's Day in America.Large, fresh cuts of corned beef are readily available in supermarkets around this time.The cure does preserve it, even by modern standards, because you can keep it in the fridge or freezer for a long time.The finished product can be frozen as well as a solid mass of ice in a bag with little surface to freezer burn.If you want vegetables to freeze, make sure they are firm, because they will stew again on opening.You can skip ahead to see how to cook it using cabbage and other vegetables.You can start by brining your own beef.If you can't get fresh corned beef, this is an option.The article focuses on cooking large, solid cuts of meat.You don't need to warm canned corned beef to accompany whatever you want.It may be an acquired taste, but it is very convenient.It might be broken up if it is not a solid cut.
Step 1: A fresh cut of already-corned beef is the most practical.
If you see it, buy it and cook it before you get home.It will usually come with a seasoning packet, which is very good, so all you have to do is add vegetables.Purchase raw material to make your own if you don't want to wait for St. Patrick's Day.
Step 2: You can use the butcher's shop or supermarket.
Step 3: If you have access to a good butcher, choose "navel".
It isn't usually sold in supermarkets, but it is more tender.
Step 4: You can get a whole brisket at the store.
Keep in mind the size of your roasting pan and pot when choosing a large brisket.They can weigh up to 18 lbs.The weight is 8 kilograms.The average person cooks a brisket between 6 and 10 lbs.The weight is between 2.5 and 1.5 kilo.
Step 5: Excess fat from your body should be trimmed.
It is a good idea to have a little fat on the side, but large amounts of fat will turn to gelatin in the cooking process.When cooked, the excess fat will be softer and easier to remove than with beef.
Step 6: A large pot and roasting pan are non-reactive.
The salted meat should be either porcelain or glass.
Step 7: The pot should be able to hold at least 1 gallon of brine.
Step 8: Cured salt can be bought.
You can use pink curing salt, which will give your beef a pink color, but it is artificially dyed and contains the chemical sodium nitrite.If you use coarse salt, the beef will be brown or tan.
Step 9: Pickling spices can be mixed.
You can find your own recipe on the Internet.Whole peppercorns, 2 ounces.The quantity of seeds is 13.6g.1 cup of hot red pepper.There are 6g of mustard seeds.1 cup of Coriander seeds.There are 6g of celery seeds.There is ground ginger and a small amount of it.There were 4.2g of dried thyme leaves.Next, add cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.10g of whole allspice berries.Whole cloves.You can also include other spices.
Step 10: You should mix your brine ingredients.
The pot should be on the burner.All of the following should be placed in a quart of very hot water.Start with 1 cup of brown sugar.Approx.75g of mixed spices.Put your salts in it.Don't use more than 4 tbsp.There is 20g of curing salt.Kosher salt has 28g.There are 4 cloves of crushed garlic.
Step 11: When everything is combined, add 3 quarts of cold water.
Step 12: The brisket should be placed in the brine.
To weigh it down, place a bowl on top of it.It should be submerged by at least 1 inch.
Step 13: The top of the pot should be covered with a lid.
Step 14: The meat should be brined for 1 to 5 days.
The richer the flavor is, the longer you leave it in.
Step 15: When you are ready to cook, remove the meat from the brine.
Step 16: The beef should be washed very well.
If you don't rinse the brine away thoroughly, your beef will be salty.The beef will be messy.
Step 17: You should wash your large pot.
You will need to use it again.It is a good idea to flush everything that comes in contact with brine.If you poured the brine down the drain, this includes the garbage disposal.Don't allow brine to contact dissimilar metals.They will fall apart quickly.
Step 18: Don't open the packet yet, but find the seasoning packet in the package and rinse the meat.
It is easy to do in a clean sink.The brine was gone when it was flushed.It should be washed by now.
Step 19: Brown the beef to get the best flavor.
Put it in a skillet or a cooking pot with enough oil for good contact between the meat side and the bottom, and shift it around until the surface turns moderately brown (but not scorched) across large areas.The fat side can be brown as well.If you cook the meat in the cooking pot, put the scorched bits on the pan in your stew.The cured "hot-dog in steak form" flavor of corned beef will come out well even if the surface is blackened.
Step 20: If you want the brisket to sit flat, place it in a pot large enough to hold it.
If you're going to cook vegetables with it, a stew pot of at least 8 quarts' volume is best.Big, inexpensive, thin pot bottoms don't spread heat well and tend to scorch a little spot.If you have to use one, use just a little heat to gradually bring it to a boil, and keep it covered to stay hot with as weak a hot spot as possible.If you can, use enough liquid that water can carry heat all around the meat, instead of laying it on the bottom under its own weight.The pot should be heat evenly in an oven at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) until it starts to cook.
Step 21: If you cook your own beef, make sure to boil the excess salt.
Put it in the water.It should be submerged by 1 inch.The pot should be placed with the lid on it.The burner should be turned onto medium heat.Once it starts to boil, let it do so for 30 minutes.It will get tough if it is allowed to boil.It should be kept under control.If it is boiling, turn it down.The brisket needs to be removed from the pot.Remove the water.
Step 22: The beef should be stewed.
Add enough water to have about an inch above and below the beef and place it in a pot.You can add the seasoning packet that comes with pre-corned beef or herbs and spices of your own choosing.It should be brought back to a low boil.It should be kept at a boil for 3 to 4 hours.A longer cooking process can keep the beef tender and moist.If you want to make surebacteria are killed, try several hours at 170 degrees F.
Step 23: Add some vegetables.
Vegetables complement the meat for a healthy and environment-friendly diet as well as a tasty one.Meat used to be very expensive.Vegetables don't need to cook as long as beef.You can absorb flavor without turning to mush by adding them at the end of the cooking time.It is possible to cut them while the beef is cooking.After the stew pot is returned to a boil for a while to see if more water is really needed before adding it, add vegetables and push down on the contents of the pot to make sure they don't have too much water.It's suggested that you eat cabbage.Cut one or two heads of cabbage into wedges to complement a typical brisket with leaves that come apart into manageable bites.30 minutes before cooking is complete.There are Carrots.Cut into disks.Before cooking is complete, add about an hour.They have onions.It was dicey.Optionally, saute until translucent and lightly brown in spots.They don't need to be softened much, but they add flavor to the soup.There are potatoes.Add about 30 minutes before cooking is complete to cut into largish bite-size chunks.To enhance the stew's flavor, sauté them to brown the surface slightly, not enough to cook them through.
Step 24: The brisket needs to be removed from the pot.
The burner needs to be turned off.Allow the vegetables to sit in the soup until you're ready to serve them.
Step 25: Place the meat on a platter.
The meat should be covered with foil.Allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
Step 26: Place it against the grain.
Step 27: You can serve it with the vegetables.
Put some of the soup on the vegetables and meat.
Step 28: Spices and condiments can be added.
Salt isn't usually used to the beef itself.The beef is salty.There is a black pepper.It goes well with delicate flavors.It is possible to add a strong "deli" mustard to the meat.It is possible to add sour cream to the stew.