It seemed a quite natural thing to utilize the recent cold snap to make a huge fridge, so we could make a big batch of corned beef without killing our pathetic secondary (beverage) fridge. The last time we made corned beef, the weight of the meat and the brine almost crushed the shelves, so another solution had to be found, and this seemed too good to pass up.
So, here's the plan for corned beef, as we make it here:
First, get yourself about #12 of lean beef, not ground. We buy a beef knuckle from the local Asian food store for a little less than $3.00/#. The first time we did this, we bought a beef brisket, and paid quite a bit more for it, and weren't any happier with the results with that than we were with the beef knuckle. I am thinking about using "beef muscle meat" next time, as the price is comparable, and it's much leaner.
Once you have your beef, trim all the visible fat off, and remove what you can of connective tissue. Prick all over with a knife or meat fork. Set this aside, or, if you're working with a partner (S.D.), your partner can do one job while you do another.
In a large stock pot, heat up:
2 quarts water
2c non-iodized salt
2 heads garlic (crushed, if you can)
1 bottle hard cider or beer
1.5c brown sugar
in a saute pan, roast up:
12 bay leaves
3 somewhat crushed cinnamon sticks
6TBS coriander seed, crushed
3TBS peppercorns, cracked
18 juniper berries, cracked
18 cloves
1.5 TBS mustard seed, cracked
roast until fragrant, and the round spices are just starting to pop. Add to stock pot and bring to boil. Boil gently until all salt and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool. To help with cooling, add 1 quart cool water.
Submerge beef in cooled brine, cover and refrigerate for 7-14 days at temps below 40 and above freezing (we put it on a bench in the coldest part of our cellar), turning and manipulating the beef daily to make sure there are no air pockets, and that all the beef is swimming nicely in the brine.
Drain, discard brine and rinse. Cut into jar sized pieces, you can add hot water, or you can just let the meat make it's own juice. Process #10 for 75 minutes for pints.
Instead of using a bin or dish to put the beef in this time, we put it equally into heavy weight freezer bags, and that worked like a charm! We'll be doing that again! The corned beef will not have the texture of what you might get in the deli, it will have more of a consistency of a beef roast, but we haven't found that to be a problem or an issue at all.
If we get another cold spell, we'll be doubling down for the year on this yummy treat!
