Did you know that you can make your own corned beef? There's still time to make this before St. Patrick's Day and its easy! All you have to do is start with a fresh brisket about 3 to 6 days before you plan to make your meal, The best part about making it yourself is that there are no preservatives :-)
Combine water, salt, sugar, mustard, spices and garlic in an 8 quart stainless steel (because it's nonreactive) stock pot, bring to a boil over high heat, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
When liquids have cooled, trim the corned beef of excess fat and put the excess fat into the liquid. Add more cold water to cover the beef if needed. Cover the pan and refrigerate for 3 to 6 days in the refrigerator, turning every twelve hours.
When ready to cook the beef, remove it from the brine and rinse well with cold water. Place back in the washed pot, add any seasonings that came with the brisket, cover with cold water and bring to a boil.
Once at a boil skim off any scum that develops on the surface, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer until tender, about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
By Deeli from Richland, WA
This page contains the following solutions.
Instead of cooking it to death on the stove, cover with water, add regular spices. Bring briefly to boil on stove, then cover and bake in 300 degrees F oven for approximately 3 1/2 hrs. It will be tender, won't shrink as much, and the kitchen will smell heavenly!
Put brisket and seasoning packet in Dutch oven; Cover with water. Simmer 2 1/2 hours or until done. Remove brisket and place on a broiler pan, leaving liquid in Dutch oven. Combine honey and mustard. Brush half of it on brisket, leaving rest for later. Resume cooking liquid in Dutch oven, adding potatoes, carrots and other veggies to suit family size.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I am looking for ideas for cooking a corned beef.
By carol from Kansas City, MO
Do you want to corn it yourself or just buy one of those already seasoned ones in the meat case or a canned corned beef? My recommendation, which is what I do every St Patrick's day, is to corn it yourself. It's very easy and may come out cheaper if you have the time and items on hand.
You need a brisket, if you get a whole one, cut it in half against the grain. The grain runs the length of the piece of meat.
two (if you are doing a whole brisket) gallon size freezer bags.
pickling salt
brown sugar
pickling spice (I could list off all of the spices you need but everything you need is in that one jar. You find it in the spice/baking isle around the canning supplies)
6 bay leaves
fresh marjoram and thyme (which I have left out when I didn't have it)
water
a pan or casserole dish
Clean off the brisket and trim the silver skin and some (not all) of the fat from the meat. Cut the piece in to two pieces against the grain. Set those aside.
In each of the freezer bags, put in 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of brown sugar, 3 tablespoons of the pickling spice, 3 bay leaves, and a few sprigs each of the marjoram and thyme. Mix the contents of the bags and then place one piece of meat in each of the bags. Seal the bag and rub the spice mixture into the meat. Reopen the bags and fill with enough water that the meat is covered when you lay the bag on its side (sealed).
Make sure that bags are very well sealed and lay them in your pan or casserole dish, on their sides, and place in the fridge for 7-10 days.
Once a day during that time, you will take the bags out, give them and toss and place them back in the fridge, flipped (so that the side of the meat that was up, is now down). You will notice that the meat will start to feel firmer than when you purchased it. Also, it will take on a slightly grayish color. Don't worry, no germs can grow in that brine.
When you're ready to cook them. Take them out of the bags and give the meat a very good rinsing. You could even soak them in fresh cold water for a few hours to get the salt out.
You will need something pretty big and with a lid to cook them. I have cooked mine in my turkey roasting pan. You know, the green one that you have that you one use once or twice a year. Place some coarsely chopped carrots, onions and celery (parsnips and turnips are also awesome for this) in the bottom of the pan and then place the meat on top of them. Put enough water in the pan to cover the meat. Cook at 350-375F for about 3-4 hours. After that, quarter a head of cabbage (leave the core intact), and whole small red skin potatoes. Cook for another 2 hours or until the cabbage and potatoes are done and the meat is very tender. I mean tender like it pretty much falls apart.
Slice very thin and serve in bowls with the veggies from the pan. I use all of them, even the carrots and other root veggies that I started with. That are so yummy. Ladle a bit of the pan juice over top and serve with a good loaf of crusty bread for dipping.
