Corned Beef
I’ve never made corned beef before, and I’ve only ever experienced it from a restaurant. Reubens are one of my favorite sandwiches and ordering them at a restaurant is usually very hit or miss. Recently, I ordered one from a local diner and they used fresh, thick cut corned beef and it was amazing. I had never had a reuben made with corned beef that wasn’t sliced thin, so I decided to try and recreate it at home.
I bought a huge brisket from the butcher- it was 17 pounds, but I trimmed off all of the fat and was left with an 11 lb brisket. If you trim the fat, the brine is able to penetrate the meat more. I cut the brisket into 4 pieces and used half of the following recipe per 2 pieces of brisket (5ish pounds). The brisket was brined for about 2 weeks, and then I rinsed the meat off and rubbed it with the seasoning mix and then slow cooked it in a crockpot for about 9 hours.
The final result was INSANE! I made some incredible Reubens which I will be adding to my website in the next week. If you also get a large piece of brisket, then double the two recipes below and cook them in the crockpot in batches.
Products that I used for the brisket:
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Corned Beef
Ingredients
- 5 lbs beef brisket
- 1 gallons distilled water
- 1/2 cup of kosher salt
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons of pickling spices (a mix of peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, allspice berries, cloves, and bay leaves)
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 teaspoons of Prague Powder #1 (curing salt)
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 - 5 pounds of corned beef brisket, trimmed
- 1 1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice berries
- 1 star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 4 cups beef broth
- 2-4 cups water (just enough to submerge brisket)
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine water, kosher salt, brown sugar, crushed garlic, pickling spices, Prague Powder #1, and bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Let the brine cool to room temperature.
- Once the brine has cooled, transfer it to a container large enough to hold your beef brisket.
- Submerge the beef brisket in the brine, making sure it's fully covered. You may need to weigh it down with a plate or a heavy object to keep it submerged.
- Cover the container and refrigerate for at least 5 days, and up to 10 days, depending on your preference for the level of curing. I left mine in the brine for 2 weeks and it turned out perfect- not too salty!
- Once the beef has finished brining, remove it from the brine and rinse it thoroughly under cold water to remove any excess salt. Pat Dry.
- In a small pan on medium-low heat, add peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, allspice berries, and star anise. Cook until fragrant and shake pan occasionally, about 2-3 minutes. Add bay leaves and cook another minute.
- Transfer spices to a spice grinder or food processor (I used a nutribullet) and grind them.
- Mix the spices with the brown sugar and rub evenly over the brisket.
- In the crock pot, pour apple cider vinegar, beef broth, and water. Add in the brisket and set crockpot temperature to low. Cook for 8-10 hours, or until the brisket is fork-tender. I cooked mine for 9 hours and it was barely hanging on- so GOOD!
- Remove from crockpot, let cool for 5-10 minutes and then slice beef against the grain. I like to use this for Reubens!
