Old Salty - from Corned Beef to Pastrami to a Reuben, from scratch.

This is an ongoing post, being created 'live' as we go.  If it appears unfinished at this time, that's because the beef is still in my fridge corning away quite happily.

Not to be confused with tinned 'Bully Beef' or the sliced stuff you buy from supermarket (ahem) Deli counters, proper Corned Beef is a different beast altogether.  More often referred to as Salt Beef in this county, it is an almost forgotten delicacy and a dying art, probably because it needs so much aforethought and a bit of preparation and looking after.  It's not exactly a fast or convenient food, but all you really need to do is think, 'In a couple of weeks, I REALLY want to be eating some good Corned Beef'.  Once you've tasted the results of the simple process of making Corned Beef, I guarantee you that if you love good food, then you will be making this regularly.  Then, once you've mastered Corned Beef, Pastrami is only one small step away.  Imagine making your own Pastrami and NEVER having to put up with that pale, tasteless imitation that you can buy pre-packed and sliced from supermarket shelves.

Basically, Corned Beef is a beef joint, usually Brisket, that has been, well, 'corned' (The clue is in the name).  Corning is simply a process of curing something in brine - probably coming from the coarse salt 'corns' that were used at one time to salt the beef as ordinary table salt was too fine for the job.  These days, it's more common to cure the beef joint in a brine solution.  The basic brine solution is the important thing and then then you can add some other spicey bits to personalise it and add more flavours.

WARNING - Prepare for this part now. You WILL need a food grade plastic tub with tight fitting lid, big enough to hold a large beef brisket and the brine.  Minimum 5 litres depending on how big you want your beef joint to be.

Remember, this is a long time curing process and at ALL STAGES ensure the utmost hygiene is observed.  Any bacteria that get onto the tub or meat will be dying to spoil your party and waste all your beef, never mind 2 weeks or more of waiting.

The basic brine is:

• 2 litres of water.
• 240g of table salt. (Cheap salt is good, but make sure it has no additives)

That's all you really need to get going, but if you're like me you will want to boost it up a bit and add some more flavour layers.  You can add a couple of tablespoons of shop-bought pickling spics, but I tend just to make my own version with whatever is at hand, like the following.

• 1tbsp of coriander seeds
• 1tsp of cumin seeds
• 1tbsp of black peppercorns
• 1tsp of mustard seeds
• 1tsp of cloves
• A couple of bay leaves
• A pile of peeled, raw garlic cloves.
• You can also use sugar. Sometime I do, sometimes I don't.

Another thing that you can add for a more authentic Corned Beef is a 1/2 tsp of Saltpetre (Potassium Nitrate) for every 2 litres of water.  However, I advise caution with this and suggest that you search the internet and make up your own mind on this.  Personally I use it as it helps to keep the solution sterile AND it keeps the cooked meats a nice 'pink' colour.  It has little if any affect on taste.  If you don't use it, the only thing you will see is that the cooked meats are a more 'grey' colour inside instead of the traditional pink of Corned Beef and Pastrami.

I put all the seeds (not the garlic cloves) into a small ceramic dish and then zap them in the microwave (uncovered) for 30 seconds or until you hear them sizzle a little, but you can dry fry them for the same effect.

Ignore all those recipes that call for 'Sea Salt', that's an expensive waste of money as it's all getting dissolved into solution anyway.  If you need more or less brine, it's simple to work out as the basic brine recipe is 12% salt to water. So for every litre of water you need 120g of salt.  (a litre of water weights 1kg or 1000g so multiply 1000 by 0.12 and hey presto)

Bring the water to the boil and then add the salt.  Stir to dissolve it and then remove from the heat, cover and leave to go cold.

In the meantime, prepare your beef.  You've probably bought your beef from your local butcher or supermarket and it's most likely rolled and tied.  Well untie it and unroll it and you're good to go.

Brine ready to go and a couple of untied, unrolled briskets.

In the photo above, there's a couple of unrolled briskets with a nice thin layer of fat still on them.  They are about 2kg each, perfect size for corning and making one into a Corned Beef and one into a Pastrami.

For 2 briskets above, I'll be using 2 tubs and 2 quantities (2 litres each) of brine solution.  Pour the COLD brine into your clean (sterilised) plastic container and add in any pickling spice and the garlic cloves that you want to use.  Put the beef into the solution and make sure it is completely covered and stays covered.  If you need to, put a sterilised (boiled) plate on top to hold the beef under.  Any exposed beef will go bad and spoil the whole thing.  Put the lid on and put the container into your fridge on the bottom shelf, right at the back and leave it there for 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the thickness of the beef.  The briskets above will be getting a fortnight of rest.  Every day I like to give the tub a little shake to agitate the brine and the spices and make sure all the meat is getting a good brining.  It's a good idea to check every day to make sure the beef is fully covered as well.

See you all in a fortnight.  The beef will be getting cooked on March 2nd and eaten March 3rd.  Salivating already.

12 days have now passed but not a day has gone passed without dreaming of pastrami.  So, now it's time to take the slabs of potential heaven out the brine, rinse and then let soak in fresh water for 24 hours.  This is not totally necessary if you' remaking just corned beef as you can just cooked it in spiced, unsalted water.  I've decided to make 2 Pastramis so I want to soak it before rubbing and smoking.

Rinse and then soak in clean, fresh water for 24hrs to remove a lot of the salt.

In the meantime, start to think about your Pastrami dry rub(s).  Here's the 2 that I'll be using, this time. (These make a lot, probably enough to cover 5 or 6 briskets (but it will keep), so if you need less then adjust down.  Grind the rubs together in a food processor.

Rub 1

 
Rub 1 - with fresh garlic.

1 cup coriander seed

½ cup black peppercorn

½ cup black or yellow mustard seeds (or you could just use a couple of tbsp of mustard powder)

¼ cup Spanish paprika

½ cup brown sugar

6 cloves garlic (or more to taste)

Rub 2 - Sichuan pepper (left) and black mustard

Rub 2 - with Sichuan pepper for umami.
½ cup coriander seed
½ cup black peppercorns
½ cup black mustard seeds (the Indian kind)
¼ cup Spanish paprika
¼ cup Sichuan peppercorns
1 cup of brown sugar
½ cup garlic powder.

Rub 2 is my own new creation getting tried out for a first time, today.  We'll see how it goes.

Put it all into a tight sealing tub and put away in the cupboard (not the fridge)

See y'all in 24hrs.......

Drained and Dried off

Now take the beef out, drain it and pat dry with kitchen roll.  For 'scale' that's a full size chef's knife next to the Beef.  The fat on top needs to be left on and make sure this is on top when smoking as it will help keep the meat moist.

Superb grain.  Note the colour has stayed pink due to the Saltpetre.

Notice the grain of the meat.  Keep this in mind when it comes to the finished article as you want to be cutting ACROSS the grain when serving.  The meat keeps it's lovely pink colour through the brining process - and through the cooking process - due to the saltpetre.


Cover your meats with the dry rubs and rub in well, all over and keep rubbing until they are all coated and the seeds are pushed well into the meat and fat.

Rubbed and ready to smoke.  Rub 1 on the left and my new creation, rub 2 on the right.

And, into the smoker they go for 4 hours of smoking with another 4 to 6 hours (or maybe more) of continued cooking (in the smoker but with smoke turned off)