I was in the store the other day and trolling for deals and lo and behold there was a whole beef brisket on sale! I couldn't believe my luck! I snapped that puppy up in a wink of an eye! I don't know much about cooking beef brisket but I do know how to corn it into something scrumptious! My mouth was watering in the store! Brining and preserving meat seems to be a lost art. Like my previous post about making a ham out of a pork picnic, all you need is a little bitsy bit of time to prep and the rest is mostly just waiting. So let's begin....
You will need to trim up your brisket. This is how it looked out of the vac-pack.
The right side is the point and the left is the flat. There is about 1-2 pounds of fat on this. Now normally you could get upset about paying for something that you would usually toss in the garbage but for me I see the makings for some soap! Rendering fat for soap is all just chopping the fat up and boiling, strain, then letting it cool and the fat solidifies at the top. With the cold weather put the pot outside or in the garage for faster results. Trim the sides of the fat out and toss the water and fill will clean water again, boil and let cool again. The lard should be nice and clean to use. Rinse the bottom of debris if needed. You can even use it for the pie recipe on this blog instead of buying it in the store! Now that is maximizing your investment. No waste.Sorry got off the subject here but I just didn't want you to trash the fat! Ok back to business. Start trimming the fat off and cut your point away. It doesn't have to be pretty. Try not to cut into the red meat if you can. It will happen so don't worry. When you are finished it should look about like this.
Now make your brine.
4 qts water
1-1 1/2 cups kosher salt (no iodine!)
1 tablespoon *Morton's Tender Quick for each 2lb of meat
1-2 cups of brown sugar
2-4 bay leaf
1 tablespoon mustard seeds crushed
1 tablespoon of juniper berries crushed
1 tablespoon peppercorns crushed
1 tablespoon Coriander seeds crushed
Boil and let cool
add 1 tablespoon of baking soda
When all cooled down inject your meat with the brine with a meat injector. Sometimes you can get one for free if you buy a marinade in the condiment aisle in the store! Pour the brine into a tupperware container or other non-reactive container and put your injected meat into the brine with a plate on top to keep the meat submerged. Keep in the fridge or in a cold garage for 7 days. After the time is up you can do like me and soak the meat in clean water for about an hour or two changing the water a couple of times to leach off some of the salt. There you have it! You have corned your own beef! Cook as usual and bring on the corned beef specials! You can also take it a step further with the flat and make pastrami if you wish. If you don't have a smoker you can do it in your oven! You rub down the flat with 2 tablespoons of paprika, garlic, black pepper, dry mustard, brown sugar, maybe a dash of liquid smoke and tightly wrap in several layers of tin foil and bake at 200 degrees for several hours till meat is 195 degrees and tender. Let cool and slice away! You can always use a smoker and use smoker chips. If you have an apple tree use some apple wood in your smoker or maybe a neighbor has a tree. Anyway, I hope you have the opportunity to make your own. It is way better than the store bought stuff and you will never go back!
Enjoy!
Steph
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