Corned beef brine recipe

[Jrogers84]

Looking for ratios for a soak. Don’t want to inject. Looks like I have 2 weeks of perfect weather for brining :). I see the recipe in the “Great sausage recipes and meat curing” book but it calls for an injection as well.


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[Garyclaw]

I believe Thirdeye has it on his site.

[Jrogers84]

One of the first places I looked. Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see it.


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[Callahan-que]

I'm pretty sure this is the one I used and it came out great https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...ed-beef-recipe

[Garyclaw]

Search ruhlman pastrami. Also JasonTQ does it. He'll corn anything.;-))

[thirdeye]

Originally Posted by Jrogers84

Looking for ratios for a soak. Don’t want to inject. Looks like I have 2 weeks of perfect weather for brining :). I see the recipe in the “Great sausage recipes and meat curing” book but it calls for an injection as well.


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Making a standard curing brine calls for weighing the meat + water to calculate the amount of salt and sugar. Then taking the weights of the meat + water + salt + sugar, and using that total weight to calculate the amount of Cure #1 which is always 0.25% *. For corned beef you add from 1 tablespoon to 3 tablespoons of pickling spices. Some people will add garlic, more mustard seeds peppercorns etc., for a more personal touch.

* some calculators do not take into account the weight of the salt and sugar, they only use meat + water. Other calculators will use meat + water + salt, but don't even have a place for sugar.
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An easier method is to use Pop's Curing Brine, which is a universal curing brine with a low concentration of Cure #1. It uses longer curing times and the benefit is a less 'tinny' flavor and more tender end product.

1 gallon water
1/3 to 1/2 cup of canning salt*
1 cup of white sugar**
1 cup of brown sugar**
1 heaping tablespoon of Cure #1, which is 1 ounce or 20 grams.
1 to 3 tablespoons of pickling spice or other signature spices mentioned above.

This is mixed into room temperature water. If you warm your water to dissolve the salt and sugar don't add the Cure #1 until the brine has cooled down to room temperature. Brine time for corned beef is 10 to 20 days, and calls for injecting some of the brine if the thickness is >2".

*Pops original recipe called for up to 1 cup of salt, but suggested 1/2 cup as a starting point and then adjusted to taste for future projects. He recommended 1/3 cup if you want a lo-salt product

**For my personal tastes, and because I mix lower salt brines and cures this is a little too sweet for me, so I reduce the sugar. On beef I only use white sugar.

[Jrogers84]

Originally Posted by thirdeye

Making a standard curing brine calls for weighing the meat + water to calculate the amount of salt and sugar. Then taking the weights of the meat + water + salt + sugar, and using that total weight to calculate the amount of Cure #1 which is always 0.25% *. For corned beef you add from 1 tablespoon to 3 tablespoons of pickling spices. Some people will add garlic, more mustard seeds peppercorns etc., for a more personal touch.

* some calculators do not take into account the weight of the salt and sugar, they only use meat + water. Other calculators will use meat + water + salt, but don't even have a place for sugar.
--------------

An easier method is to use Pop's Curing Brine, which is a universal curing brine with a low concentration of Cure #1. It uses longer curing times and the benefit is a less 'tinny' flavor and more tender end product.

1 gallon water
1/3 to 1/2 cup of canning salt*
1 cup of white sugar**
1 cup of brown sugar**
1 heaping tablespoon of Cure #1, which is 1 ounce or 20 grams.
1 to 3 tablespoons of pickling spice or other signature spices mentioned above.

This is mixed into room temperature water. If you warm your water to dissolve the salt and sugar don't add the Cure #1 until the brine has cooled down to room temperature. Brine time for corned beef is 10 to 20 days, and calls for injecting some of the brine if the thickness is >2".

*Pops original recipe called for up to 1 cup of salt, but suggested 1/2 cup as a starting point and then adjusted to taste for future projects. He recommended 1/3 cup if you want a lo-salt product

**For my personal tastes, and because I mix lower salt brines and cures this is a little too sweet for me, so I reduce the sugar. On beef I only use white sugar.

Thank you! This is exactly what I was going for. A nice easy project. I appreciate the help.


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[thirdeye]

Originally Posted by Jrogers84

Thank you! This is exactly what I was going for. A nice easy project. I appreciate the help.


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When figuring your sugar, it's main function is to knock the edge off of the salt flavor. So for example if you decided on 1.7% salt, there is salt in the Cure #1 so the total salt would be closer to 2%. Sugar amount could be in the 1% range or slightly lower even.

And if you do use Pop's Brine, it can be used on other things like belly bacon or Canadian bacon, and sugar goes better with pork and you might bump it to 1.5%. Too much sugar in bacon can be a problem when frying it, it can burn easier.

[LYU370]

Originally Posted by Garyclaw

Search ruhlman pastrami. Also JasonTQ does it. He'll corn anything.;-))

I wonder if he's corned a cornish hen?

[Jrogers84]

Originally Posted by thirdeye

When figuring your sugar, it's main function is to knock the edge off of the salt flavor. So for example if you decided on 1.7% salt, there is salt in the Cure #1 so the total salt would be closer to 2%. Sugar amount could be in the 1% range or slightly lower even.

And if you do use Pop's Brine, it can be used on other things like belly bacon or Canadian bacon, and sugar goes better with pork and you might bump it to 1.5%. Too much sugar in bacon can be a problem when frying it, it can burn easier.

When using it on belly bacon how long do you let it soak?


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[smoke ninja]

I'll send you a recipe given to me

[thirdeye]

Originally Posted by Jrogers84

When using it on belly bacon how long do you let it soak?


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10 to 14 days.