Red and Grey Corned Beef

The red corned beef uses nitrates (also just called saltpeter) in the salt brine, the grey does not.

When nitrates are used in curing, most meats take on a pink or deeper color. Smoked ham and smoked turkey legs are good examples of the color change.

adventurelarry said:

Thanks, that is good information. How do the nitrates affect taste and texture?

-Larry

Click to expand...

Think pork roast......and ham. Or side pork......and bacon. Or pork loin......and Canadian bacon. Or fresh sausage.......and hard salami. Even roasted turkey.......and smoked turkey. The texture is firmer (to some degree). Nitrates don't have flavor themselves (the percentages are really small), but depending on the type of cure, seasonings can be added. Liquid exchanges between the carrier and the liquid in the cells of the meat can inprove moisture retention and take flavors in. Nitrates will also affect the color of the finished product. I guess you could call the effect of the nitrates an "enhancement".

Primarially, nitrates and nitrites are used for various degrees of preservation and like we are discussing in the other corned beef/pastrami thread, they can be used in a liquid solution or in a dry mixture added to the surface. The delivery system (wether wet or dry) is the carrier for the nitrates/nitrites to get into the meat.

Hey adventure larry, greetings from the Beach

Also, up here the Grey Corned Beef, being the traditional recipe, has brine but very little spice. MEGA salty if you don't give it a good rinse.
Found that out the hard way