Corned Beef

Photo: flickr user kim siciliano salem

Ingredients

12 pounds top or bottom round of beef or brisket, cut

1 lg. Ziploc plastic bag

cups coarse kosher salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cracked pepper corns black

2 teaspoons allspice

2 teaspoons thyme

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon sage

1 teaspoon crushed bay leaf

Preparation

Mix all ingredients together except meat. Place meat in plastic bag. Rub with salt mixture. Press all air out of bag. Seal. Place in bowl with a 5 pound weight on top in refrigerator. Remove weight after 2 days. Massage the meat (through bag) and turn over once a day for at least 2 weeks, keep in refrigerator.

The cure is done, the beef will now keep several months under refrigeration. But turn it every several days. If you do a big piece, you may want to cook only half at a time and leave the rest in the cure.

Before you cook the beef, wash off the salt cure and soak the meat in a large bowl of cold water. Change the water several times. As the salt washes off, the flesh softens like fresh beef. This takes 24 hours or longer if meat has been cured for longer than 2 weeks. Cook as you would a store bought corned beef in water until beef is tender.