Corn Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brine
Make a brine strong enough to float an egg by boiling water and skimming it well.
After removing from heat, add ½ tablespoon of saltpetre and 1 quart of molasses, then stir the brine well and mix thoroughly.
Cure the beef
Once the brine is completely cool, submerge the beef in it.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping it hold onto water during curing.
- Saltpetre
- Converts to nitrite during curing, which sets the meat's pink colour and cured flavour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and depth of flavour that balances the saltiness of the brine.
The step that matters
Let the brine cool completely before adding the beef. Warm brine can partly cook the surface of the meat and uneven temperatures encourage bacterial growth, so the beef should go in only once the brine is cold.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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