Delicious and easy home-cured Corned Beef, great for a dinner, a sandwich or for a charcuterie board.

Brine and Brisket

1 gallon water
2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup sugar
5 tsp pink salt *
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tblsp Pickling Spice (homemade** or store bought)
One 5 lb (appx) well-marbled beef brisket

Combine brine ingredients in a pot large enough to hold the brisket comfortably. Bring to a simmer, stirring till the salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove pot from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate brine till it's completely chilled.

Place brisket in brine and weight it down with a plate to keep it submerged. Refrigerate for 5 days. Check every day to be sure it remains submerged. If your brisket is a bit larger, halve the recipe again, and leave it in the brine another day or two.

Remove brisket from brine and rinse it thoroughly under cool running water.

That's it! Now you can cook it as you would a packaged corned beef.


* What is pink salt? Pink salt (Insta Cure #1) is 93.75% sodium chloride (table salt) and 6.25% nitrite. Nitrites are found in green leafy vegetables, and in small quantities are not at all harmful, but in large quantities, are. Thus the curing mixture is dyed pink to prevent accidental consumption as pure table salt. Nitrite's positive contributions to meat: it changes the flavor, preserves the meat's red color, prevents fat from developing a rancid flavor, and prevents many bacteria from growing (think Clostridia botulinum, the bacterium responsible for botulism poisoning). I order mine from SausageMaker.com.


**Pickling Spice Recipe (or buy a store-bought mix; Penzeys.com is a great source for herbs/spices either way)

1 1/2 Tblsp black peppercorns
2 Tblsp mustard seeds
2 Tblsp coriander seeds
2 Tblsp hot red pepper flakes
2 Tblsp allspice berries
1 Tblsp ground mace
2 small cinnamon sticks, crushed or broken into pieces
24 bay leaves, crumbled
2 Tblsp whole cloves
1 Tblsp ground ginger

Lightly toast peppercorns, mustard seeds, and coriander seeds in a small dry pan, then smash with the side of a knife just to crack them. Combine the cracked spices with the remaining ingredients, mixing well. Store in a tightly sealed container.


Cooking Corned Beef

Cured brisket
2 Tblsp Pickling Spice

Place the cured brisket in a pot just large enough to hold it and add water just to cover the meat. Add Pickling Spice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for about 3 hours, or till the brisket is fork-tender. Water should always cover brisket, so add more during cooking if necessary.

Remove the corned beef from cooking liquid (which can be used to moisten the meat and vegetables, if you're serving a dinner). Slice the beef and serve warm or cool, then wrap and refrigerate for up to one week.