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Cousin Steve-O's Corned Beef

Use this family recipe to make corned beef at home! 
Prep Time10 days
Cook Time3 hours
Total Time10 days 3 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Irish
Keyword: beef, Comfort, corned beef, dinner, march, spring, st. patrick's day
Author: Steve Johnson

Equipment

  • 1 Large Stock Pot (6 - 8 quart)
  • 1 Large Tupperware Container with Lid

Ingredients

  • 1 8-12 lb Nebraska Star Beef® All-Natural Brisket trimmed
  • 2 quarts Water
  • 1 cup Kosher Salt
  • 2 tsp #1 Prague Powder (6.75% Sodium Nitrite / 93.25% Salt)
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 2 sticks Cinnamon broken into several pieces
  • 2 tsp Mustard Seeds
  • 2 tsp Black Peppercorns
  • 20 cloves Garlic whole
  • 20 Juniper Berries whole
  • 5 leaves Bay crumbled
  • 3 lbs Ice
  • 4 small Onions quartered (added at time of cooking)
  • 4 large Carrots coarsely chopped (added at time of cooking)
  • 4 stalks Celery coarsely chopped (added at time of cooking)

Instructions

  • Prepare brisket for brine. Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot and bring to boil.
  • Stir in all other ingredients except fresh vegetables. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have completely dissolved and remove from heat.
    Remove from the heat, cool to near room temperature and add ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If some ice remains in the brine, that is just fine, it should be chilled to < 40 F.
  • Place the brisket in a plastic container – large Tupperware container with lid, or in an enamel coated roasting pan. Add the brine to the container making sure that the brisket is COMPLETELY SUBMERGED. DO NOT use an aluminum or exposed metal pan, this can cause the meat to take on a metallic flavor. (Cousin Steve-O learned the hard way about brining in an aluminum pan, this is how we know to use tupperware or enamel coated pans)
  • After 7-10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water.
    Place the brisket into a pan just large enough to hold the meat, add the onion, carrot and celery and cover with water by 1-inch. Set over high heat and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce the heat to low, cover and gently simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is fork tender. Remove from the pot and thinly slice across the grain.