With St. Patrick’s Day fast approaching, I thought I’d share my recipe for corned beef brisket. The first time I made this recipe, I cut the brisket in half so I didn’t waste any brisket (my favorite type of roast) in case no one liked it. After tasting the finished product, I wished I made two whole briskets instead of just a half. Everyone loved it! Now we look forward to it every year. This recipe is a rendition of Wellness Mama’s corned beef recipe which can be found here.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 cup salt: I used pink Himalayan, but I’m sure any sea salt will work
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar, the end product will not have all of this sugar.
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp mustard seed
• 2 Tbsp peppercorn
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 bay leaves, crushed
• 1 Tbsp whole coriander
• 1/4 small beet (optional: for color)
• 1 quart water
• 1 quart ice water

Method:

• Add all spices/herbs/seasonings into a pot with about 1 quart of water.
• Heat ingredients until salt and sugar have dissolved.
• Remove from heat and add a quart of ice water to jump start the cool down process.

• Remove the chunk of beet. I threw a beet in to turn the water a little pink. If you keep the beet in the brine for a few days, the flavor will probably be detected. If that sounds good to you, leave it in and see what happens. 😉 I’m not a fan of beets, so I pulled mine out before adding the brisket to the brine.
• Refrigerate brine until cooled completely.
• Once cooled, add the brisket to the brine being sure to cover completely. The meat wants to float, so these fermenting weights come in pretty handy here. A heavy plate would probably work as well.
• Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-7 days.

• Each day leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, flip the brisket over in the brine. I usually keep mine in the refrigerator for about 5 days. The briskets I get from my farmer are thin. If you are using a different type of roast that is much thicker you may want to leave it in the brine for a few days longer.
• Rinse the roast thoroughly and cook as you would a regular brisket. I like mine braised in the oven for a few hours. Blog post forthcoming. 😉

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Corned Beef Brisket Brine

Make your own brine for your corned beef instead of buying it from the store this year. This way you’re in control of the quality of the ingredients.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Irish

Author MommaDarlin

Ingredients

• 1 cup salt: I used pink Himalayan but I’m sure any sea salt will work
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar the end product will not have all of this sugar
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp mustard seed
• 2 Tbsp peppercorn
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 bay leaves crushed
• 1 Tbsp whole coriander
• 1/4 small beet optional: for color
• 1 quart water
• 1 quart ice water
• 1 3-5 pound brisket

Instructions

1. Add all spices/herbs/seasonings into a pot with about 1 quart of water.
2. Heat ingredients until salt and sugar have dissolved.
3. Remove from heat and add a quart of ice water to jump start the cool down process.

4. Remove the beet.

5. Pour into a deep glass dish and refrigerate brine until cooled completely.

6. Once cooled, add the brisket to the brine being sure to cover completely. The brisket may need to be weighed down. I used glass fermenting weights, but a heavy plate may work as well.

7. Cover and refrigerate for 3-7 days, flipping the the brisket over in the brine each day.

8. Rinse the roast thoroughly and cook as you would a regular brisket. I like mine braised in the oven for a few hours. Blog post forthcoming.

Recipe Notes

I used dry spices and herbs because that’s what I had on hand. If you have fresh on hand, just add 3 times the amount. Example: 1 tsp dried herb would be the equivalent to 1 Tbsp fresh herb.