Corned Beef Brisket - from Scratch

By Hester

Plan ahead about a week ... you won't be sorry. This from-scratch corned beef is better than any commercial corned beef you could ever eat, and you'll wonder why you never tried doing it yourself before. I do not add salt and peter to my corned beef, so this is not going to have that familiar pink color, but you won't care -- and it's healthier this way.

Ingredients

• 1 (8 -10 lb) beef brisket
• 4 garlic cloves , peeled and cut in thirds
• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon peppercorn
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• water , to come up 3/4 to side of brisket
• 1 teaspoon peppercorn
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
• 4 garlic cloves , sliced

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 10080mins
Cooking time 10320mins
Adapted from food.com

Preparation

Step 1

Directions:

1 Combine all of the brine ingredients and bring to a boil, then cool.

2 In a huge plastic roasting bag (do NOT use a garbage bag), place the beef brisket, the cooled brine, and the 4 garlic cloves.

3 Make sure that all of the meat is covered by the brine (cutting the brisket in pieces if you need to), tie off tightly, place in a pot large enough to hold it all, and refrigerate for 6 to 7 days, turning occasionally.

4 After the 6 to 7 days, remove brisket from the brine and discard the brine.

5 Rinse the meat thoroughly, then place in a Dutch oven or other large pot and add enough water to come up 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up the side of the meat.

6 Add the rest of the Simmering Liquid ingredients (peppercorns, mustard seeds, allspice, cloves and garlic), bring to a boil and skim off any foam.

7 Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook, covered, for at least 3 hours, but 4 hours doesn't hurt anything. Meat will be SO tender and delicious!