Taking the Cure
Ernest Miller
It's that time of year. The weather is vacillating between winter and
spring, wildflower season is nearly upon us (be sure to check
http://www.theodorepayne.org/ for the wildflower hotline), and
shamrock shakes are sprouting at participating McDonald's.
When the shamrock shakes appear, it must mean that St. Patrick's Day
is just around the corner. Which means it is time to start thinking
about curing some beef brisket to make homemade corned beef. Time to
take the cure. Which, in this case, is about five to seven days;
you're going to need to plan ahead for that corned beef and cabbage
dinner.
Before that though, an announcement. Fellow Master Food Preserver
Delilah Snell and I will be hosting a canning demo a week from this
Sunday, on March 7th from 10am-12pm at the HOllywood Farmers' Market.
We will be canning spicy asparagus pickles from the ones that are
showing up in the market now. Did I mention that it is free?
Back to the cure.
Corned beef, though not particularly traditional in Ireland for St.
Patrick's Day, is certainly traditional here in the US. As many of you
already know, corning refers to preserving beef with small chuncks of
salt (corns) and not to the giant mutant grass whose seeds come on a
cob.
There is a little more to corned beef than salt, but it is really,
really, really simple to make. And, it is usually much less expensive
to make at home than to buy in the store, even with the sale prices
this time of year. Brisket will be even cheaper.
Basically you make a brine with salt, sugar, spices and pink salt
(more on pink salt in a minute). Chill the brine and submerse beef
brisket in it. Refrigerate for 5-7 days. Rinse off the beef. That's
it. Seriously. You're done. You now have uncooked corned beef.
Michael Ruhlman's corned beef recipe here:
http://leitesculinaria.com/5912/recipes-homemade-corned-beef.html
One nice thing is that about Ruhlman's recipe is that it includes a
recipe for pickling spices. You can use store bought, but why not make
your own? Ruhlman's blend makes more than you'll use for the corned
beef, so you'll have pickling spices to spare for all sorts of other
applications.
Back to pink salt. It is actually a critical ingredient for that
traditional corned beef flavor and appearance. You can skip it, and
the results will still be very good, but probably not exactly what you
are used to. Pink salt is not that Himalayan salt you see everywhere,
but a blend of regular salt and nitrite.
Nitrite is a preservative. It does four different things when added
to meat. 1) It changes the flavor; 2) fixes the red color of the meat
(ever wonder why corned beef was so pink?); 3) Slows fats from
becoming rancid (brisket is often fairly fatty, isn't it?); and, 4)
inhibits the growth of Clostridium botulinum (aka botulism). It is
effective in extremely small amounts, so in order to be able to
measure it reasonably in the kitchen, it is blended with regular salt:
93.75% salt and 6.25% nitrite.
Nitrite is poisonous in large quantities, which is why the
salt/nitrite blend is dyed pink so that it is not mistaken for regular
salt. Keep this stuff out of the way of children and kitchen
neophytes, who might mistake it for a finishing salt.
But wait, you say, isn't nitrite bad for you? There is some
conflicting evidence that nitrites may be potentially cancerous when
cooked in certain methods (high heat grilling), but it isn't clear
that eating moderate amounts is damaging in any way. Eat cured meats
in moderation and cook them gently (simmering your corned beef, for
example) and there shouldn't be too much trouble. In any case, you can
skip the pink salt in this recipe - just realize that you're finished
corned beef will be brown (not pink) and won't have that "cured"
flavor.
One should also be aware that nitrite precursor, nitrate (with an
'a'), is found naturally in green leafy vegetables like spinach,
celery, and root vegetables. Bacteria convert it to nitrite. If you
check out the ingredient list on an organic hotdog, chances are there
will be celery juice or celery extract there. Why do you think they
are there? Could it be that brown hotdogs aren't as appetizing as nice
pink ones? Could it be the naturally occuring nitrates in the celery
juice at work?
You don't need much pink salt and it lasts a long time. It is
available online, but I get mine at Surfas in Culver City. I don't use
it in all my curing, but I do use it to cure homemade bacon, corned
beef and a variety of different sausages, such as my own hot dogs
(though I have yet to try dried sausages).
Well, that's it for this week. If you have any questions about food
preservation, as usual, feel free to email me at:
ernest...@gmail.com
For near daily updates on food preservation, be sure to check out the blog:
http://preservenation.blogspot.com/
And our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=280846286958
I'll be at the Hollywood Farmers' Market this Sunday if you want to
drop by to say hi.
Thanks,
Ernie
PS. As for shamrock shakes ... make your own at home! Vanilla ice
cream, a little milk, creme de menthe to taste - blend - delicious. A
little Irish whiskey doesn't hurt either. And, if you want something a
little fresher and herbal tasting, infuse the milk with fresh mint. Or
go even more radical and make fresh mint ice cream - you'll never go
back to extract.