After all these years, I'm finally trying the cure

[Lurker Carl]

Is it my imagination, or are supermarkets serving up lousier meats? After picking thru the dismal selection of corned beef at various stores, I decided to cure my own.

I found a nice eye roast then scoured through a multitude of curing and pickling methods from the internet plus some suggested recipes. Way too many! So I picked one that seemed fairly commom and used ingredients on hand. It went into the pickling process on 19 January and came out on 3 February. Boy, does it smell good!

The corned beef went into the cookpot this evening for Superbowl Sunday dinner. My siblings and their spouses are the guinea pigs. If we don't get sick and die, the recipe will be posted.

[DuxburyFarmall]

Our neighbor has always done his own corned beef and I like it much better then the store bought. Some people are turned off by the color difference though.

Chad

[Lurker Carl]

You can retain the bright red color of fresh meat by adding saltpeter, the same stuff supposedly added to boarding school fare to suppress specific natural "urges" of youth. Since we're not so young anymore, no saltpeter went into my cure.

Taste tested the beef a few minutes ago. Yummy and tender. No ill effects as of yet.

[Bigdog]

You wanna e-mail some of that over my way??????

[Donny M]

You can retain the bright red color of fresh meat by adding saltpeter, the same stuff supposedly added to boarding school fare to suppress specific natural "urges" of youth. Since we're not so young anymore, no saltpeter went into my cure.

Taste tested the beef a few minutes ago. Yummy and tender. No ill effects as of yet.

Saltpeter is potassium nitrate, it's also used in making gunpowder. It's used in cooking as a preservative.
Since you didn't include it in your recipe send some of the beef over this way

[Lurker Carl]

Guys, I tried emailing a smidgeon. Didn't work. But, the neighbor's cat is staring at me thru the window and there is another squirrel on the roof. Might be serving some extra meats tonight.

[Lurker Carl]

Well now. We're as full as ticks, corned beef with carrots and parsnips and cabbage and 3 bean salad and ice cream and brownies. They're all coming back tomorrow for round 2. No complaints. No ambulance. I'll post the procedure when I decipher my notes as to exactly what I did.

[W6NZ]

You know the way to a man's stomach. sounds gooood.