Corned Beef - How to Make Homemade Corned Beef

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2 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
1 ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
10 whole cloves
10 whole allspice berries
10 whole juniper berries
3 bay leaves, crumbled
1 teaspoon ground ginger OR
1 3-4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and broken into pieces
2 tsp pickling spice
1 gallon ice
1 6-7 lb beef brisket
After brining, to cook:
1 medium yellow onion
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1. Trim fat from beef brisket.
2. In a large heavy saucepan, place salt, sugar, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves and ginger. Heat just until the salt and sugar have dissolved. This is the brine solution for the corned beef.
3. Pour the brine into a large container – it needs to be big enough to hold the brisket, and to keep it submerged. I use a big 2 gallon container.
4. Add the ice and stir until melted – or mostly melted. You want two things from the ice – you’re adding enough liquid to keep the beef submerged, but you’re also bringing the temperature of the brine down to where it’s safe to add the beef. If you add it to the brine while it’s hot, you’ll be parboiling the out outside, which is not only dangerous from a bacteria side, but it will prevent the brine from penetrating as well as you want. The temperature needs to be 40F or less for safety.
5. Once the brine and ice are at or below 40F, add the brisket to the container. Make sure the brine completely covers the beef. If it doesn’t add just enough very cold water to cover the beef by about an inch.
6. Stash the container in the refrigerator. It needs to ‘cure’ in the brine solution for 6-7 days. Once a day you’ll need to stir the brine and turn the beef.
7. Once 6-7 days have passed, remove the brisket from the brine. Discard the brine. Rinse the brisket well under cold running water.
8. Place brisket in a dutch oven or stockpot. Add onion, celery and carrot. Add just enough fresh cold water to cover brisket by about an inch. Bring to a boil.
9. Reduce heat to a bare simmer. Allow corned beef to simmer, covered, for about three hours or until tender.
10. Remove from the pot and place on a cutting board. Allow to rest for about ten minutes. Make sure you slice very, very thinly, across the grain of the meat. Store tightly covered, with a little bit of the juices from the pot to help keep it moist.
Now it's ready for whatever you want to do with it. Corned Beef and Cabbage, Corned Beef Hash, a phenomenal Reuben sandwich, straight out of the container at midnight...you get the idea. Give it a try - you'll love results!