I’ve always wanted to try my hand at Curing Corned Beef for our St. Patrick’s Day supper. Well, I finally got around to making it this year and there is no going back….it was the best thing EVER. I will tell you, it takes about a week to cure, but it is so worth it. If you don’t have seven days at least try for 4-5 days of curing, but it’s best to just let it sit for 7 days if you can.

Curing meat does require a little pre-planning. Ideally, it takes 7 days to cure and you can’t cure it without the addition of pink curing salt. This is totally different from table salt of any kind and you don’t want to eat it (that’s why it’s colored pink…so you don’t accidentally use it while cooking). When the curing process is done, you rinse the meat well under cool water and then boil it either on the stove or my favorite way is my Slow Cooker Corned Beef recipe (recipe coming 3/14/16). Make sure to pop over there to find out how to cook it once you are done with the curing process.

I’ve got you covered, if you’re looking for more corned beef dishes!

Curing Corned Beef

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4 lbs trimmed brisket
5 tablespoons pickling seasoning (recipe follows)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 onion, quartered
3 teaspoons pink salt (used for curing meats)
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
¼ cup ground coriander
1 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoons garlic powder

In a large 3-4 gallon container with a lid, combine pickling seasoning, 1 cup of brown sugar, kosher salt, garlic, onion, and pink with 1 gallon of water. Stir well to combine and to dissolve salt and sugar. Add brisket and place a heavy bowl on top of meat to keep it submerged while brining. Add lid to the container and place in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.

Remove brisket from brine and rinse under cool water well for several minutes. The meat will feel denser and have a different texture and color from when it went into the brine.

Cook corned beef and enjoy!

Find the Instructions for cooking the corned beef here .

Pickling Seasoning:

6 bay leaves, roughly crumbled

2 tablespoons mustard seed

2 tablespoons whole allspice

2 tablespoons whole coriander

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns

1 tablespoons whole cloves

1 tablespoons red pepper flakes

1 cinnamon stick, broken in several pieces

Combine and store in an airtight container for 6 months.