I have a very nostalgic relationship with traditional corned beef. Pretty sure it’s because my Nana and I used to cook it every St. Paddy’s day and I would always wonder why we didn’t eat it on any other day of the year! I cook a corned beef every few months, when I see them at the store. The problem is, the traditional brisket can be really fatty, so I wanted to try “corning” my own cut of meat. <\/p>\n
I chose a tri-tip and a pork tenderloin. I also cooked a store-bought corned beef alongside to see how they all compared. I think my favorite was the pork loin, but the tri-tip was really good as well. The brisket was good, but again, a lot fattier. The process is really easy, it’s the wait time that’s hard!<\/p>\n
What you’ll need:<\/p>\n
Cut of meat, your choice<\/p>\n
1 jar of pickling spices<\/p>\n
1 gallon of water<\/p>\n
2 cups salt<\/p>\n
6 teaspoons pink curing salt<\/p>\n
\u00bd cup brown sugar<\/p>\n
To make the brine:<\/p>\n
Toast the pickling spices in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Crush them with a mortar and pestle or the back of a spoon.<\/p>\n
Put everything except the meat in a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let it cool. Chill well in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, prepare you meat. I used a tri-tip as well as a pork loin. Trim the meat well and place in a large Ziploc bag.<\/p>\n
When the brine is chilled, fill the bag and seal. Store in the fridge for 5-7 days, turning occasionally to be sure all surfaces are covered in the bring.<\/p>\n
To cook the corned meat:<\/p>\n
Pour the brine out of the bag over a colander and save the pickling spices.<\/p>\n
Put the meat in a large stock pot and cover with water. Add the pickling spices and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat until the meat is very tender.<\/p>\n
Depending on what cut of meat you use, this could be 24 hours. I found the pork loin was tender in about 2 hours, while the tri-tip took closer to 4.<\/p>\n
Serve with copious amounts of spicy brown mustard and veggies. If you\u2019re cooking potatoes, you can do them in the pot with the meat. Just throw them in 30 minutes<\/span> before it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have a very nostalgic relationship with traditional corned beef. Pretty sure it’s because my Nana and I used to cook it every St. Paddy’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","filesize_raw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[583],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-food-porn","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n