# Anyone ever made your own corned beef and/or pastrami? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419 "2010-01-02T19:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/1 "2010-01-02T19:11:11Z")
I’ve been experimenting, and I’ve had issues with too much salt. your experiences? ---
**Author:** ![eveanyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@eveanyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eveanyn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/2 "2010-01-03T01:18:14Z")
I’d like to try it but haven’t yet. What methods and recipes have you tried? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/3 "2010-01-03T01:24:45Z")
corning is accomplished by making a spiced brine, and soaking the meat in the brine as a storage without refrigeration method … and it is supposed to be wicked salty as you wash the meat in several changes of water before cooking … the modern grocery store corned beef is a pale imitation of the original, soaked only long enough to get the color change and mild flavor. use probably twice the amount of spice as you seem to think you need, a full on salt brine, and let the meat sit in teh brine, in a sealed container in the back of your fridge for at least 2 weeks. Rinse thoroughly in several changes of water before cooking. If you want the basic original medieval recipe - [Lord’s Salt](http://www.sca.org.au/castellum/salt.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/4 "2010-01-03T01:31:50Z")
I always corn a brisket for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s really quite easy. There are lots of brine recipes online. It takes about two weeks, and the flavor is much more robust than anything you buy in a store. Incidentally, a lot of recipes call for sodium nitrate, aka “pink salt,” but all this really does is give it color. You can make it without the sodium nitrate, and it will taste exactly like corned beef, it just won’t have that reddish color. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/5 "2010-01-03T07:28:51Z")
Didn’t AB do corned beef on Good Eats? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/6 "2010-01-03T07:33:18Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Didn’t AB do corned beef on Good Eats? [Pickled Pink (1/2)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4gIqbYAf_E) [Pickled Pink (2/2)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q4wgWbqhEM) ---
**Author:** ![Mooch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mooch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mooch)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/7 "2010-01-04T21:09:35Z")
I do several around St. Patrick’s day every year. I use the recipe to corn brisket from _Charcuterie_ but not its cooking method. I do use sodium nitrite in the brine for that deep red color! OK - I need a Reuben sandwich now. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/8 "2010-01-04T21:15:01Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I’ve been experimenting, and I’ve had issues with too much salt. > > your experiences? Have you soaked it to remove the salt afterwards? I would do it for at least 24 hours with several changes of water. Homemade corned beef is supposed to be salty as hell–that was the whole point of it–to preserve the meat with the salt. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-made-your-own-corned-beef-and-or-pastrami/523419/9 "2010-01-04T21:39:38Z")
Do I need to start a new thread to ask about pre-packaged corned beef? I haven’t had a good one for ages. There was a great brand growing up, but no one can remember what it was. All I’ve gotten in the stores lately have been mildly flavored at best.