Homemade Corned Beef, Swiss Cheese, Walla Walla Onion, Mustard on a Kaiser Roll

For one of my Weekend Food Projects, I decided to experiment with making one of my favorite deli meats, corned beef. Since I have been making bacon on my own for a year, I already had a source for the pink salt (sodium nitrite) needed. So for me, the hardest thing about making the corned beef is getting all of the spices needed for the pickling spice. I spent several frustrating hours shopping in the local markets for allspice berries, mace, and coriander seeds, at a decent price. Yes, I could have use pre-made pickling spice, but that is not nearly as fun as making your own customized blend. A word of advice, find a store dedicated to bulk spices in your city and stock up. The best thing about my search was that I “discovered” this really great spice and import store in Seattle, Big John’s PFI. If you are in Seattle area, go!

This recipe was adapted from Michael Ruhlman’s book
Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing and website.

Home-Cured Corned Beef

1-1/2 cups kosher salt
½ cup sugar
4 teaspoons pink salt (sodium nitrite, not to be confused with Himalayan pink salt)*
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons pickling spice
1 5-pound beef brisket

In a large pot, combine one gallon of water with kosher salt, sugar, sodium nitrite, garlic and 2 tablespoons pickling spice. Bring to a simmer, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled.

Place brisket in brine, weighted with a plate to keep it submerged; cover. Refrigerate for 5 days.

Remove brisket from brine and rinse thoroughly. If you have a crockpot large enough to hold your brisket, use it. Cover the brisket with water, add remaining pickling spice and set it on low for 5 hours. If not, place in a pot just large enough to hold the brisket. Cover the brisket with water and add remaining pickling spice. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer gently until brisket is fork-tender, about 3 hours, adding water if needed to cover brisket. Optional step: Place in a 350 degree oven for an additonal 45-60 minutes to brown to the brisket.

*I know Ruhlman states that the pink salt is optional, I disagree. If you want the pink color that is “normally” found in corned beef, use it.

Pickling Spice

2 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons allspice berries
1 tablespoon ground mace (I have also used an equal amount of grated nutmeg, in a pinch)
2 small cinnamon sticks, crushed or broken into pieces
2 to 4 bay leaves, crumbled
2 tablespoons whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground ginger.

Combine peppercorns, mustard seeds and coriander seeds in a small dry pan. Place over medium heat and stir until fragrant, being careful not to burn them; keep lid handy in case seeds pop. Grind peppercorns and seeds in a spice grinder. One or two pulses in the grinder should be enough. You can also use a meat mallet and a Ziploc bag to crack the seeds.

Combine with other spices, mix. Store in tightly sealed plastic or glass container.