Corned Beef

Corned Beef

Core recipe

3kg boneless beef

125g coarse sea salt

1 tbsp cracked peppercorns

1 tsp each ground allspice, paprika, dried thyme, & dried sage

2 bay leaves, crumbled

You will aslo need

1 large plastic zip lock bag

2 large bowls

1 weight

2 weeks & plenty of space in your fridge

Rub all the seasoning ingredients over the meat and place it in the zip lock bag.  Squeeze the air out of the bag & seal it.  Put the bag in a bowl and place the weight on top, then refrigerate.

Once a day, massage the spices and liquids into the meat, still inside it's bag and turn it over in the bowl.

After 2 weeks the cure is complete, although the meat will keep for several months in the fridge.

When you are ready to cook it, you need to remove the saltiness.  Do this by soaking the meat in several changes of water for 24 hours.  The meat has then become like fresh meat again and should be treated as such!

Depending on which cut of meat you have chosen, poach it with veg then cool and slice, or braise with plenty of chopped veg including onions & tomatoes and plenty of aromatic spices.  Either way, cook gently for 3-4 hours.