Making your own corned beef isn't hard, but it takes 7 days and requires space in your fridge. The only ingredients are salt and beef brisket. America's Test Kitchen also adds herbs and spices for flavor. The nitrite that many places add keeps the meat from turning brown. It does nothing for the flavor. Why is it so hard to buy corned beef without this carcinogenic chemical?
Another pasture-raised beef farm in this area has corned beef brisket for sale and they claim to use "no nitrates or nitrites except those naturally occurring in sea salt and celery powder". I bought a small one to try.
The last time I cooked a brisket I used a pressure cooker, and it was tender and delicious, so I did the same for this one. I combined several recipes. Even though there was no nitrite, it was a nice red color. What surprised me, though, was that it shrank a LOT! It also exuded a LOT of liquid. Is that normal?
My husband gobbled it up.
Nitrite-Free Corned Beef Brisket
INGREDIENTS:
- One 2.5 pound beef brisket
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 1 head garlic, cloves separated, peeled and halved
- 1 T. peppercorns
- 1 t. dried thyme leaves, or 8 sprigs fresh
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1 c. beef broth.
- Horseradish sauce for serving.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Soak the brisket in water for 2 hours, changing the water every 30 minutes. Pat the brisket dry.
Put the sliced onions, garlic, peppercorns, thyme, bay leaves and beef broth in the bottom of a pressure cooker large enough to hold the meat. Cover them with the rack and place the brisket on the rack.
Following the instructions for your unit, secure the lid and bring the pressure cooker up to pressure.
Cook for 90 minutes. Release the pressure naturally.
Some people cook cabbage and carrots along with the meat, I roasted them separately in the oven.
Remove the meat from the pressure cooker, slice thinly, and serve with horseradish sauce.
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