# Serious Eats Corned Beef Recipe



## carlo olivares (Aug 31, 2016)

Hi SMF members!

I came across a corned beef recipe on the Serious Eats website. I'm a little worried the amount of pink salt is too much. I think its about 278PPM for the dry rub. About .4% pink salt vs the meat weight.

1 whole flat or point cut beef brisket, trimmed, about 2250 grams/5 pounds
100 grams/3 1/2 ounces (about 3/4 cup) Diamon Crystal kosher salt
10 grams/.325 ounces (about 1 tablespoon) of pink salt
30 grams/1 ounce (about 2 tablespoons) packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
2 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
1 tablespoon allspice berries
6 whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground ginger
6 bay leaves, roughly torn
2 pounds carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and roughly diced
1 whole head white or green cabbage, cut into 6 to 8 wedges (2 to 3 pounds total)
Does that seems safe to eat?

Thanks!

Carlo


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## smokin monkey (Sep 1, 2016)

Hi Carlo, yes that Pink Salt is very high.

I would go with 5.6 grams for 2250 grams of meat giving 156 ppm.


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## daveomak (Sep 1, 2016)

Carlo, morning.....  We need the recipe...  how it's made...  reason being, if you add the cure to everything that is in the recipe, the recipe's total weight is about 10 pounds....  you have 10 grams of cure listed...   that's 1 gram cure per pound...  137 Ppm nitrite...  looks good to me....

Now, if you are adding the cure to the meat, and letting it sit for 2 weeks in the refer, it's about ~280 Ppm nitrite...

One more thing...   are you using  6.25% cure... I see you are in the Philippines...  What cure does the recipe call for...


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## dirtsailor2003 (Sep 1, 2016)

Dave the full recipe and instructions can be found below. I had just read this a few days ago. He calls for a five pound brisket. the meat to cure for 7 days.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...ket-with-potatoes-cabbage-carrots-recipe.html


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## chef jimmyj (Sep 1, 2016)

More cure than is recommended but no where near a dangerous amount. I would use half that amount...JJ


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## bubba mcnabb (Sep 1, 2016)

.....following like to try it

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


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## daveomak (Sep 1, 2016)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> More cure than is recommended but no where near a dangerous amount. I would use half that amount...JJ


JJ is right on...   Same here....  If you add 1 grams cure #1 to meat, you will be very safe...  As far as time in the refer with cure and stuff, when adding sugar, because of the size of the sugar molecule, 14 days is long enough for the sugar to penetrate the meat....  salt penetrates faster... 

My suggestion is 1 gram cure per pound and add the sugar etc...   14 days in the refer...    you will get a better depth of flavor...  I have found, by accident, too much cure toughens meat...  don't know why...  but I added WAY too much cure when I first started curing meats...  I misinterpreted the meaning of some words...


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## carlo olivares (Sep 5, 2016)

DaveOmak said:


> JJ is right on...   Same here....  If you add 1 grams cure #1 to meat, you will be very safe...  As far as time in the refer with cure and stuff, when adding sugar, because of the size of the sugar molecule, 14 days is long enough for the sugar to penetrate the meat....  salt penetrates faster...
> 
> My suggestion is 1 gram cure per pound and add the sugar etc...   14 days in the refer...    you will get a better depth of flavor...  I have found, by accident, too much cure toughens meat...  don't know why...  but I added WAY too much cure when I first started curing meats...  I misinterpreted the meaning of some words...



thank you JJ, Dirt Sailor, and Dave! I will go with 1 gram per pound of meat. 

Btw, how did you come up with that calculation? Is it a rule of thumb when applying cure #1 via a rub? Essentially it is 0.2% total meat weight.


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## carlo olivares (Sep 5, 2016)

Thank you!


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## carlo olivares (Sep 5, 2016)

Smokin Monkey said:


> Hi Carlo, yes that Pink Salt is very high.
> 
> I would go with 5.6 grams for 2250 grams of meat giving 156 ppm.



Thank you!


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## daveomak (Sep 5, 2016)

Carlo Olivares said:


> DaveOmak said:
> 
> 
> > JJ is right on...   Same here....  If you add 1 grams cure #1 to meat, you will be very safe...  As far as time in the refer with cure and stuff, when adding sugar, because of the size of the sugar molecule, 14 days is long enough for the sugar to penetrate the meat....  salt penetrates faster...
> ...


Carlo, morning.....  You are correct....   ~0.2% of the weight is a good target to shoot for...   The USDA / FDA has set upper limits for adding nitrite to meats.....  For ground meats, 156 Ppm nitrite is the max. allowable...   Using cure #1, which is 6.25% nitrite, 0.000156 X 454 gms in 1# = 0.071 gms of nitrite.. div. by 0.0625% nitrite in cure #1 = 1.13 grams of cure #1 to get the max allowable nitrite.. 1 gram cure #1 = 138 Ppm nitrite....  That's perfect for most all meats...  below the max allowable and more than enough to kill botulism and make food safe to consume after smoking and the cooking process...    The cooking process reduces the remaining nitrite, once the temps get above 130 ish def. F, to below 50 Ppm and some tests show after a long cooking process the residual nitrite can be as low as 10 Ppm...   So, you can see folks that have concerns about nitrite in foods is pretty much a moot point...

Now, if you are using a wet brine, adding water or what ever, add the weight of the water to the meat and add 1 gram per pound of water + meat to get the proper Ppm nitrite...  

There are different amounts of nitrite for different methods and processing...   Bacon for instance...  200 Ppm for a dry brine rub and 120 Ppm for a wet brine immersion / injection on bacon...   ~0.2% for bacon is not putting you in any danger in either method..  

Here's a blurb on nitrite dissipation....

*Nitrite Dissipation from heat*.....

　

Prague Powder #1

Also called Insta-Cure and Modern Cure. Cures are used to prevent meats from spoiling when being cooked or smoked at low temperatures (under 200 degrees F). This cure is 1 part sodium nitrite (6.25%) and 16 parts salt (93.75%) and are combined and crystallized to assure even distribution. As the meat temperate rises during processing, the sodium nitrite changes to nitric oxide and starts to ‘gas out’ at about 130 degrees F. After the smoking /cooking process is complete only about 10-20% of the original nitrite remains. As the product is stored and later reheated for consumption, the decline of nitrite continues. 4 ounces of Prague powder #1 is required to cure 100 lbs of meat. A more typical measurement for home use is 1 level tsp per 5 lbs of meat. Mix with cold water, then mix into meat like you would mix seasonings into meat.

Prague Powder #2

Used to dry-cure products. Prague powder #2 is a mixture of 1 part sodium nitrite, .64 parts sodium nitrate and 16 parts salt. (1 oz. of sodium nitrite with .64 oz. of sodium nitrate to each lb. of salt.) It is primarily used in dry-curing Use with products that do not require cooking, smoking, or refrigeration. This cure, which is sodium nitrate, acts like a time release, slowly breaking down into sodium nitrite, then into nitric oxide. This allows you to dry cure products that take much longer to cure. A cure with sodium nitrite would dissipate too quickly. Use 1 oz. of cure for 25 lbs. of meat or 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lbs. of meat when mixing with meat. When using a cure in a brine solution, follow a recipe.

Hope this answers your question....   If not, I'm here.....      Dave


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