Corned beef is a good example of how to take a cheap and relatively-useless cut of meat and turn it into a delicious meal. The process isn’t that difficult, you can do it now as well as in an off-grid situation, and you can apply the same principles to other tough meats from different animals as well. Best of all, you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself, and you can also improvise in order to have greater control over the ingredients and overall flavor of the finished product.
Ingredients
1 large beef brisket
Approx 1 gallon of water
1 cup of kosher or sea salt
1 onion
½ cup of vinegar
8 cloves of garlic
3-4 bay leaves
3-5 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of peppercorn
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of cloves
½ teaspoon of allspice
2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes
Getting Started
Pour enough water into a large stockpot that will allow you to submerge all of the beef later. Add in 4 cloves of garlic, salt, sugar, vinegar, bay leaves along with half of the mustard seeds and cloves before bringing the mixture to a boil and stirring continually. Remove from heat and place your brisket into a large plastic roasting bag. Add in the liquid after it has cooled to the touch, and make sure that the beef is completely covered before sealing the bag and placing it into the pot. You can prepare the brisket without a bag by placing it directly into the pot after the liquid has cooled, but the bag will help to infuse the brisket with flavor and slightly speed up the process.
In either case, place the pot in the refrigerator or in temperatures below 40 degrees, and let the brisket soak in the brine for about 6-8 days. Turn it once a day to make sure that all of the beef is being soaked evenly. When finished, remove the beef, discard the brine and give it a good rinse before placing it back into the stockpot.
Fill the pot with enough water to cover the beef about ¾ the way up before adding in the rest of the spices and seasonings. Peel and quarter the onion and put the pieces in the liquid as well. Bring up the heat to a rolling boil for a couple of minutes until slimy foam begins to appear on top. Remove from heat, skim the foam and return to a simmer for another 3-4 hours or until the beef is tender and can be pulled apart with ease.
Remove the beef from the liquid when finished, and let it rest for a couple of minutes before slicing it up and serving. While this may seem like a lot of unnecessary work, this is a cooking technique that’s worth mastering, and you can apply it to all kinds of tough meats that would otherwise go to waste in your survival kitchen. Try it for yourself, and experiment with different seasonings until you create a brisket that is tailored for your tastes and preferences.
