Corned Beef (Nitrate Free, Vegan Option)

Corned or corning meat is a process, not a specific cut. Traditionally, corned beef is cured in a salty brine to which common pickling spices are added, as well as nitrates. If you are sensitive to either those pickling spices (many are seeds after all) and/or sensitive or on medications precluding you from taking in nitrates and/or sensitive to nightshades (commonly included in those spice packages) and/or wanting to control the type of salt used–then this recipe is for you!

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 cups water
• 1 cup real salt
• 2 tsp whole cloves
• 1 tsp whole black pepper corns
• 2 TBSP pickling spice (make your own, you safe, blend or use a store bought blend–but it should include whole mustard seeds if you can have those)
• OPTIONAL: some folks like to add sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, or molasses. This is a matter of personal preference and you can do so or skip this step.
• OPTIONAL: shredded raw beets and/or the juice of 2 cans of beets, drained

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Begin by placing the desired spices, salt, and water into your pan. If you chose to use beets as the coloring, add them too. Beets are optional.
   
2. Bring to a boil.
   
3. Allow to boil for 10 minutes to ensure any bacteria, etc. is dealt with.
   
4. Cool to room temperature.
   
5. Add beet juice for coloring. NOTE: Professionally canned foods from the grocery store (and yours if you’ve followed the correct canning procedures) are already sanitary. If you add the beet juice PRIOR to sanitizing the fluids/spices in steps 1-3 above, then the color of the water will not be red. Since the point of adding the beet liquid is to stain the meat a bit red, like nitrates normally would do, without having to use nitrates, then you will need to trust the beet water from a can is sanitary to use it, or skip the step of adding it, and just accept nitrate-free corned beef is grey not red when it is sliced after cooking.
   
6. Into the above prepared brine, submerge uncooked brisket (beef), other cut of meat (raw beef), or tofu/meat substitute for vegan corned beef. NOTE: There are a number of recipes for this vegan option online. However once the vegan “meat” is made, it needs to be in the brine.
   
7. Cover tightly and place in the fridge for a week. To become “corned” this needs to marinade in the brine. After the brine has soaked into the beef, drain it (discard brine) and cook it as you would normally cook (options are: boiled dinner, baked in the oven, using a slow cooker, using a roaster, or pressure cooker) .

Bourbon BBQ Sauce and Brisket Video

Thanks Avi for the juicy brisket recipe and great video.  This BBQ Sauce from Avi’s brisket also works well on other items too and is worth making all on its own.

For the Bourbon BBQ Sauce:

12 oz organic tomato paste

10 oz white vinegar or apple cider vinegar

8 oz of pure maple syrup

½ tsp salt

1 Tbs. brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. arrow root

1 or 2 shots of fine bourbon

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a blender. Blend well for about thirty seconds. Now you’re done. That was easy. However, you should taste it. If it’s not quite sweet enough or bourbon enough for you, adjust to your taste. Please remember though that you will not be eating this sauce by itself, it will combine with the fats, juices and strong flavors of the meat. The sugars and the bourbon will also caramelize while cooking, so it will just get better. I put the left over sauce in a plastic squeeze bottle and use it on burgers, fries, roasts etc.