Corned Beef and Pastrami

Work has been crazily busy.  Between that and pulling up the garden I haven't had time to post, but with winter things calm down.  Winter is the best time for doing cooking that does not require fresh veggies and preferably will last into the summer.  Today we are making corned beef. 

Start with a 4 lb brisket. 

In a Bowl mix 8 oz salt, 3 tablespoons Prague Powder (you can find this on the internet), 1 cup brown sugar, 5 tablespoons pickling spices, and 4 cloves garlic.

Add 1/4 gallon very hot water and mix to dissolve salts.

then add 3/4 gallon very cold water.  Add the meat to the brine (if you will be eating the corn beef as a finished project remove excess fat, if you will be turning it into pastrami leave it).  Be sure the meat is covered by the brine. 

Let cure in the fridge for 7-14 days.  It is then great cooked with cabbage, in hash, or turned into pastrami.

When you are ready to make the pastrami mix together 1/4 cup coriander, 2 T ground black pepper and 2 T smoked paprika.  Rub these on your corn beef and let it sit for up to 2 hours. 

Preheat your oven to 300 and place the meat in a roasting pan on a rack.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake 1 hour per lb or meat.  Cool and slice onto you sandwich.