Side by side by silverside (corned beef in limey talk)...

[Ka Honu]

So here we are – St. Patrick’s Day and time to eat corned beef. Decided to go “culturally diverse” this year and try it the way they do it in UK and Australia. As you know, in the USA, we eat corned brisket. In UK and Australia, they mostly use a cut they call “silverside” (essentially bottom round or rump roast) to make their corned beef. In fact, Silverside is apparently the generic name for corned beef in those places.

So I trimmed and corned (identically but separately) a brisket flat and a chunk of rump roast – 7 days in brine, 8 hours in fresh water to soak out some of the salt, and 10 hours at 180^o in a sous vide bath. Poured off the liquid (used it to cook the veggies) and sliced…



The “skinny” slices (on the left) are brisket; the others are rump roast/silverside. SWMBO and I noted slight differences in taste and texture:

     • The silverside was slightly milder - possibly could have used another day or two in the brine.
     • The silverside had a slightly drier texture - I’d guess due to less internal fat/marbling than the brisket.

We agreed, however, that both were excellent and both way way better than the bagged corned beef you get in the supermarket. I’m thinking we’ll probably go with the silverside most of the time from now on for the following reasons:

     • It’s much easier to prep since it's practically “cure-ready,” not needing major surgery to trim the ribbon and cap.
     • The serving cost is much lower. A 12-pound packer brisket will generally yield 6 or 7 pounds of cured and cooked meat. The same raw weight of bottom round or rump (three 4-pound roasts) will yield 10-11 pounds cooked for about the same price as the packer.
     • Silverside still has enough fat to be tasty but for those who like leaner meat (like SWMBO) it doesn’t have a “greasy” feeling/flavor. (I didn’t really understand that but I said, “Yes, dear.”)

Not sure how the silverside will work for pastrami (which I tend to think needs more fat than corned beef) but that's another experiment for another day. In the meantime, I can save my briskets for smoking Texas-style (like God meant us to do when he invented cattle).

Sláinte mhaith

[Smokin Don]

Looks good Turtle!!! TFS and glad we got a photo from you!!! Don

[spuds]

Another bookmark,thank you

[akruckus]

Thanks for sharing.  I love side by side comparisons!

[ACW3]

Nicely done, Turtle!  The whole meal looks scrumptious!  (That's my big word for today.) 

I had two 4 + pound corned beef points from the store that I was going to use for some of Hub's EZ pastrami.  I also have a 14 pound corned beef brisket in the freezer.  Went with the two smaller pieces.  They went into the crock pot last night before I went to bed.  They smell wonderful.  Into the fridge to cool and slice before dinner.  I am also saving the liquid to cook the veggies.  I wonder if there is a version of "GRAVY" that I could make from the liquid? 

Art 

[Ka Honu]

... I wonder if there is a version of "GRAVY" that I could make from the liquid? 

Try making a light roux with a couple tablespoons of butter & flour. Add in a cup or so of the (hot) liquid. Boil to thicken, take off the stove, and stir in a couple tablespoons of brown mustard and about half that much horseradish.

[hikerman]

e author=ACW3 link=topic=16520.msg219893#msg219893 date=1458215772]... I wonder if there is a version of "GRAVY" that I could make from the liquid? 

Try making a light roux with a couple tablespoons of butter & flour. Add in a cup or so of the (hot) liquid. Boil to thicken, take off the stove, and stir in a couple tablespoons of brown mustard and about half that much horseradish.
[/quote]

That sounds wonderful!
Hey your plate looks excellent Turtle! I did a store-bought flat a la sous vide yesterday. Waiting to slice up tonight and cook veggies in the juice as well.

[Pam Gould]

Bookmarked, I just found out yesterday that hubby doesn't like corned beef, likes reubens but not cb and cabbage.geezzz, he's soooo fired.  .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

[ACW3]

... I wonder if there is a version of "GRAVY" that I could make from the liquid? 

Try making a light roux with a couple tablespoons of butter & flour. Add in a cup or so of the (hot) liquid. Boil to thicken, take off the stove, and stir in a couple tablespoons of brown mustard and about half that much horseradish.

Thank you.  I will give it a try.

Art