The Homesteader Kitchen

Alright, a little late but better than never, right?  I finally have the verdict on the home-brined corned beef.

The verdict is… it’s okay.  I think it needed a few tweaks but we’re definitely on the right path!

Here’s what I noticed:

• When it was brining, it smelled like sweet pickles.  No joke – I think it must have been the pickling spice I used.
• It was very salty, but I forgot to rinse it before I put it in the slow cooker
• It was also very dry, but I realized the with the commercial briskets I usually have more fatty cuts and I put the brine it was packaged with into the pot along with the roast.
• The flavor was not super strong.  It did smell like corned beef, but it tasted like a cross between corned beef and a really salty regular roast.
• The celery didn’t seem to do anything for the color.

So – the plan:  I got another roast and I’m going to do another one for this Saturday.

I was looking at this recipe here and I think the missing ingredient might have been the vinegar.  Or maybe the garlic, or both.  Either way, I’m going to try again, adding some garlic cloves and vinegar and seeing if that gives it the flavor punch I was looking for.

The other roast I got is a little more marbled so hopefully won’t dry out quite as much.

So – once again, I’ll update this project next week!

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Brine-Your-Own Corned Beef!

I’m not much of an entertaining-type gal.

I’m just not very good at it.  So, traditionally, there’s only once a year that I have people over (besides a casual dinner invite).

St Patty’s Day!

(Click here to skip directly to the instructions)

My crockpot makes I make a pretty awesome corned beef from commercially cured brisket.  This year I’m going to brine my own, however!

I’ve decided to do one this week so 1. you can decide if you want to do one too and have enough time and 2. if it is awful, then I won’t be inflicting said awful-ness on my guests on the 17th.

I’ve used a similar process to what I found at the Nourished Kitchen (one of my favorite blogs).  The main difference is I’m using the “whole juice” of celery that I can make in my Ninja 1100 blender, which is essentially celery juice pureed and pulverized until the pulp is as fine as baby food.  Have I mentioned I adore my Ninja?  Maybe once once or twice

This is what juiced celery looks like with the pulp, out of the Ninja 1100.

Why celery in corned beef?

Good question!

Celery is actually a natural source of nitrates that will help the preservation and give it that pink color that we have come to expect from corned beef.

Okay, I realize I said “without nitrates,” but I don’t mind using something natural like celery where I juiced/processed it myself, as opposed to using saltpeter A.K.A. Pink Salt that most recipes call for.

How to brine corned beef – the process

Anyway so – this is kind of a long-ish process.  Brining a corned beef can take almost a week to 10 days in the fridge, although I’m going to do it like Sally Fallon recommends in her awesome book Nourishing Traditions and let it brine on the counter at room temp for about 3 days.  I also had to take a day in advance to make yogurt so I could drain it for whey, so to make this you are looking at about a week’s notice minimum.

By the time I’m done (on Friday), you’ll have plenty of time to decide if you want to home-brine your corned beef, pick up a brisket, make the yogurt, drain it to get the whey, brine the beef, and cook it up!

Making the Corned Beef Brine

You’ll need:

• 3lb brisket (or other cut of roast, really)
• 1/2 cup flaked pickling salt
• 1/2 cup pickling spices
• 2 cups whey (not from powder)
• 1 whole bunch celery, juiced/pureed
• 2 cups extra water

1. I rinsed the beef well, and coated it with a mix of the salt & spices.
2. I then set the beef inside the crock of my crockpot (which is UNPLUGGED), then I added the whey and celery juice puree.  You can strain out the puree if you want, but I didn’t want to bother.
3. At this stage you can add water if you need to (the liquid must cover the meat completely).  I needed to add 2 cups extra water.
4. The way I put the beef it will stay covered, but you may need to weight yours down with a plate or something.
5. I’ll need to turn the beef every day so it cures evenly, but I’ll probably do it twice a day since I’m taking the “short room temp” method.

Oh and I’m using my crockpot for convenience – it’s a nice ceramic crock with a lid, and I’m not planning on using it in the meantime.  You can use a glass bowl with some sort of lid if you don’t have a crock to use.

Here you can see me rubbing the spices and salt into the meat.  I stick my hand into a plastic baggie when I do this kinda stuff so I keep my hands clean.

Here’s everything in the crock – the meat, with the celery pulp/juice, whey, and water.

When the beef is ready to be cooked, then I’ll just empty the crock (into the compost bucket, of course), give it and the meat a quick rinse, then put the meat back into the crock to slow cook. I always do my corned beef at 8-10 hours on low… it has traditionally been awesome that way. Easy peasy!

I’ll update this process on Saturday (probably late in the day after din-din) but in the meantime I’ll be posting a recipe for homemade dark-mint truffle ice cream that is PRIMAL compliant for those of you interested, and simply fabulous for those of you who don’t care.

It’s one of my favorites… I don’t make it much for obvious reasons.  And you can make it GREEN for St Patrick’s Day!

 - Bethany

**Update – read the VERDICT here**

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Q: What’s the Difference Between the Ninja 1100 and 1200?

A: There’s a couple differences, though they are pretty minor.

1. The Ninja 1100 comes with a cookbook which is actually a really nice, thorough cookbook with big beautiful pictures ($32.00 value for no extra cost). The 1200 does not come with a cookbook.
2. The 1100 is the unit sold online, and the 1200 unit is the one sold in regular (Brick & mortar) stores.
3. The different units have a little bit of a different base. The 1100 model has the regular base and also a separate “dough” base which is hard to describe but you basically insert the regular base into the dough base which secures it via suction cups to your countertop. The intention is to keep it stable when you are processing dough so it doesn’t “walk” off the countertop and fall on the floor.
   **Speaking from experience, those suction cups are VERY powerful and very effective. The 1200 unit base has a little bigger footprint than the 1100 regular base, and it has built-in suction cups instead of a separate dough base. I haven’t used a 1200 model myself so I can’t speak for the strength of the suction.

Other than that, they are identical. They cost the same, the pitchers and attachments are the same, and they both have the same motor.

If you are considering which one to buy, truth be told they are nearly identical so I would order the 1100 model because you’ll get the free cookbook, and it’s completely worth it.

Q: Is the Ninja Dishwasher Safe?

A: Yes! It’s no problem to wash the Ninja in the dishwasher. One piece of advice, regarding the lids with soft silicone seal ridges around the edges – the silicone can soften in the dishwasher and take on the shape of anything pushed up against it. I haven’t noticed it affecting the seal quality at all, but I am now more careful about how I arrange the lids on the rack to prevent this from continuing to happen.

Q: Can I dehydrate cheese in my Excalibur?

A: Yes, you can. I wouldn’t recommend dehydrating a high fat cheese your first time (they tend to melt), but trying out a low-fat aged cheese like parmesan or romano would work quite well.

Higher fat cheeses can be dried but you may need to use paper towels for a while, and change them frequently as they absorb the grease. Also, depending on the quality of the high-fat cheese, it may end up going rancid instead of continuing to age properly in storage.  A good artisan cheese would work a lot better than cheap Kraft cheese, if that makes sense.

The best way to dehydrate cheese using an Excalibur dehydrator is to get one of the Paraflexx sheets, shred up your cheese as finely as you can, and arrange it on the Paraflexx. Dry it on about 100 degrees until the shreds shatter when you crush them.

Finish the cheese by processing in a food processor or a blender like the Ninja until it’s a powder, if that’s what you’d like. If your intention is to be able to rehydrate the cheese, it won’t work the same as a fresh cheese but dehydrated cheese is great for adding in to casseroles, egg dishes, and other similar foods for an extra punch of flavor.

And that’s it for this edition of Mailbag Monday!

This week on The Homesteader Kitchen – Homemade Corned Beef

So this week I’m going to be making homemade corned beef and documenting it along the way.  I wanted to do it early so those of you who would like to make your own home-cured corned beef (without commercial nitrates) can make one in time for St Patrick’s Day.  So… stay tuned

Happy Monday!

- Bethany

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A while ago I got a question from a reader regarding sealing in the Foodsaver.

She’d read in my review of the Foodsaver V2840 that I seal up my hot chocolate mix in Foodsaver bags because I can only buy it in bulk.

She was wanting to do something similar, so her question was this: “How do I seal powdered items in my Foodsaver without getting powder everywhere?”

Well, there’s a little trick, and it’s best shown with pictures.  So – this post is for you, Sherry!

Step 1 – get a clean, dry produce bag.

Step 2 – fill produce bag with your powdered substance.  I’m using regular flour here.

Note:  If you are planning for long-term storage, you may want to throw in an oxygen absorber here.

Step 3 – Place the produce bag inside a Foodsaver bag like so:

Step 4 – Loosely twist the end of the produce bag so there’s no clear “path” for the flour to take.

Step 5 – While making sure the end of the produce bag stays twisted, gently flatten the contents and place the Foodsaver bag inside your sealer.

Step 6 – Seal it up!  The loosely twisted end of the produce bag keeps the flour inside while allowing the extra air to escape.

Voila!  Sealed up nice and tight, and no powder everywhere and in my Foodsaver motor.

And there you have it!  Enjoy.

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Good evening everyone!  It’s “Mailbag Monday,” our weekly Q&A session.

This week we’ve only had a couple questions come up but they were definitely good ones, so we wanted to make sure and get them posted.

Q: I always have problems opening my All American pressure canner after I’m done using it.  Is there an easier way?

A: I’ve actually had the SAME problem in my All American.  Continue reading “Mailbag Monday – Problems opening All American canners, Plus Ninja Blender Nut Butters & More” »

The other day I was doing my grocery shopping and something caught my eye.

Have you seen these?

They are made by Yoplait – prepackaged bags of mixed frozen fruit for smoothies.

I must admit it’s KIND OF a cool idea…

…but not something I’d pay a premium for!

I mean… that thing was about $4 for 7.6oz of frozen bananas & strawberries!

That almost goes into gimmick territory, especially considering it works out to be well over $8/lb for the fruit. Continue reading “DIY Prepackaged Frozen Fruit Smoothie Bags in the Foodsaver” »

Introducing Mailbag Monday!

A weekly Q&A session with Bethany & Marie

Periodically we get questions emailed in, or we notice that someone reached our site with a particularly interesting question as their search terms.

Instead of just responding individually, we want to feature some of these questions each Monday just in case anyone else has similar questions.

And of course – if you have any questions yourself, please feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll get right back to you! Continue reading “Mailbag Monday #1 – Electricity use of an Excalibur Dehydrator, Grinding Coffee in a Ninja, and more” »