If you’re wondering why the corned beef isn’t pink, the only corned beef available at my store was nitrate free, which is a good thing, I guess, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to like beef corned without nitrates. I really think my corned beef should be pink. Or I used to. It turns out pink isn’t a flavor.
Inspired by one of my favorite food blogs (Simply Recipes), I cut my brisket in half and baked one half with a brown sugar/mustard rub, and cooked the other in my slow cooker (my usual habit). The baked one wins hands down. These two little pieces were all that was left of the pound and a half that went into the oven, and it took all my willpower not to eat them as they went into the refrigerator. I might have to learn how to corn my own beef, now that I know it doesn’t have to be pink.
Nitrate / Nitrite free corned beef