Just in time for St.Paddy's Day! Use your grill/barbecue/smoker to enhance the flavor of this time honored favorite!
The History and Irish Tradition of Corned Beef According to the US department of Agriculture Originally "Corned Beef and Cabbage" was a traditional dish served for Easter Sunday dinner in rural Ireland. The beef, because there was no refrigeration at that time was salted or brined during the winter to preserve it, It was then eaten after the long, meatless Lenten fast.
According to the website Irish Cultres and Customs their research shows that most likely a "bacon joint" or a piece of salted pork boiled with cabbage and potatoes would more likely have shown up for an Easter Sunday feast in the rural parts of Ireland.
Since the advent of refrigeration, the trend in Ireland is to eat fresh meats. Today this peasant dish is more popular in the United States than in Ireland. Irish-Americans and lots of other people eat it on St. Patrick's Day, Ireland's principal feast day, as a nostalgic reminder of their Irish heritage.
Corning is a form of curing; it has nothing to do with corn. The name comes from Anglo-Saxon times before refrigeration. In those days, the meat was dry-cured in coarse "corns" of salt. Pellets of salt, some the size of kernels of corn, were rubbed into the beef to keep it from spoiling and to preserve it.
Today brining -- the use of salt water -- has replaced the dry salt cure, but the name "corned beef" is still used, rather than "brined" or "pickled" beef. Commonly used spices that give corned beef its distinctive flavor are peppercorns and bay leaf. Of course, these spices may vary regionally.
CORNED BEEF ON THE GRILL: Now is the time you want to purchase those under 5# packages of brisket in the meat counter!
BEWARE! A corned beef (actually the flat cut of a whole brisket) is not the easiest thing to cook on the grill! Reason: Lack of marbling (fat). Has to be slow cooked in order to break down the meat fibers. Pickling may help to do some tenderization because of the vinegar in it. However, you need to mop the corned beef while cooking it otherwise it will dry out. Use butter,olive oil or a seasoned vinegar mop as a means of adding some moisture to the meat.
Soak: To start off grilling our corned beef you need to soak the beef for about 30 minutes per pound and no less than 2 hours. This soaking needs to be done with warm water or the salt will not dissolve effectively. You also need to change the water every hour and rinse the corned beef off when you change the water.
Season: Once the corned beef has been soaked and rinsed off you can now apply the seasonings. Corned beef is frequently sold with a spice packet. You can use this as a rub on the meat. You can also mix up your own rub. Use coarsely cracked black pepper, cracked coriander seeds, onion powder, thyme, paprika, garlic powder and cayenne. Typically you want a lot of pepper and coriander and less of the other ingredients. Try 4 parts pepper and coriander and 1 part of the others.
Cook: You want to cook your corned beef for up to 2 hours at around 250 degrees F. Charcoal and hardwoods will give you better flavors but you can use a gas grill. Either way, go for indirect cooking and use a drip pan under the corned beef. Cook until the internal temperature of the meat reaches170 degrees F. You could also simmer the corned beef in hot water first it is probably already around this area. What you want to get is a corned beef that has lightly crusted on the surface but hasn't dried out so watch the meat closely, especially after the first hour.
Baste: During the cooking process, baste your corned beef every 30 minutes. So, why would you want to grill a corned beef? Well you add a lot more flavor to the meat than you would simply boiling it. Also you get a piece of meat that isn't boiled to a mush. Grilled corned beef is denser and has a much better texture to it. If you want to get the cabbage to go with this use the last batch of water that you soaked the corned beef it. Bring it to a boil, throw in some potatoes and then the cabbage. You can also add some of the drippings from the drip pan in your grill. This will really flavor up the mixture.
