Recipe for Corned beef and/or Pastrami

How funny! I've got a pastrami brining in the fridge right now as I had much the same thought.

I'm using this recipe.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/beef-pastrami-recipe2/index.html

I haven't used it before, so I can't tell you how it's going to turn out. I admit to being a bit weirded out by the idea of keeping a piece of meat in my fridge for 3 weeks, even if it is in a brine.

Guy Fieri, also on foodnetwork.com, also has a couple of recipes for turkey pastrami that require only a 2-3 day brining. I don't know if that's just his preference or if it has to do with it being poultry. I suspect the recipes would work just about as well for beef.

i just made corned beef using michael ruhlman's recipe from Charcuterie, and prepared it using Suzanne Goin's method from Sunday Supper at Lucques.

Ruhlman has a great brine that works in 7 days.  it was delicious.

When I worked at a Jewish owned, and run, bagel shop several years ago I developed the following recipe for cooking a truly tasty corned beef..We used Saval's best grade of first cut corned beef briskets..These briskets weighed approximately 3.5-6 lb. each..We purchased them in 30 lb. cases, so the briskets varied in weight..

Rather than using fresh, sliced yellow onions to flavor the briskets I hit upon using the dried garlic and onion toppings that we used for the bagels instead..I cooked the briskets right in the 20-gallon bagel kettle that the bagels were cooked in..I do not know if the starches from cooking the bagel helped to flavor the corned beef briskets, or not..But, I cooked the briskets during the down time between shifts at the end of the work day prior to draining, and cleaning the kettle to prepare it for the night baker..

To approximately 15-18 gallons of water I would use 4 cups of dehydrated onions, 4 cups of dehydrated garlic, and 2 cups of pickling spice mix..The briskets were cooked until they were tender, approximately 20-30 minutes..I would usually cook about 15-18 lb. of brisket at a time, so there was a rough ratio of 1 gallon of cooking liquid for every 1 lb. of brisket..

The above recipe made for an incredible tasting brisket that can give a home-brined and cured brisket a very good run for the money..Of course, nothing beats a brisket that has been brined and cured to one's exact taste preferences..

Bruce

p.s. The brining liquid inside of the Cry-O-Vac'd plastic bags went into the kettle right along with the briskets, the garlic, the onions, and the pickling spices..

I've considered doing the Alton Brown recipe. People seem to like it. That said, I couldn't find saltpeter locally and more or less gave up.

When I make corned beef, the best results I've had are 10 hours in a crock pot with abou 8 cloves of garlic.