Healing with Food Newsletter

Corned Beef

Accompanying recipe: Homemade Corned Beef

Years ago a neighbor, Lynn Ackler, told me about corning beef and I’ve been making it ever since. Many a friend who has sampled this recalls it as one of the most delicious meats they’ve eaten. Corned beef is inexpensive meat, like brisket, that’s fermented in brine.

Many of our most delicious foods are fermented as this natural process profoundly improves their flavor, digestibility and nutrition. Examples include:  sourdough bread, cheese, wine, beer, chocolate, tea and coffee.

Today’s commercially fermented meats and bacon contain sodium nitrite as a preservative. This additive, also known as salt peter, does keep the meat a pink color, but it is linked to various health problems including colon cancer, migraine headaches and lung disease.

Here’s how you can corn beef without adding chemicals—albeit, you’ll reduce the fermentation period to one week (versus the traditional 3-week period). By keeping the meat submerged below the brine’s surface, and in an anaerobic—or air-free—environment, it safely cures.

Once fermented and then cooked, slice corned beef very thin and serve with horseradish sauce or mustard. Or, use on sandwiches or as a savory ingredient in soups and stews. The name “corned” refers to the salt (traditionally “corn-sized” chunks of salt). I, however, use and recommend sea salt.

May you be well nourished!

Rebecca Wood