Well, as I mentioned this morning, I didn't take any pictures of the briskets in their briney baths yesterday because there was too much else going on and I don't know about you, but I don't think it's all that exciting to see a picture of brisket soaking in brine. Again and again. Please let me know if I'm wrong.
Today, however, there is a smidgen of ACTION! going on with the little briskets - today I TURNED THEM OVER IN THE BRINE! Yes. I know. It's hard to hold on to your hat when you read something like that.
So without further ado, here are the step by step photos of the process. (Sort of. I had to put the camera down during the actual turning-over part. So it's more of a before and after photo shoot. But whatever.)
First up: Pan #1
Here's the pan, plastic wrap removed, right after I removed it from the fridge:
And here is how the top of the briskets looked, once I REMOVED THE SQUARE GREEN PLATE!
(You can see bits of pink here and there, but it doesn't seem to me that Insta Cure No. 1 is really doing a whole lot....)
As I was flipping these two briskets over, I noticed that the texture of the beef has definitely changed. It feels...like the cells are swollen with liquid. Like it's retaining water. Bloated. Something like that. It's hard to describe.
Here's a close up look at the end of one brisket:
See how puffy the meat looks? (Doesn't it? Or am I just imagining things?)
Oh, and I added a little bit more water to each pan - maybe a quarter cup - just to make sure the liquid was covering the meat.
I put the green plate back on these two briskets, covered the pan in plastic, and put this one back in the fridge.
Next up: Pan #2
Sans plastic wrap, but with green square plate still in place.
And then, voila! Ze plate! She is gone!
Again, you can see a bit of pink, but not a lot.
I flipped these two briskets over, and added water...
And...put the plate back on top...covered with plastic...and put it back in the fridge.
Yep.
And that's about all there is to say about it.
I think that, unless the briskets start whispering "Zool" when I open the fridge, I'm not going to take pictures again until Friday, which is when I will be cooking them. Not only these, but ALSO I'll be buying (I am insane) one of those we-already-did-all-the-brining-for-you packaged corned beef briskets to cook as well. For comparison purposes. For picture-taking purposes. For something-more-to-write-about purposes.
Fortunately we have people coming over for dinner on Friday - it's not like Bill and I and the kids will be sitting down to 200 pounds of corned beef all by our selves.
And while a part of me is knocking on my skull to see if anyone's home inside, the rest of me is looking forward to comparing one corned beef with another.
Recent Comments