# Is Brisket supposed to be red when done ?



## MichelleMM

Hello everyone , I'm new here , my name is Michelle.  I'm glad I found this forum.  Seems like a great place   
I'm wondering if Brisket is supposed to remain reddish when it's done.  It's my first one to cook - and it is ''fork-tender''  with no problem.  I boiled it by the way.  Hoping somone can help me out.  Thanks !


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## scott123

Hello Michelle and welcome to the forum 

Regarding your brisket.  Is it corn beef brisket or fresh? Corn beef, because of the nitrates, stays red/pink. As far as fresh brisket is concerned, it's the kind of cut that favors long moist heat.  With long moist heat, there shouldn't be any pink/red whatsoever.


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## MichelleMM

Hey Scott, thanks for replying - it's corn beef.  And just so happens, it turned out wonderfully !  I boiled it for 3 hrs and it was a 3lb , so it came out great.  Thank you very much !!!!!!!!


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## kyles

I am so jealous! We can't buy it in England, we used to ahve it in Australia, nad my mother has beenr equested to cook it for me when I am home in April for two weeks. We have ti with mashed potatoes and parsley sauce, and it is delicious! The only corn beef we can here is out of a tin, and I have never had it, because it looks horrendous!


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## MichelleMM

Hello Kyles, that's horrible not to have brisket , it's a great meat !!!  I don't think I'd eat it from a can either !!!!! LOL


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## scott123

Kyles, if you can get your hands on fresh brisket, corning beef is not that hard to do. Have you ever brined a turkey? It's the same thing.


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## kyles

Fresh brisket could be a problem here, the cuts of meat are so different (not to mention that beef is expensive) in Australia we corn or salt the cut of beef known as Silverside (I think you term in London Broil) I am not sure what we call the whole piece in England. 

I've never brined a turkey! What does that do to the flavour and how do you do it?


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## scott123

Although corned beef is traditionally made with brisket (from the chest of the cow) other cuts can be corned. Brisket works well because it's  flat and thin, the grain is going the right direction for thin slicing, has no gristle, and although it's pretty tough, it isn't quite as tough as chuck or round from the shoulder.  I don't know what you guys call it but here we have bottom round roast - one of the cheaper cuts of beef. That could be easily sliced in half (with the grain) and then corned. London broil (top round) could be brined as well but the grain might be tricky to cut.

Although I mentioned brined turkey as a reference point, I am hugely critical of brining fowl. A lot of our TV chefs push it and everyone jumps on the bandwagon. It involves soaking a turkey in a salt solution for an extended period of time, usually overnight.  The solution is soaked up by the bird along with spices/aromatics resulting in a moister, more flavorful turkey.  Unfortunately salt has a nasty habit of denaturing protein.  In other words, by soaking it in brine you're precooking your turkey resulting in tougher meat.  Moister, more flavorful, tougher meat  Brining works well for corned beef because it's a tough cut of meat to begin with and by the time you stew it for hours on end, the toughening effects of brining are completely eradicated.


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## Robt

Corning leaves about any meat with the same -close anyway- flavor.  I happon to prefer corning Pork, Boston Butt specifically.  Its not a flavor thing but I like the texture better.


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