Home Corned Grass Fed Beef Silverside
Finally I have corned my own beef silverside! I’ve had the intention for a long time and I had an idea that the process would be more complex than it actually is. I can tell you it is really very easy and well worth doing. We ate it hot for dinner and then cold for lunch the next day, sliced on fresh sourdough bread with Dijon mustard, grated beetroot and rocket from the garden. So simple, so good!
Silverside is probably the leanest cut of all beef cuts – coming from the hind leg/lower rump area of the animal that does a lot of physical work.
As you would know if you’ve bought one of our grass fed beef hampers that contains a silverside roast, we don’t use the standard preparation for corned silversides, which involves injecting a solution that includes nitrate preservatives into the beef, but we rather leave the cut in its natural state. We don’t want the preservatives and we know you don’t either – it’s one of the reasons you come to us – for clean, healthy beef. It is the nitrates that make a store bought silverside pink, so you’ll notice from the image above that the cooked meat is brown – just as it’s meant to be!
Ingredients – for the brine
- 1 x grass fed beef silverside roast
- ½ cup salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tablespoons whole mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
- 2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon red chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 bay leaves, crumbled
- 2 cinnamon sticks – broken in half
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
Ingredients – for cooking
- 2 brown onions – quartered
- 2 carrots – peeled and cut into segments
Brining Method
Take a deep ceramic dish or baking dish that the silverside will fit in snuggly. Place the salt and sugar into the dish. Add 2 cups of boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add 4 cups ice cold water along with the garlic, mustard seeds, allspice berries, coriander seeds, chilli flakes, ground ginger, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves and black pepper. Add some ice cubes to completely cool the brine if necessary.
Take the silverside and deeply pierce the beef all over; this will allow the brine to fully permeate through the cut. Place in the dish with the brine and spices. Top the water up if necessary to fully cover the silverside by a few centimetres. Cover and place in the fridge for 4-5 days. That’s four to five days, not forty five days like I thought Derek said!
Cooking Method
Remove the silverside from the brine, rinse briefly in water and place in a cooking pot. Strain the brine – discarding the liquid and reserving the spices, which are then placed in the cooking pot with the silverside. Fill the pot with cold water so that the silverside is completely covered. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer and cook for 2 ½ hours. Add the brown onion and carrots to the pot and continue to cook for ½ to 1 hour.
Remove from the liquid, stand for a few minutes, slice and serve with a white sauce, mash and steamed vegetables, or store and cut thinly when cold for sandwiches or with salad for lunch. It will be so tender to slice.
Reserve the cooking liquid for storing.
To Store
To store any remaining silverside in the fridge, place in a container and pour over the cooking liquid. This will ensure it keeps moist until you have finished it.
We can’t believe we haven’t been eating silverside like this for all these years, what a delight! If corned silverside isn’t your favourite though, we also love this rendang recipe for the silverside cut.
Silverside roasts are in many of our grass fed beef hampers, including the Nourish Hamper, Double Nourish Hamper, Wholesome Hamper, Family Hamper and of course our Large Orders which are half of a cow (actually, it is always a steer or a heifer, but you know what we’re talking about).
You can see all of these hampers here.
Happy brining, Kirrily x
