With my oven set way dow to 170 degrees and the brine cured pastrami in there for over 5 hours and not getting past 110 inside, I pushed up the temp to 180, then 190, then 200 then 220, and after 11 hours I finally got the internal temp to reach 140 while the oven temp was at 250 degrees. I must say these two beef chunks took quite a lot longer to cook compared to the previous ones. Maybe because they were bigger in diameter. If anyone wants some of my left over dry spice rub, let me know and I'll send it out. It contains, allspice, clove, cinnamon, garlic, onion, bay leaf, mustard seed, celery seed, red pepper, black pepper, coriander, dill seed, ginger, and even some ground juniper berries. Needless to say its a really tasty spice blend and sticks to the outside of the beef once its been cooked. They now get refrigerated for at least 24 hours prior to slicing thin. I estimate I have about 8-9 pounds of pastrami, of which I will probably freeze some after its been sliced. Maybe in FS bags as individual servings that get vac sealed and then when I want a serving, I just put it in the microwave or drop into boiling water a couple of minutes, then open the bag and serve.. It should be good with the sourdough french bread I will also be making tomorrow, along with some spicy brown mustard I also made using some Grey Poupon, mixed with some finely ground brown mustard seeds and wine vinegar. The mustard needed a few weeks to 'mellow out' to a decent flavor. If it were served right after grinding amd mixing it tastes terrible. The same holds true for the chinese hot mustard powder when you mix it with water to make some hot mustard. It needs to 'bloom' a few hours before its served, also the same for Wasabi.

Most of the information and thread about corned beef is in the Harvest Forum. The people there use premixes which contain salt, saltpetre and sugar/dextrose. I have made Canadian Bacon and I use a brine solution, quantities and ingredients from the following link. I inject the meat with the brine until it has gained 30% if its original weight. I then brine in the fridge for 3 days. Then I either use it for corned beef or make pastrami, following the recipes given in the Harvest forum. Hope this helps Helen Here is a link that might be useful: corned beef

Thanks all the replies. You have made an interesting and informative conversation! Dave, yes. I have spent a lot of time in NZ. At one time, canning, using proper jars (which are marginally heavier than ours and very durable) was very popular. New Zealand was and still is to some degree a very rural country. Like here, canning has been supplanted by freezing. Essentially that mostly explains the lack of supplies now. And I have met a few folk who used to use pressure canners. I think they called them retorts or autoclaves. Carol is right; with BWB canning for such things like jams or chutneys, the grocery food jars work fine. Lack of pressure canning aside, the problem is the shelf life of these products AND the entire loss of canned fruits. Everyone (of a certain age) in NZ remembers their Ma or Grandma or Grandpa canning peaches or plums or other orchard crops. I dont know how they used do Lambs Tongues, for instance, but there must be those who miss those too! Essentially, NZ is an example of somewhere that used to do something that has now been mostly lost. Thanks the freezing tip, Woodsmoke. Some miscreants (like me) actually prefer some things canned. In my case, the canned pate was just a whim; something to do with the livers. I could envision having some small jars of some delicacy, but going through the whole process of making pate frequently from frozen liver isnt so appealing! Additionally, Im not so keen about freezing in general. We can have long power outages as well. Appreciate the tips JimnGinger. I will brine some brisket and freeze it, but again, like the pate, I was envisioning a handy lunch to make from a small jar. I have canned beef chunks, which I like very much, and it occurs to me that I could make these taste like Corned Beef if I wanted. Commercially canned Kippered Herring is very common and popular in Northern California grocery stores. I havent tried to home can any, but home canned smoked fish is very doable. Sardines, Herring, Smelt and Mackerel, Salmon and Tuna... Generally, I have found that home canned fish or meat is far better than what one able to purchase. Canning fish as opposed to freezing it, is, to me, a much much better approach. Thanks again!

I'm guessing the American thing is the pre-brined with the spice packet and a soda pop, then boiled. To death, with pealed potatoes and cabbage wedges. Very salty. I have many Irish friends and corned beef and cabbage is very traditional. Though not nearly as simplified. More veggies, spinach pies, soda bread, bread puddings... Many moved to NYC in their mid twenties, still say "one, two, tree", and hosted the event for years. Many different apps and sides as varied as our Thanksgivings. I really enjoy these holidays. Try something new, some favorites are now tradition. No real right way, or what i just read, "...the right way is your way". Like ann-t, The right way is the way you like it. Or what your family likes, expects. My dry rub is just like katiec. I just wet brine 24hrs. Then dry rub 24hrs. Then a grainy mustard, yogurt, horseradish smear, wrap tight in parchment, then foil, and low and slow braise in the oven. A bit more Texas style and we were planning on smoking, but another snow storm might prevent that, grrr, (brrr). I do tuck in a quartered potato, onion, and a carrot just for a bit of gravy flavor. And this year a sliced meyer lemon. I have not shopped yet, but have tried to simplify for a do-ahead menu. Prepped and packed to go on the smoker/grill while we tap the maples with neighbor friends. Not sure that will happen if the snow totals are too much, again. Smoked salmon, cukes, Irish blue, horseradish cream. Pease pudding (lentils), braised cabbage with apple and beets, figgy duff (bread pudding...i tuck in chunks of dark chocolate). Good recipes in this link. Even has the 17day prep corned beef (!-too late for that-!). And a similar braised cabbage slaw that i will be doing as it can bake along with the brisket. I add shallots, and meyer lemons this year that i need to use up. Here is a link that might be useful: Irish Favorites