A home cook preparing corned beef brisket for the first time followed a widely trusted recipe from Serious Eats, but later discovered the curing salt ratio exceeded recommended safety limits—using twice the suggested amount of sodium nitrate-based curing salts by weight. While the recipe claims to be reliable, food safety experts typically advise capping usage at 0.25% to avoid potential health risks, raising concerns about whether the higher concentration could pose dangers. The poster seeks advice on whether to proceed with the current preparation or adjust the process, along with insights from others who may have experience with the same recipe. The discussion highlights a growing debate over traditional curing methods versus modern safety guidelines in home cooking.
Hiya, I just started dry brining a brisket to make corned beef. This is my first time ever making corned beef and first time using curing salts, so I defaulted to the trusted(?) Serious Eats. I followed their recipe exactly. Recipe can be found here: https://www.seriouseats.com/homemade-corned-beef-brisket-with-potatoes-cabbage-carrots-recipe After getting it going I continued doing some research in excitement of the corned beef, and I found out that the recommended max amount of curing salts (that are 6.25% Sodium Nitrate) are .25% by weight in proportion to the weight of the meat. If I’m doing my math right the Serious Eats recipe uses .5% curing salts. My questions are; does anyone have any experience or insight into this specific recipe? Should I be concerned with the amount of curing salts I used? Is there anything I can do or any advice anyone has? TIA! submitted by /u/21aidan98 [link] [comments]
