Home Made Corned Beef Brining Kit - DIY Gift Idea.

 So when it comes down to presents or anything home made, it's sure to be more memorable than store bought. For the holidays this season I decided to make some home made gifts. One of them was a brining kit for corned beef. I wanted to make it super easy and cute. This kit is basically the brine to make corned beef meat. The card I included with it below has the recipe on what to do with the meat once its  brined and make roasted corned beef with cabbage. I used Alton Brown's recipe from foodnetwork for the brine kit itself, and altered his recipe for the corned beef and cabbage recipe (so it can be suited to this kit and no one gets confused). If you plan on making this kit, make sure you give yourself enough time to find SALTPETER. Its an ingredient (potassium nitrate) you can find mostly online or in very old pharmacies (ma and pa style). Its used to preserve the meat and give it the famous pink color. You most likely will have to have it shipped to you. I made 4 brining kits so don't get confused when you see the pix.
I designed a little card that can be folded and used as a tag. If you like this, just print it and add your name to where its says "From the kitchen of: ". Cut the paper in half and you will have 2 foldable cards. I printed mine on thick glossy paper so it feels more like a card.
 
 

For EACH brining kit you will need:
1 20oz to 24oz jar
1 printed foldable card from above - (the sheet makes 2 cards) - (or make your own)
2ft ribbon
2ft yarn string or lace
1 rustic cinnamon stick for bow decoration
Contents For Brine:
1 2gallon ziplock bag  
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons saltpeter  
1 cinnamon stick, broken
1 tsp toasted mustard seeds
1 tblp toasted coriander seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
8 whole allspice berries
12 whole juniper berries
3 bay leaves, crumbled
1/2 tsp ground ginger
To toast your mustard seeds, get your nonstick pan hot, measure how much you need per kit, toast a few seconds till you hear them pop, then take them out and cool in small bowl till ready to pack. Same thing with coriander seeds, once you toast your mustard seeds and take them out toast your coriander. These might take longer to hear that pop sound. DO NOT BURN. Once you have coriander toasted add them to your small bowl with mustard seeds.


Crush your bay leaves   Crush cinnamon sticks and gather your measuring cups and spoons to portion out the spices.
 Print cards and gather your jarring materials and spices.   Start measuring out how much ingredients you need from the list above to compile your kit.
    Place your measured ingredients into your 2 gallon zip-lock bags but be careful not to let the spices puncture through the bag. This bag will later on be used to brine the meat in.  Carefully place your bag into the container, get the air out and zip it.

Tie the ribbon around the lid of your jar in a double knot. Cut a hole in your recipe card and string it onto your yarn or lace then tie it on top of your ribbon. Grab your cinnamon stick and tie it with the ribbon ends,
 Tada!


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Ready to use your kit and brine the meat????
1 large pot to heat and combine brine ingredients
2 quarts water
2 lbs ice (8 cup loose measure)
1 (5 lb) beef brisket, trimmed
 Mix jar contents with 2 quarts water in a large pot & bring to a boil.  Once mix boils, remove from heat & add 2 pounds ice(8 cups loosely measured).Stir, allow to melt & cool completely for 10 min. 
 Place brisket in a 2 gallon ziplock bag then pour brine mix over top. Seal bag & place in a large container with lid.  Keep refrigerated for 10 days. Every 2 days flip the bag over to get even brine distribution. Read card for recipe instructions to make corned beef and cabbage.