Making corned beef

[JMallaber]

I am taking my first crack at making corned beef from scratch. I have a 4 lb. brisket flat swimming as we speak, but have a question about desalinating. Meathead's recipe for corned beef is to simmer with hot water, and replace with fresh hot water once. But for the pastrami, he soaks the brisket in water for a hours. Anyone know if I can skip the hot water replacement by soaking the brisket in water prior to boiling it?

[Huskee]

My personal suggestion is usually to follow the recipe as written to avoid on 'oops'. However, here I'll say try it and report back. I would think as long as you do either it's all the same. My thoughts are that Meathead just eliminated the step of the overnight soak since with regular corned beef we're cooking it as we're desalinating it so we'll do both at once, quicker.

[Fine Swine]

I have added the store bought corned beef to a large pot, filled once, immediately drained, then refilled. If I make pastrami? I soak in the fridge for 24-36hrs and change the water once midway. Come on St. Patrick's Day! 2 large flats for pastrami this year for Ruebens.