Corned beef a tasty St. Pat’s tradition at Schneider’s

Schneider’s Quality Meats manager Harold “JR” Wallace hefts a large chunk of corned beef at the end of its 21-day curing period. (Alan Dooley photo)

Corned beef is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day delicacy. And although many partake in this festive occasion, few give much thought to the process of actually “corning” the meat.

The term “corn” does not imply that corn plays any role in making this delicacy.  Rather, it refers to the large-grained salt – or “corns” of salt – that along with a variety of spices are mixed with water to produce flavor-creating brine.

Schneider’s Quality Meats in Waterloo, a local producer of a top quality version of this seasonal highlight, recently gave the Republic-Times a close-up review of the process for “corning” beef ahead of St. Patrick’s Day.

“We have used the same mixture for years,” said Schneider’s owner Mark Lengacher.

Store manager Harold “JR” Wallace took time from cutting steaks to explain that the solution is injected into chunks of beef first.  Then the pieces are submerged in barrels of the solution to cure.

“We are making up about 750 pounds this year,” he said.

Wallace added that while most people think of brisket when they talk corned beef, eye of round, top round and virtually any type of beef can be pickled as corned beef.

The barrels of brine solution are refrigerated with the curing process going forward for 21 days.

Lengacher said the 21-day minimum curing time is a requirement because Schneider’s sells corned beef to several area restaurants in addition to walk-in customers.

“And it is the right way to do it,” he said, adding, “we’ll vacuum pack some with the brine, to sell raw and bake more to sell ready to eat.”

One local restaurant, JV’s Downtown Bar & Grill in Waterloo, features Schneider’s corned beef every St. Patrick’s Day.  Owner Jeff Vogt said he is getting four large 70-pound rounds this year – one more than normal – because of St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Friday.

“We’ll lightly smoke it for 18 hours to prepare it,” Vogt said.  “Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. We’ll have a special preparation of cabbage, carrots and potatoes to go along with the best corned beef in the world, and I’ll be at the end of the serving line slicing everyone’s serving.”

And it turns out that Vogt’s plan for added business has gotten another boost, with a recently announced special dispensation allowing Catholics to eat meat on St. Patrick’s Day – a Friday – when they are normally just limited to fish during Lent.

BoBeck’s and Gallagher’s in Waterloo will also offer the tasty Schneider’s corned beef this St. Patrick’s Day.

Lengacher, a lifelong employee of grocery businesses before buying Schneider’s nearly 17 years ago, said this is the big time of the year for corned beef.

“People ask for it other times, but we just haven’t done it then,” he said.  “But we have some big plans that include it.”

Schneider’s, which also offers 48 different flavors of bratwurst, is moving toward adding a delicatessen inside its store, Lengacher said.

“We’ll offer a lot of sandwich varieties, including Reuben sandwiches. That’ll mean producing corned beef throughout the year,” he said.

So now we know how corned beef is “corned.” And we should soon be able to get it year round in Waterloo.

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Alan Dooley

Alan is a photojournalist -- he both shoots pictures and writes for the R-T. A 31-year Navy vet, he has lived worldwide, but with his wife Sherry, calls a rambling house south of Waterloo home. Alan counts astronomy as a hobby and is fascinated by just about everything scientific.
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