Editing Corned beef (section)

{{short description|Salt-cured beef product}}
{{for|the canned product known as "corned beef" in the United Kingdom, West Indies, Caribbeans, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Southeast Asia see |Bully beef}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Corned beef
| image = Cooked corned beef.JPG
| image_size = 250px
| alternate_name = Salt beef, bully beef (if [[Canning|canned]])
| creator = 
| course = 
| served = 
| main_ingredient = Beef, salt, nitrates
| caption = Cooked corned beef
| variations = Adding sugar and spices
| cookbook = Corned Beef
}}
{{globalise|date=March 2022}}

'''Corned beef''', called '''salted beef''' in some [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, is a [[Salt-cured meat|salt-cured]] [[brisket]] of beef.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Corned Beef|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/corned+beef|access-date=September 17, 2021 | website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref> The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained [[rock salt]], also called "corns" of [[Salt#Edible salt|salt]]. Sometimes, [[sugar]] and [[spice]]s are added to corned beef recipes. Corned beef is featured as an ingredient in many cuisines.

Most recipes include [[nitrate]]s, which convert the natural [[myoglobin]] in beef to {{chem name|[[nitroso]]myoglobin}}, giving it a pink color. Nitrates and nitrites reduce the risk of dangerous [[botulism]] during [[Curing (food preservation)|curing]] by inhibiting the growth of ''[[Clostridium botulinum]]'' bacteria spores,<ref>{{cite web|author=US Dept of Agriculture |url=https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/a70a5447-9490-4855-af0d-e617ea6b5e46/Clostridium_botulinum.pdf?MOD=AJPERES |title=Clostridium botulinum |access-date=December 13, 2016}}</ref> but have been linked to increased [[cancer]] risk in mice.<ref>{{cite web|title= Ingested Nitrates and Nitrites, and Cyanobacterial Peptide Toxins|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK326544/|website=NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov|publisher=International Agency for Research on Cancer|access-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref> Beef cured without nitrates or nitrites has a gray color, and is sometimes called "New England corned beef".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ewbank |first1=Mary |title=The Mystery of New England's Gray Corned Beef |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-ish-corned-beef-gray-new-england |website=Atlas Obscura |access-date=July 22, 2019 |date=March 14, 2018}}</ref>

[[bully beef|Tinned corned beef]], alongside [[salt pork]] and [[hardtack]], was a standard [[ration]] for many militaries and navies from the 17th through the early 20th centuries, including [[World War I]] and [[World War II]], during which fresh meat was rationed.<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal |title=Sailing on The Ship: Re-enactment and the Quest for Popular History |first=Alexander |last=Cook |journal=History Workshop Journal |issue=57 |year=2004 |volume=57 |pages=247–255 |jstor=25472737|doi=10.1093/hwj/57.1.247|s2cid=194110027 |hdl=1885/54218 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Corned beef remains popular worldwide as an ingredient in a variety of regional dishes and as a common part in modern [[field ration]]s of various armed forces around the world.