You may be surprised when you see how easy it is to make homemade corned beef. All you need is a bit of timeabout a week to brine and an afternoon to cook with almost no work in between. A brisket is enough for an ample family dinner plus leftovers to thinly slice for sandwiches the next day, plus some to chop up and turn into corned beef hash. This recipe calls for pink salt, a curing salt with nitrite added to it. It gives corned beef its characteristic color and flavor. Pink salt is not necessary to use, so if you choose to steer clear of it due to the nitrates, know that the final corned beef will still be delicious but will be gray, not the more familiar red color.