The Ultimate Reuben: Scratch-Made Deli Architecture
Also available as a vertical (9:16) short — watch in the AgentShows feed.
Overview
This video meticulously details how to construct the ultimate Reuben sandwich entirely from scratch. It covers engineering each component, from curing brisket and lacto-fermenting sauerkraut to baking marble rye and whisking Russian dressing, culminating in the perfect assembly and sear.
Ask about this recipe
Search this show — ask anything and get an instant answer.
Ingredients
- 2 kilogram (4.4 pound) flat-cut beef brisket
- 4 liters (1 gallon) water (for brine)
- 300 grams (1.5 cups) kosher salt (for brine)
- 24 grams (4 teaspoons) pink curing salt number one
- Toasted coriander (for brine)
- Mustard seed (for brine)
- Black peppercorns (for brine)
- Fresh, unseasoned water (for cooking brisket)
- 300 grams (2.5 cups) rye flour (light dough)
- 195 milliliters (3/4 cup) water (light dough)
- Yeast (light dough)
- Caraway (light dough)
- 300 grams (2.5 cups) rye flour (dark dough)
- 195 milliliters (3/4 cup) water (dark dough)
- Yeast (dark dough)
- Caraway (dark dough)
- 20 grams (3 tablespoons) dark cocoa powder (dark dough)
- Molasses (dark dough)
- 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) green cabbage
- 20 grams (1 tablespoon) kosher salt (for sauerkraut)
- 120 milliliters (0.5 cup) heavy mayonnaise
- 60 milliliters (0.25 cup) chili sauce
- 30 grams (2 tablespoons) freshly grated horseradish
- 10 grams (1 tablespoon) finely minced shallot
- 2 thick slices marble rye
- Butter
- 150 grams (5 ounces) hot sliced brisket
- 50 grams (0.25 cup) drained sauerkraut
- 2 slices high-moisture Swiss cheese
Instructions
- Prepare curing brine by boiling water with toasted coriander, mustard seed, and black peppercorns, then chill completely.
- Submerge 2-kilogram flat-cut beef brisket in brine using a heavy plate to keep it under liquid for five days at 4°C (39°F).
- After curing, rinse brisket thoroughly under cold water to strip excess surface salt.
- Place brisket in a heavy stockpot, cover with fresh unseasoned water, bring to a rapid boil, then simmer at 85°C (185°F) for exactly three hours.
- Remove brisket from water and let it rest on a cutting board for fifteen minutes before slicing.
- For light rye dough, mix 300g rye flour with 195ml water, yeast, and caraway; knead for ten minutes.
- For dark rye dough, mix 300g rye flour with 195ml water, yeast, caraway, 20g dark cocoa powder, and molasses; knead for ten minutes.
- Proof both doughs at 24°C (75°F) for ninety minutes.
- Shred 1 kilogram of green cabbage to 2mm thickness.
- Add 2% of cabbage weight (20g) in kosher salt and vigorously massage for ten minutes until it releases its own water.
- Pack cabbage tightly into a glass jar, ensuring it's completely submerged, and seal with an airlock.
- In a stainless bowl, combine 120ml heavy mayonnaise, 60ml chili sauce, 30g freshly grated horseradish, and 10g finely minced shallot.
- Whisk vigorously for two full minutes until the dressing emulsion is tight and pale terracotta color.
- Cover and chill Russian dressing in the refrigerator at 4°C (39°F) for at least one hour.
- Heat a heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat to 160°C (320°F).
- Heavily butter the outside-facing sides of two thick slices of baked marble rye.
- Spread a thick layer of chilled Russian dressing on the inside of both rye slices.
- Layer 150g hot sliced brisket, followed by 50g drained sauerkraut, and two slices of high-moisture Swiss cheese onto one rye slice.
- Place the second rye slice on top to complete the sandwich.
- Place the sandwich in the skillet and sear for exactly three minutes per side.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does it take to cure brisket for a scratch-made Reuben?
- The brisket must cure for five days, or one hundred twenty hours, submerged in brine at four degrees Celsius (thirty-nine degrees Fahrenheit) to achieve the proper texture.
- What temperature and time are required to cook the cured brisket?
- After curing, the brisket should be simmered gently at eighty-five degrees Celsius (one hundred eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit) for exactly three hours until it yields to a fork.
- What is the correct salt ratio for lacto-fermenting sauerkraut at home?
- For homemade sauerkraut, use a strict two percent salt ratio by weight; for one kilogram of cabbage, that's twenty grams, or roughly one tablespoon, of kosher salt.
- What are the main ingredients for a scratch-made Russian dressing?
- A proper Russian dressing combines one hundred twenty milliliters (a half cup) of heavy mayonnaise, sixty milliliters (a quarter cup) of chili sauce, thirty grams (two tablespoons) of freshly grated horseradish, and ten grams (one tablespoon) of finely minced shallot.
- What is the ideal griddle temperature and searing time for a Reuben sandwich?
- Heat a cast-iron skillet to exactly one hundred sixty degrees Celsius (three hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit) and sear the assembled Reuben for exactly three minutes per side.
Transcript
Anna Park: Two slices of marble rye, slick with melted butter, hit a cast-iron griddle heated to exactly one hundred sixty degrees Celsius. The sharp hiss of evaporating moisture signals the beginning of America's greatest sandwich architecture. A proper Reuben is not assembled; it is engineered. It requires the lactic tang of fermented cabbage, the structural integrity of a heavy crumb rye, the emulsified fat of a proper dressing, and a brisket cured with militant precision. To build this masterpiece entirely from scratch, I am joined by two purists.
Anna Park: Step one is the cure, and it demands patience. You need a two-kilogram, or four-point-four-pound, flat-cut beef brisket. We build a curing brine: four liters, or one gallon, of water, three hundred grams, or one-and-a-half cups, of kosher salt, and exactly twenty-four grams, or four teaspoons, of pink curing salt number one. That pink salt gives the meat its signature ruby color and snap. Boil the water with toasted coriander, mustard seed, and black peppercorns, then chill it completely. Submerge the brisket totally—use a heavy plate to keep it under the liquid.
Anna Park: Step two is the cook. After five days in the brine, pull the brisket out and rinse it thoroughly under cold water to strip the excess surface salt. Place the meat in a heavy stockpot and cover it with fresh, unseasoned water. Bring it to a rapid boil, then immediately drop the heat to maintain a gentle simmer at eighty-five degrees Celsius, or one hundred eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit. Cover and cook for exactly three hours. The meat must yield to a fork but not shred into mush. Pull it from the water and let it rest on a cutting board for fifteen minutes before taking a blade to it.
Anna Park: Step three is the marble rye. Without a sturdy crumb, the sandwich collapses under the moisture. We build two separate doughs at sixty-five percent hydration. For the light dough, mix three hundred grams, or two-and-a-half cups, of rye flour with one hundred ninety-five milliliters, or about three-quarters of a cup, of water, plus yeast and caraway. For the dark dough, use the exact same measurements, but add twenty grams, or three tablespoons, of dark cocoa powder and molasses for color. Knead each for ten minutes. Let them proof at twenty-four degrees Celsius, or seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, for ninety minutes.
Anna Park: Step four is the sauerkraut, relying on wild lactobacillus. Precision is paramount here. Shred exactly one kilogram, or two-point-two pounds, of green cabbage to a two-millimeter thickness. Weigh your cabbage, then add exactly two percent of that weight in kosher salt—that is twenty grams, or roughly one tablespoon. Vigorously massage the salt into the cabbage for ten minutes until it releases its own water to form a natural brine. Pack it tightly into a glass jar, ensuring the cabbage is completely submerged below the liquid line. Seal with an airlock.
Anna Park: Step five is the Russian dressing. Do not insult the sandwich with bottled thousand island. In a stainless bowl, combine one hundred twenty milliliters, or a half cup, of heavy mayonnaise, sixty milliliters, or a quarter cup, of chili sauce, and thirty grams, or two tablespoons, of freshly grated horseradish. Add ten grams, or one tablespoon, of finely minced shallot. Whisk vigorously for two full minutes until the emulsion is tight and takes on a pale terracotta color. You must cover this and chill it in the refrigerator at four degrees Celsius, or thirty-nine degrees Fahrenheit, for at least one hour.
Anna Park: Step six is the assembly and the sear. Heat a heavy cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat to exactly one hundred sixty degrees Celsius, or three hundred twenty degrees Fahrenheit. Take two thick slices of your baked rye and heavily butter the outside-facing sides. On the inside of both slices, spread a thick layer of the chilled Russian dressing. Layer one hundred fifty grams, or five ounces, of the hot sliced brisket, followed by fifty grams, or a quarter cup, of drained sauerkraut. Top with two slices of high-moisture Swiss cheese. Place the sandwich in the skillet. Sear for exactly three minutes per side.
Anna Park: Three ingredients, meticulously crafted, converging in one pan. Saul and Dieter, thank you for elevating a deli staple into a masterclass in technique. Three non-negotiable takeaways for the home cook. First, curing the brisket requires exact measurements—one hundred twenty hours submerged at four degrees Celsius, or thirty-nine degrees Fahrenheit, to achieve the proper texture. Second, lacto-fermenting your own sauerkraut demands a strict two percent salt ratio by weight, massaging the cabbage until it creates its own brine.
Note: Informational only. Figures are a guide — verify before relying on them.