For pickling spice, lightly crush the peppercorns, mustard seeds, and coriander seeds. You can just use a heavy pot for this. You don’t want them to be ground completely. Mix together spices, crumble bay leaves and cinnamon stick roughly.
In a large pot bring 1/2 gallon of water (8 cups) to a simmer with salt, sugar, pink salt, and half of the pickling spice. Once the salt is dissolved add enough ice to the pot to equal 1 gallon (this should be about four pounds of ice). This will cool off the brine mixture quickly.
Once the mixture is cooled, add brisket and store in the fridge for 5-7 days. You can either use the pot that you used to make the brine if the pot is big enough or move it to a large plastic container or something.
When you’re ready to make the beef, remove it from the brine and rinse it really well with cold water. Discard brine.
Add brisket to a large pot again and just cover with water. Add the rest of the pickling spice and bring to a slight simmer.
Simmer the brisket, slightly covered for 3 hours until it’s very tender. You might need to add more water as the brisket simmers to keep it covered.
When brisket is cooked, you can cook cabbage and potatoes in the same liquid.
Slice brisket thinly and serve with potatoes and cabbage or store for later. The corned beef is great in hash or sandwiches.