How to Make Corned Beef: starting with a packaged product and then making my own

Schmoozer,

I've got a very detailed recipe up on my site -- one with a lot of explanation.  Won't you take a look at it?  If you have any further questions, either about my recipe specifically or about corned beef in general, I'll be happy to answer them here or there.  The offer isn't gratuitious either -- please do ask.

Paranthetically, there's also a recipe for soda bread you might want to look at.

BDL

     Ohhhhh...corned beef is so goooood  (that's an eating corned beef smiley)


  (in a nutshell)  I like to score the brisket and set into a roasting pan and pour one Guinness Stout .  Next I'll mix up my own pickling mix and crush to a powder with my mortar and pestle.  I sprinkle the spice mix on top of corned beef and spreading the rest into the liquid.  I'll turn the heat up in the oven for 30min or so...just so you get a little bit of color on the top of the brisket.  Then I lower the temp, cover and cook until it's near slicing tender.  I finish by removing the top to finish the color and get the fat crisped up, just a little.  

   What I call slicing tender?  Tender enough that it is  fork tender, but still can be sliced @ 3/16" and keep it's shape without breaking.

    dan

BDL - I use the same kind of sauce on my corned silverside too - not with whipping cream, but Greek Yoghurt.

Schmoozer - I do my corned beef differently, but there are lots of variations to any recipe out there.

This is for 4-6 servings.

Take a 3-4 pound corned piece of beef, into a stock pot with cold water to just cover, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.  Skim when needed.  Once the skimming seems done, replace that water with fresh cold water, again to just cover the joint.  Add:  one brown onion studded with whole cloves, say 10.  Add 2 Tbsp white vinegar, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 10 peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, 1 biggish chopped carrot (no need to peel).

Bring up to the boil, then simmer for approx. 20 minutes per pound.  Just until you can feel it is soft by sticking a sharp knife into it.  Drain, rest under foil for ten minutes, then carve and serve.

I cook my vegetables separately - usually baked/boiled potatoes, buttered & sugared carrots, minted peas, sometimes french runner beans.  And lots of the sauce/dressing as per BDL's website.  Not a big fan of cabbage here, but you could certainly do some with it, that, or brussel sprouts.  Roasted onions (either whole pickling onions or quartered larger ones) tossed in oil, S&P, then onto baking tray in hot oven till soft and brown.

Hope this helps

I'm one who prefers to oven roast a corned beef rather than boil.  I think more of the flavor stays in the meat instead of being dissapated in the boiling water.  But the boiling water does add flavor to any veggies you might also cook, so that is one benefit of boiling.

mjb.

Ours is done in the slow cooker and finished in the oven with a mustard glaze.

We never have had to worry about leftovers but then again I doubt there are many, if any, leftovers from the recipes posted above. 

Rich

McCormick has a pickling spice that is labeled as such.  Not all stores carry it.  I used it recently in BDL's pastrami recipe. 

Schmoozer my brother,

Sure.

Pickling Spice: 

Whole allspice, whole black pepper corns, whole cloves, whole juniper berries, whole mustard seed, whole (dry) sichuan pepper(s) -- cut in half, crumbled bay leaf, crumbled mace, and sometimes a couple of pieces dry ginger,  

That said, if you're buying a commercial corned beef they usually come with a pack of pickling spice, which if not identical to my recipe is close enough for government work.

Considering that there are some very good commercially made and packaged corned beefs available for less than the price of good, raw brisket -- as an economic proposition it's not really worthwhile to make your own.  But if you decide to do so, it's actually fairly simple -- the hardest parts are getting good meat to begin with and the three weeks or so of waiting.

About my recipe:

It's different on a number of levels.  Very few published recipes call for using stock (or Better than Buillon) to make the broth.  Very few, if any, call for balancing the saltiness with both bitter (beer) AND sweet (molasses).  Very few call for completely replenishing the vegetables.  Very few help you to time the doneness of the meat by removing it while the fresh vegetables cook .  Very few if any, go into enough detail to teach you to cook the corned beef to the right stage. 

My recipe isn't so much a recipe per se, as it is a cooking lesson which teaches something about mirepoix, "boils" in broth, balance, and staggered staging.  My thought is that once you know how to cook, it's easy enough to figure out what to cook.  But I like to think my recipes are pretty good too.

The sauce itself isn't all that original, if original at all.  Rather, it's fairly typical of Ireland and Great Britain and hardly unknown in the former Empire.  My tweak, such as it is, is to use both mayonnaise and whipped cream.  It's usually one or t'other.

Yes, the recipe is Corned Beef AND Cabbage -- the type of "boiled dinner" we Americans associate with St. Patrick's day.  If you want to make a corned beef for sandwiches you make it the same way -- up to adding the potatoes, fresh vegetables and cabbage.  Instead, you just keep simmering until the corned beef is tender, slice and serve without the broth. 

You can also smoke a corned beef;  But trust me, if you do want to smoke cured beef, it's really it's better to pastrami than to do a straight corn.  And, you can slow roast a corned beef in the oven as well.  But smoking or roasting, any dry preparation is going to require a considerable pre-cook soaking in fresh water (or milk if you're made of money) to help remove the excess saltiness imparted by the corning process.

BDL
Edited by boar_d_laze - 3/11/10 at 7:47am

I purchase prepared corned beef and cook it in the pressure cooker.  I look for the largest cuts, between 4 and 5 pounds.  After trimming all visible fat,  brush it with good brown mustard, then place it on a cooking rack or steamer pan (colapsable vegetable steamer works well).  Put in 1 cup of cooking liquid.  Water, beef broth, Guiness...it's your choice.  Lock on the lid, and when full pressure is reached, turn down the burner to just the heat needed to maintain pressure.  Time for 35 minutes.  When time is up,  remove from heat and allow pressure to drop naturally (no cheating please).  You will find the meat to be tender, moist and delicious.  Be sure to cut across the grain.  Be careful with salt.  This meat is typically very salty because of the curing. 

If you are making a full dinner,  first cook the meat and remove it to a serving platter & cover it with foil to rest.  Then place your vegetables (potatoes-quartered, carrots-cut into chunks, sliced onion and cabbage) into the steamer basket over the same liquid used to steam the meat.  Lock on the lid and bring to pressure.  Reduce heat and time for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow pressure to drop naturally. 

you must have it with homemade mustard sauce!!!!

Schmoozer,

I like all your ideas; but in terms of resurrecting the East Side deli corned beef of your youth, as opposed to more gentile flavor profile, don't get complicated -- pastrami is complicated, CB straightfoward.  Forget the beer, and no cloves.  While I can't recall ever being aware of even a hint of garlic in a CB sandwich, that doesn't mean it isn't an outstanding idea.  Ditto the peppers. 

Even the mere thought of cooking a big piece of brisket just for sandwiches is wonderfully luxurious and decadent.      

Do it.  Darn you.  Do it.

BDL

I did one today in the pressure cooker for the first time. I think it's one of the better ones I've done.

Yep.  I think that's the only way to go, not only for saving time,  but for better results too.  As Schmoozer discovered, all corned beef is not the same.  I prepared corned beef dinner for my daughter on March 15th, using meat I had purchased at Sam's Club.  While it looked nice,  and had less fat than I usually encounter,  it was probably the saltiest CB I have every had.   Because CB is typically very salty as a result of the curing process,  I never add salt,  so this was already in there.  

Had I known this beforehand,  I'd have soaked it the day before, refreshing the water several times to get rid of some of the brine.  Or, an alternative would be to cover, bring up to the boil for several minutes,  drain off that liquid and start again with fresh water.  When you find a product you like,  stick with it.  Kroger brand is much better than Sam's Club. 

   I'm not a fan of cooking the corned beef in water, but I do like your idea about soaking it before cooking (while changing water several times)

  thanks,

  dan

Thanks Dan.  This works well with any cured meat.  I've used the same techinque to pull extra salt out of ham too.  I also do not like to cook corned beef in liquid.  In post #11, this thread, I explain the method I use with the pressure cooker, getting really good results every time (salty meat not withstanding).  Looks like the method you describe in post #4, this thread, would work equally well, although it will take considerably longer.  I'm guessing a couple hours, at least?