Do you love Rueben sandwiches? Do you order Corned Beef Hash for breakfast at restaurants? You might want to make your own corned beef and give these recipes a try.
Corned Beef is so easy to make and this is the time of year to try it! Corned Beef packages are everywhere right before St. Patrick's Day. Many people love to make corned beef and cabbage but there are so many more things you can do with it.
How to Make Corned Beef
1. Corned beef cooks for a long time. This is how you get the tender meat that falls apart in your mouth. If I am going to cook corned beef, I am going to cook several packages, briskets. I want plenty of meat to make all the things I like to eat, especially if it takes seven hours to cook.
Corned beef comes in a sealed bag with spices inside in a small packet. The meat itself is a beef brisket. It has been cured in salt for 5-7 days before packaged and available in grocery stores. Usually, the packages are about 3-5 pounds in weight. Do you order brisket every time you go to a BBQ restaurant? Then you have to try corned beef.
2. Open the package of corned beef over the sink. There is a lot of meat juices inside the package that needs to be drained. I use tongs to grab the meat and then pour the juices down the drain. Make sure you grab the spice packet before it disappears.
The spice packet has peppercorns, bits of bay leaves, mustard and coriander seeds. YUM!!!
3. You can chose to cook the corned beef three ways. You can put it in a pot with a lid and cook it in the oven, low and slow. Cooking it on the stove is an option as well. Or you can cook it in a slow cooker. I choose the slow cooker!
Slow Cookers are the most amazing kitchen appliance!!
The meat needs to cook 50 minutes for every pound of meat. In the oven and on top of the stove, this takes about 4 hours. I would rather put the corned beef in a slow cooker at night and forget about it. I cook it on high and then when I wake up in the morning, I turn it down to warm. I leave it in the slow cooker until I am ready to make Corn Beef Hash for breakfast or Rueben Sandwiches for lunch!
4. Put the meat in the pot fat side up. Once the meat is in the pot you chose, cover it with hot water. I put enough water in to cover the meat, but still leave a bit of the meat showing. You will find out why in the next paragraph.
5. Sprinkle the spice packet on top of the meat. This is why I like a little meat showing. I want the spices working their magic on the meat, not in the water around it.
6. Get the water boiling. If you are doing this on the stove, once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to simmer. Set the timer for 3.5 hours if you are cooking a 4 pound cut of meat.
If you are cooking in the oven, preheat the oven to 350° and let the meat cook for 1/2 hour. Then turn the heat down to 300° and continue cooking for another 3 hours. At this point, I would turn off the oven and leave the meat inside the oven to rest until you are ready to use it.
7. In the slow cooker, this needs to cook for at least 7 hours. I start mine at night before I go to bed at 11:00 pm. I set the temperature to high and then when I wake up at 7:00 a.m. I turn the heat to warm until I am ready to use.
8. Use two big spoons or tongs to pull the meat out of the pan and put it on a cutting board. It should be steaming! Scrape off the spices and the top layer of fat. Then use a sharp knife and cut across the grain in thin slices.
Now you are ready to pull it apart for Rueben Sandwiches. Or you can cube it to use for Corned Beef Hash. Or you can slice into steaks to eat with some delicious steamed cabbage. Or you can serve it with cabbage steaks.
Give it a try!
You will be surprised how easy it is to cook Corned Beef!
Let me know on Instagram or Pinterest if you make this.
Post a picture and tag me @dinasdiner. I want to know how it turns out.
Corned Beef
3-7 pounds of Corned Beef
Spice Packet inside package of Corned Beef
8 cups of Water
1. Open the package of corned beef over the sink.
2. Pull out the corn beef and put fat side up in a slow cooker.
3. Drain all the juices from the package in the sink and find the spice packet.
4. Pour water over the corned beef until it is almost covered in water.
5. Sprinkle the spice packet on top.
6. Put the lid on and set temperature at high.
7. Let cook for 7-8 hours.
