Corned beef is a dish that we don’t eat that often, so we have to cook it the best way we could to ensure that everyone has a good experience. The fastest way to cook corned beef is by preparing it as slices for sandwiches. We will also teach you how to cook corned beef brisket on the stove because this is a definite crowd favorite.
You can also prepare corned beef and cabbage in the oven if you like, then we will also share with you a simple corned beef recipe that you can prepare easily for lunch or dinner. Are you ready? It’s time to enjoy your corned beef at home!
Overview: Cooking Corned Beef
How long does it take to boil corn beef?
The amount of time needed to cook corned beef varies, depending on the cooking method.
You can use a pressure cooker if you do not want to slow cook your beef, but slow cooking does have its benefits, and the resulting stew greatly improves the flavors of any beef dish that you are preparing. Using a pressure cooker dramatically reduces the cooking time from hours to mere minutes.
Beef, pork, and lamb only require 40 to 60 minutes in the pressure cooker. If the meat has been cut into slices or cubes, the cooking time is further reduced to just 15 to 20 minutes per batch of meat in a large pressure cooker. The pressure cooker is useful for instant pot-type recipes, where time is of the essence, and you are cooking for many people.
How many minutes per pound does it take to cook corned beef?
If you are preparing corned beef the old-fashioned way, but the meat in a Dutch oven and fill the Dutch oven with water. Simmer the meat for approximately 50 minutes per pound of meat.
The type of cut of meat also has an impact on the overall cooking time if you are working without a pressure cooker. Cuts with more sinew and joints will take longer to tenderize if you are simmering the meat. On the upside, the resulting beef broth is going to be out of this world, and you can freeze the natural beef broth for future cooking.
Can you overcook corned beef?
Yes, it is possible to overcook any kind of meat, including corned beef. What happens is that the meat becomes overly soft, and it is no longer tender, but crumbly and somewhat dry because all of the fat has melted away into the stew. While still edible, what we are aiming for when cooking corned beef is tender meat that is easy to cut away with a fork and flavorful, complete with juices and its melting fat. If you are slow-cooking corned beef, keep in mind that the average cooking time for corned beef is nine to ten hours in a crockpot. If you are going over the average time, make sure that you check the meat to make sure it is not overcooked.
Slow Cooker Corned Beef
For this recipe, you will need a bay leaf, two tablespoons of sugar, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, half a teaspoon of ground black pepper, one cup of water, three cloves of garlic, and three pounds of corned beef. Add the three pounds of corned beef in a slow cooker with the fat side up. Add all of the ingredients into the pot.
Add the garlic as topping for the corned beef. Slow-cook the corned beef for eight to nine hours. If after this period, the corned beef has not browned sufficient to your liking, you can use a broiler to brown either side of the corned beef for just two minutes. Do not close the oven door so you can check the quality of the meat as you add the finishing touches to your corned beef.
If this recipe is done correctly, you should be able to produce corned beef with a crispy crust because you are not going to be filling the slow cooker up. At most, the slow-cooker or crockpot should only be filled to a maximum of 25% of its liquid capacity. Any more water and the brown crust may not manifest in the meat because there is too much stew in the crockpot.
Stove Top Corned Beef
The goal of cooking stovetop corned beef is to make the meat fork-tender. For this recipe, simply place the corned beef in a stockpot. Fill the pot to near capacity.
Add dark beer to soak the meat and tenderize it. Bring the pot to a boil and simmer the meat for 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours. Take note that the actual cooking time may vary depending on how much meat you have in the stockpot.
Refer to the cooking time above to compute how much time you need to cook all of your corned beef nicely to a fork-tender finish. After cooking, remove the corned beef from the stockpot. Add all of the vegetables that you want to include in the meal and simmer everything for about 25 minutes or until the vegetables reach the level of readiness that you like.
If you want crisp vegetables, you will have to remove the vegetables from the fire earlier. Important reminder: when slicing the corned beef, make sure that your cut is across the grain of the meat.
Check the direction of the muscle fibers in the meat and cut across. This is done to keep the final product as tender as possible. Corned beef is served with simplest side dishes like buttery mashed potatoes or cabbage. Corned beef has Irish origins, so if you’d like, do some research about unique Irish side dishes to make your meal super special and traditionally Irish.
