Quick Cooking Help - Corned Beef archived

Don't combine the weights. Fork tender is when you pierce meat with the fork, and you press on the fork, at an angle, the meat should pull apart easily.

Thanks! So are you saying I should check the meat after it's cooked for 50x3=150 minutes? I appreciate the advice about fork tender. One of those questions I always meant to ask.

For that weight go by the larger one... if they're in a big enough pot combining the weights will stretch things too far. I'd say 2 1/2-3 hours in total.

Wendy,
How are you cooking it?
---it makes a difference if it is in a dutch oven in a slow (350) oven, or on top of the stove, or a crock pot.
If you are cooking it in a liquid (like water or beer:winkin the oven, in a covered pot, 3 hours should be about right--go by the larger piece---it should fall away and pose no resistence to the fork. That's fork tender. It should be sort of like a pot roast or brisket in consistency when it is done.
Bon Appetit!
Calli

Check them now. They should be good.

I boil 2 in one pot - no matter what the weight - and let it simmer for 2-3 hours. I can tell when it's done by the scum on the top of the water. I also let it keep simmering if it's not time for dinner yet, even if the meat is done. (It's not like you can really overcook it when it's simmering). I have a super recipe, if you're interested. My husband can attest to how yummy it is.

Be sure to let us know how it came out!

mfstreck, are you my fairy cooking godmother? I removed it about 10 minutes after you told me to. It looks great. It did seem to cook for too long the last time I tried this (last week) so thus all my questions. This time the corned beef is resting and I plopped into the cooking water some potatoes, cabbage and carrots. I will let you all know how it all turns out. Last week's shrunk to nothing thus my buying two packages for this week (while everything was still on sale). Sarah I would love your recipe. Thanks to everyone and I will report back later or tomorrow! :bigsmile:

Speaking of recipes... on Sat we did it the traditional way, and had a friend over who brought his 14 hour crockpot version.... Simmered forever in water, apple cider, orange peel and cloves amongst a few other minor things I can't remember. Wildly different, but unreal.

Wendy, if it came out delicious, then yes, I am your fairy cooking godmother. If it stinks, I've got Nuthin' to do with it

On Saturday, I had a 2 1/2 lb piece of corned beef simmering on the stove for about 3 1/2 hours and it did not come out fork tender at all! It got to the point where we couldn't wait any longer for dinner...

any clue as to what I may have done wrong???? thanks in advance!

Stephanie, did you simmer or boil? If you boil it (big rolling boil) for a long time, it will get really tough. Also, what did you put iin the pot with the meat?

we made 3 corned beef on saturday for our party-two in a slow cooker for 10 hours in apple cider and beer over cabbage and carrots and the other one in the oven at 325 for 3 hours. all came out perfectly fork tender.

The one in the oven (no liquid-basted with mustard/brown sugar mixture) was very different and even more delicious than the traditional way in the slow cooker! Much more flavor.

We also made Calconnan with the extra head of cabbage we had bought-it was delicious and everyone couldn't get enough of it. it was the perfect side dish!

What is calconnan? Any recipes to share?

It is a traditional irish side dish made of potatoes, cabbage and onions.

My mother makes it all of the time. No specific recipe but here is how i did it.

Make mashed potatoes as you normally would (about 2-3 pounds of potatoes for the below amounts of onions and cabbage)

Cut a couple of onions (you want about 1-2 cups depending on your taste for onion) into long slices.
Cut one head of cabbage in the same way (you want all of the ingredients to be in long thin slices).

Saute the onions with minced garlic (to your liking) in butter for 3-5 minutes until the onions are still crisp but iridesent.

Throw in the cabbage and saute for 5 minutes more until the cabbage is still crisp but has wilted down a bit and absorbed the flavors of the onion and garlic. Add some thyme to the mixture and saute a bit longer to combine flavors (the thyme is what makes this dish)

Mix the cabbage/onion mixture into the mashed potatoes and place in a dish. You can serve it right away, or what I did was place it covered in the oven so it got a little brown.

My mother swears the best part is when you serve it you make a little well (like you normally would for gravy) and place a tablespoon of butter in it and then it becomes heaven!

I'm not a huge fan of a lot of butter so we didn't serve it that way and it was still delicious and still got raves but if you want to try it with the extra butter my mother swears it isn't calconnan without it :shocked:

It is absolutely delicious!

Hi Mfstreck,

I followed a recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything - a very low simmer in water with an onion, some garlic, and a number of other spices. The instructions mentioned that the simmer should be low enough so the water bubbles only occasionally, and not constantly..

thanks - stephanie

Stephanie it sounds like you cooked it correctly but too long. It was probably ready at 2 1/2 hours. Otherwise I can't think of why it would be so tough, unless it was overly trimmed so there was almost no fat left on it. Perhaps someone else reading this has a better idea? I'm sorry to not be of more help.

and Lucy thanks for the recipe. It'll be fun to do something a little different with my next pot roast!

-Michele

We were out on Saturday night and Sunday - Monday I needed to have some corned beef in the house and so I googled this and it was perfect for a quick meal.

3LB Corned beef brisket
1 bottle of ale
water to cover
I sprayed my pressure cooker with cooking spray, put the little rack in the bottom and put the brisket on it. Added the little seasoning packet and the bottle of ale. Added water to just cover the brisket.
I turned the cooker on high and when it started to rock I timed it for 45 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally and then removed the meat to a cutting board and covered it to rest.
Then I added a big head of cabbage that Ichopped up and brought the pressure back up and let it cook for 7 minutes in the same liquid that the meat was in.
I am here to tell you that this was pretty good for a quick meal...I served it with baked sweet potatoes and sliced cold pickled beets and creamy horseradish sauce.
My family had white baked potatoes - I love sweet and savory together.
So, if anyone likes using a pressure cooker...it worked for me!
bgs

My grandfather used to prepare boiled dinners with corned beef, and I will never forget those distinctive, clove-y, briney aromas. He would tell me about my ancestors as he cooked. He would tell me that corned beef was not much enjoyed in Ireland itself but was very popular on the famine ships of immigrating Irish, as it was long-keeping. "Those peope were starving, Grampa," I would point out. "They had to eat corned beef or they would have died." Grampa would make no reply but would just keep ladling off scum from the corned beef cooking water. Anyway, I watched my grandfather and I learned and I am now pleased to present my own recipe for this beloved "heritage" dish.

Brealer's Best Corned Beef

Mise en place:

4 thick black garbage bags
gas mask
rubber gloves
extra-long tongs
cryovac pac of corned beef
parsley for garnish


Method:

Open each thick black garbage bag and on a work surface arrange the opened bags in a row. Don mask and and gloves. With tongs, being careful not to puncture cryovac pac, firmly grasp corned beef and transfer to a prepared garbage bag. With gloved hands knot the bag, transfer knotted bag to next prepared bag, and knot new bag. Repeat with remaining bags. With tongs transfer bagged beef gently to garbage can. Garnish with parsley. Corned beef keeps, cryo-vac-ed and wrapped tightly in 4 thick black garbage bags, indefinitely.

Thanks for the recipe Lucy. I'll have to try it. I like cabbage but my family doesn't. Maybe made this way will please everyone.