How To Cook A Corned Beef Brisket

Corned beef brisket, whether it be a flat cut or a point cut, is a truly delicious meal. But due to the brining process a corned beef brisket can be quite salty. Depending on who you talk to, people have various ways of cooking one of these. This is the way I cook my corned beef brisket, and I have done it this way for years, and it always turns out quite delicious, and the process is easy as well.

The way I like to cook my corned beef brisket is to bring it to a boil, and then simmer it. The general rule is that you want to cook your brisket for about 50 minutes per pound. Usually I have at least a 4 lb brisket.

STEP ONE: Cut the brisket out of the bag and drop it into a large pot. Find the "seasoning packet" and set it aside. The bag is full of blood and brine. This is all flavor folks. Before I put any water into my pot, after dropping the corned beef brisket into the pot, I rinse the bag it came in and dump that mixture into the pot with the meat. This way I get all the goodies. Next, turn on the tap and fill the pot so that the meat is fully covered to the top in water.

STEP TWO: Add the seasoning packet that came with your corned beef brisket.

STEP THREE: Set the pot, uncovered, on the burner. Set your dial high and bring the pot to a slow, rolling boil. Once it is boiling let it cook for about 3-5 minutes, watching the foam. If it foams too much just turn the heat down a notch.

STEP FOUR: After it has boiled for about 3-5 minutes, turn down the heat to a high simmer and cover it. Set the timer for 50 minutes per pound. Just let it cook. Watch it to make sure you don't have to make some heat adjustments, but mostly your corned beef brisket will simply cook on its own without any attention at all for the allotted time.

Note: If at any point during the cooking process if you feel the meat should need more water, just add it. You are not going to impede the flavor at all. The meat should be covered with water through the cooking process. If you add some water, just bring it back to a slow boil and then bring it back down to simmer and you are fine. You will not screw this up. Trust me. A corned beef brisket is all flavor. You cannot kill it.

Now here's a little secret. A lot of the time when someone cooks a corned beef brisket they want a combination of cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Many people will simply add these ingredients to the pot about 45 minutes to an hour before cooking is done.

Frankly, this makes for some pretty salty vegetables.

What I do instead is to cook my vegetables separately. I still want the corned beef flavor. But I do not want the excessive saltiness that goes along with it. So here is what I do.

STEP ONE:1 hour before your brisket is done, prepare your vegetables, cut up your cabbage, carrots, and potatoes and set them aside. (This should take about 15 minutes)

STEP TWO: Siphon off 1 cup of liquid from your corned beef brisket pot and drop that into your vegetable pot. (If you have to add water to your corned beef brisket follow the note above). This gives you the corned beef flavor you want. Add 2 cups of beef broth. Drop your veggies into the pot and mix it all up.

STEP THREE: Cook your veggies for about 40-45 minutes bringing them to a boil first, then dropping them down to a simmer. Add a tad of Worcestershire just for some added flavor if you want, and  normally I do this...but normally there is enough flavor already. I just like a little bit of Worcestershire with my veggies.

When the corned beef brisket is done it is best to let it stand for at least five minutes before carving it. This only makes the cuts more "presentable." If you do not care about presentation, just dig in.

This has been the method I have used to cook my corned beef brisket for years, and the veggies to boot. It always turns out good. I hope this was helpful.

Enjoy your corned beef brisket.