Boiled Corn Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the corned beef well.
If the beef is very salty, cover it with cold water; if slightly corned, use boiling water.
Boil
Skim the surface often while boiling.
Boil for at least 30 minutes for every pound of meat.
Cool and press
If serving cold, leave the beef in the cooking liquid until nearly cold.
Transfer the beef to an earthen dish, place a board on top, and press down with a stone or flat‑irons.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Corned beef
- Is the main cut being cooked, its salt-cured meat flavour and texture set during simmering.
- Cold water
- Covers very salty beef so it simmers gently and draws out some of the surface salt.
- Boiling water
- Used for lightly cured beef so the meat heats quickly and cooks evenly from the start.
The step that matters
Skim the surface often while boiling. Foam and fat rise as the liquid heats and simmers. Skimming keeps the broth clearer and stops impurities from settling back onto the meat.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.