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Corned Beef

Corned beef is cooked slowly in water with bay leaves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Corned Beef

Corned Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. If the beef is very salty, soak it in water for several hours or overnight.

  2. Place the beef in a deep baking dish with 1-2 bay leaves.

  3. Pour boiling water over the beef until it is covered by 1 inch of water.

Cook overnight

  1. Cover the dish with a plate and place it in the coolest part of the oven after the noon meal.

  2. Let it cook overnight.

  3. If the fire is kept all night, you can put the meat in the oven late in the afternoon.

  4. In the morning, the beef will be ready for pressing.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Beef (corned)
The main ingredient; long, gentle cooking in water makes the meat tender.
Bay leaves
Adds a subtle herbal aroma to the cooking liquid and the beef.
Boiling water
Provides moisture and gentle heat that cooks the beef evenly and keeps it from drying.

The step that matters

Covering the beef with 1 inch of water. The beef must stay fully submerged during the long, slow cook. Exposed meat dries and toughens, while meat held in liquid at low heat stays moist and tender.

“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.

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