To Cook Corned Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove a piece of corned beef from the pickle, the size you desire.
Wash the beef in three or four changes of water.
If the beef is irregularly shaped, tie it securely before cooking.
Cook and cool
Place the beef in a pot and cover it with cold water.
Cook gently, allowing at least 20 minutes per pound.
Let the beef cool in the cooking water to keep it juicy and prevent darkening.
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; its brine-cured meat is the dish itself.
- Cold water
- Covers the beef for gentle, even cooking and helps the meat stay moist.
The step that matters
Cook gently. Boiling hard toughens the muscle fibers and tightens the meat, so it cooks gently at a low simmer to stay tender. Allowing enough time per pound lets the connective tissue soften.
“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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