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Homemade Corned Beef

Homemade Corned Beef is a fun kitchen project to do, especially around St. Paddy’s Day! It requires almost a week, so be sure to factor the extra time into your planning.

how to make homemade corned beef

A few years ago, I decided to try corning my own brisket for a pre-St. Patty’s Day dinner. I was skeptical that it would work and skeptical that it would taste good, but my fears were completely unfounded!

The homemade corned beef and cabbage turned out fantastic–and we’ve since started a new tradition of having it for dinner on the Sunday nearest St. Patty’s Day every year.  My husband was just saying yesterday that it is one of his favorite meals (he has Irish heritage, after all).

The spices required to make corned beef.

Making your own corned beef is reasonably easy to do, but because the beef has to dry-brine (yes, I made that term up) for almost a week, it requires some planning ahead.  

I just did mine this morning.  If you’d like to try your hand at homemade corned beef, here’s how!

Homemade Corned Beef

Homemade Corned Beef

Yield: 3 1/2-4 1/2 lbs
Prep Time: 7 days 5 seconds
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 7 days 3 hours 5 seconds

Homemade Corned Beef is a fun kitchen project to do, especially around St. Paddy's Day! It requires almost a week, so get started now. Recipe adapted from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, which has simple, easy recipes for EVERYTHING.

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 to 4 1/2-pound brisket
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1 Tablespoon cracked peppercorns (if you only have whole peppercorns, put them in a heavy-duty ziplock bag and smash them with a hammer or meat-pounding mallet!)
  • 2 bay leaves, crumbled
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 2 teaspoons allspice
  • 1 Tablespoon dried thyme

Instructions

    1. In a small bowl, combine everything except the brisket. Set aside.
    2. Take something sharp (I use a corn cob holder, but a skewer or really sharp fork would work too) and poke holes all over both sides of the brisket. Rub your salt mixer all over both sides of the meat.  Use all of it, cover every surface, and really work it in.
    3. Place your brisket in a gallon-sized ziplock bag. If your brisket is too big to fit in one bag, cut it in half, make sure both cut surfaces get rubbed with some salt mixture, and put each piece in a separate bag. Get as much air out of the ziplock bag as possible and seal it.
    4. Set the bag on a cookie sheet in your fridge, put another cookie sheet on top, and load it up with heavy cans to weigh it down. Every day, unload the cans, take the top cookie sheet off, and flip your meat over. Replace everything and repeat the next day. The meat should "brine" for 5-7 days.
    5. On St. Patty's Day (or whatever day you're going to cook and eat your corned beef), remove the now-corned beef from the bag, rinse it with water, and pat it dry with paper towels.
    6. Put the corned beef, 3 whole bay leaves, 1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorns, and 1 Tablespoon mustard seeds in a large dutch oven. Fill the pot with enough water that everything is covered plus an extra 1/2" of water, and bring to a simmer.  Cook for 2-3 hours, until a fork easily slides into the center of the meat.
    7. Heat the oven to 200°F. Transfer the meat to a large baking dish, cover with 1 cup cooking liquid, cover, and place in the oven to keep warm. Add 1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes and 1 1/2 pounds peeled, cut carrots (or baby carrots) to the dutch oven. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add 1 head of cabbage (washed and cut into 8 wedges). Simmer until all veggies are tender.
    8. Remove meat from oven, slice across the grain into 1/4" slices, and place on a large serving platter. Add cooked veggies to platter, and serve with grainy mustard.
Homemade Corned Beef
how to make homemade corned beef
Pressing homemade corned beef during the curing process.

16 thoughts on “Homemade Corned Beef

    1. Marcelle, we already chatted about this on the phone, but I thought I’d document it anyway! We are not mustard connsoisseurs at all. We basically have yellow mustard and dijon mustard. Let me know if you try making your own! Maybe we can squeeze that in when you come to visit! That and a huge batch of soap!

  1. I just made this tonight and was surprised at how flavorful it is! It looked so much like boiled beef, but was delicious. I served it with horseradish sauce and my husband loved it. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  2. We’ve been curing this all week and made tonight. Absolutely the worst corned beef we’ve ever eaten. Chris Kimball has let me down for the first time. Back to Alton Brown’s wet brine! The only reason it was edible was my wife’s horse radish sauce!

    1. I’m so sorry you didn’t like it, especially after a week of work. This is the only recipe for corned beef we’ve ever tried, and it is always a big hit with the family.

    1. You simmer it on the stove top for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender, then transfer the meat to a baking dish, add some cooking liquid, cover, and transfer to the oven. Then you add the veggies to the dutch oven and simmer those on the stove top. So all of the simmer happens in the dutch oven on the stove top, just not all at the same time.

  3. Please explain the reason for weighing down the brisket with cans while it is curing in the fridge. I don’t understand why this step is necessary.

    1. Hi Harry. I honestly don’t know! That’s what America’s Test Kitchen told me to do, so that’s what I’ve always done. Maybe the pressure helps press the seasoning into the meat as it brines???

    1. The appearance of corned beef in Irish cuisine dates to the 12th century in the poem Aislinge Meic Con Glinne or The Vision of MacConglinne. Within the text, it is described as a delicacy a king uses to purge himself of the “demon of gluttony”. Cattle, valued as a bartering tool, were only eaten when no longer able to provide milk or to work. The corned beef as described in this text was a rare and valued dish, given the value and position of cattle within the culture, as well as the expense of salt, and was unrelated to the corned beef eaten today.

  4. My husband did this but was wimpy on the salt before vacuum sealing. He has 2 pounds of beef and used 2 tsp of salt and then other spices. Can it still stay in the fridge for 5 days or does he really need more salt?

  5. I have made this recipe. And it turned out very good.
    Now if you want to try your hand a Pastrami, take your corned beef. Roll it in coarse ground black pepper. Wrap it in butcher paper, tightly! And place it on a tray. Put it in the oven at 250° to 275° till the internal temp of your roast is about 209°. Low and slow. The name of the game to get a super tender roast. Take it out and let it rest 15 or 20 year minutes, so the juices stay in the meat when sliced.
    We don’t want a dry Brisket. Then slice 1/4″ slices and enjoy.

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