Easy Instant Pot Corned Beef Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

Why did my corned beef come out tough in instant pot? ›

One of the keys to getting there is the amount of water in the pot. From start to finish, when there's not ample liquid to cover the meat, your dreams of tender corned beef might be crushed with a tough, chewy result.

1. Not Rinsing the Meat Before Cooking. If you cook the meat straight from the plastic packaging or pulled the meat right away from the brine solution in the fridge without rinsing, you just might be in for a saltier meal than you bargained for.

Slow cooking with a crock pot or using an instant pot is a fantastic way to cook corned beef, resulting in melt-in-your-mouth, tender meat throughout. You can make a delicious, hearty meal with simple ingredients and a crock pot or instant pot. Your whole family will enjoy it.

However, when corned beef has been soaked in a seasoned brine of water, curing salt, and spices, and also cooked low and slow with moist heat, the connective tissue in this muscle-bound cut melts down, making a tough cut of meat juicy and succulent.

Information. Corned beef is made from one of several less tender cuts of beef like the brisket, rump, or round. Therefore, it requires long, moist cooking. Corned beef is safe once the internal temperature has reached at least 145 °F, with a three minute rest time, but cooking it longer will make it fork-tender.

Brisket should always be cooked with some amount of liquid when placed in the crockpot since that's what transfers the heat to the meat. A brisket put dry in this kind of appliance will cook unevenly and may become unsafe to eat. For corned beef in particular, you need enough liquid to cover the entire piece of meat.

To make the corned beef, open the sealed package right over the slow cooker, because you want to include the brine in the cooking liquid. Don't discard the brine.

For a three to five-pound corned beef brisket, cook for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. STOVE: Place brisket fat-side up in a large pot and cover it with water. Bring the water to a boil; then reduce the heat and simmer, allowing about 1 hour per pound. Vegetables may be added during the last 20 to 30 minutes of cooking.

Remove Corned Beef from package and place in crock pot and completely cover with water. Cover and cook for approximately 11 hours on low or 5 hours on high, or until firmly fork tender. Please note that crock pot cooking times may vary greatly depending upon brand and style.

You need its connective tissue to break down so you can have tender results. Some like to braise their corned beef in an all-water liquid, with various spices and salt; others add beer to the mix to further tenderize the meat.

Is it better to boil or slow cook corned beef? ›

No matter the method you use, it's best to cook low and slow. Place the corned beef in a stockpot. Add the spice packet and a bottle of dark beer. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook on a low simmer for about 2.5-3.5 hours, or 45-50 minutes per pound.

Canned corned beef is already cooked. It is safe to eat straight from the can. You'll probably improve the texture by warming it up, and you'll probably improve the flavor by browning it a bit in a hot skillet. But technically, you don't NEED to do any of that.

ANSWER: They are both beef, but not the same thing. Fresh beef brisket is like a big roast. Corned beef starts out as beef brisket and is brine-cured first. The brine-cure is what makes it corned beef and that curing process is where it gets its color from.

Corned beef is typically made from beef brisket – a relatively inexpensive cut of beef – cured in salt brine, with some pickling spices: bay leaf, peppercorns, mustard seed, juniper berries, coriander seeds, and whole cloves. Corned beef gets its characteristic sweet and tart taste from the brine.

Corned beef gets its vibrant pink color from the use of sodium nitrite, a chemical compound that also adds flavor and helps inhibit bacterial growth.

To prevent a chewy beef steak, you need to avoid using too much high-pressure heat. Of course, start with pressure cooking your roast (that's why you're using the Instant Pot anyway), but keep that high-pressured phase to a few minutes only.

When you're done cooking the corned beef, make sure you slice against the grain of the meat. This will produce a more tender result; if you slice with the grain, you'll find a more tough and stringy texture when you chew.

Cook Low and Slow

Add your other ingredients and liquids, then set your cooker to “low.” Plan for 6-9 hours of cooking time for your warming slow cooker meal. This long, slow braise breaks down the connective tissue and fat, creating deliciously soft and juicy meat.

Overcooking the meat would result in a very dry tasting pot roast. Undercooking it would result in a tough piece of meat. Unfortunately, this isn't much you can do if you overcook it, other than making sure to serve it with a lot of gravy.