Boiled corned beef (like Irish restaurants)

[Mikey]

Hey there, I'm new. Mikey's my name.

I sometimes boil corned beef, but am spoiled by how they do this in the Irish restaurants (I'm near NYC). Do they boil it by immersing this completely? Do they double-boil it using a steamer insert?

I just go to the supermarket and pick up some corn brisket, but it never seems to hold itself together the way I get it in restaurants. Any solution?

Many thanks in advance. :)

[Sydneyp]

I don't have the recipe book with me, but the best recipe I've gotten (and the best technique) is in a book called, not so strangely "the best recipe." It's written by the people who run America's test kitchen.

I believe if your brisket is coming apart you are cooking it longer than it needs to cook. The traditional way to cook a corned (salted and spiced) beef is to boil it with potatoes, cabbage and the like. Just straight boiling, nothing fancy.

[Tigerlily]

My mother's very Irish and her boiled corned beef dinner from my grandmother is the best corned beef I've tasted, including from some Irish pubs in the area. I don't have the full recipe on my right now, but we've never had a problem with the beef falling apart. Maybe Sydney's right about it doing that by boiling it too long. After the meat's done, I'll usually take it out of the broth it's cooking in, add the potatoes, cabbage and carrots to the broth, and add the meat back to the broth w/ the veggies in the last half hour or so to heat it back up.

I'll be back later to post the recipe!

[Mikey]

Sydney and Tigerlilly, many thanks for your replies.

What I'm trying to find out is what kind of pot should I use? I've got various.

I've tried using an oval slow cooker, but that ended up heating it too much (4 hour minimum on the timer).

I've tried cooking it like pasta in a relatively deep double-boiler with steamer insert. I've never tried adding potatoes and cabbage, though those are traditional Irish ways of doing things.

Any particular time for cooking and temperature? I've been using around 350-400F for around 3 hours. Since I have two dutch ovens, I've boiled for about 2+ hours, then baked in the oven for the last hour.

If the end result could be something that could serve as either a meal or a sandwich, this would be what I'm looking for. Hopefully, the regular corned beef brisket from a supermarket should suffice.

Many thanks again. :)

[heather6773]

I was just looking for something like this. My hubby is Irish and I would like to make this for him. Usually my Grandma and him make a date and we go up and she fixes it. I would like to try this year. Any ideas?