Kitchen

[AnneMary]

Have any of you used the bags for beef brisket? I've never tried them myself, but after seeing the recipe for corned beef and cabbage, I am going to have to try it. However, I never seem to cook a brisket to my satisfaction, and now I'm wondering if this would work well on this cut of meat. If any of you have tried this, would you please let me know what you thought of it being done this way. TIA

[fthunt]

Personally I wouldn't try it. To me - CBeef needs liquid to help break down the fibers - whereas the bag seems to cook away moisture/liquid unless you add soup to chicken (for example). Meat is too expensive to gamble. I just did one in c-pot but plan to go back to a pot of water on the stove - and let it cook for 3 hours. Didn't like the c-pot method (no room for cabbage, etc)

[Zhills]

Corned Beef is most often a brisket. Why wouldn't a marinated brisket cook the same? I think I would try it. The important thing is to get the meat tender.

[adoreqvc]

Many decades ago when I began experimenting with various cuts of Corned beef and different methods to cook it, I immediately ruled out boiled or simmered in liquid on the stove top. Tasted not to our liking at all. All the nutrients were boiled out of the meat and it was not flavorful or as tender as it should have been. Also it was quite salty

I love preparing it in the oven for a variety of reasons all explained in this post.

I always boiled out the salt from corned beef by bringing it to a boil with clean water twice. Then used my preferred cooking method.

The meat steams until it has tenderized and becomes fork tender when cooking it in a Reynolds Oven bag, same with covering with aluminum foil, poking some slits in it and allowing it to cook low and slow in the oven.

Both methods above really product a succulent well steamed very tender delicious tasting piece of meat, and can be used with most meat recipes when one is selling heavenly cooking perfection.

When you place it in water you are removing all the nutrients out of it which is not the pro way to cook any corned beef.

"The Secrets to Good Corned Beef"

http://blog.cleveland.com/lifestyles/2008/03/_for_great_corned_beef.html

Braising is the effective way to tenderize such meat.

But even though it's commonly called a "boiled dinner," boiling, per se, is ineffective.

"That basically cooks the outside but not the inside," says Kreiger.

Hard boiling can result in an even tougher corned-beef brisket.

"Certain things, like corned beef or spare ribs, you just don't boil if you want texture and flavor," says Jaworski.

He cooks his corned beef in a roasting pan to which he has added water to a depth of about one-fourth the thickness of the meat, then covers the pan tightly with foil and bakes it in a 325-degree oven for 2 to 3½ hours, depending on the size and thickness of the brisket.

"You're steaming it that way, not boiling out the flavor," Jaworski says.

Herskovitz favors the popular oven cooking bags, which trap the brisket's large amount of brine as it's released, thus allowing the meat to simmer in those flavorful juices.

Kreiger prefers submerging the corned beef in a bath of simmering water, which may be seasoned. The usual onions, potatoes, carrots and cabbage can be added midway through cooking.

I believe experimenting is the key to find a personal preference. Also slicing it should not be a chore.

You can refrigerate the cooked corned beef overnight in well sealed aluminum foil, and then make lovely think slices for serving or sandwiches the next day if preferred, or you can allow it to cook, remove from cooking vessel. Keep covered with foil for about 30 minutes, and then carefully trim excess fat, and slice across the grain.

I never cared for pressure cooked corned beef at all, and neither did my guests or family.

Some things turn out great in the pressure cooker, but in my personal experience corned beef is cooked to death in a pressure cooker, and the flavor is lacking in this method of cooking, but that is my personal preference........Others may prefer it, I do not.