Best Sous Vide Corned Beef Recipe

If you are looking for the best corned beef for St. Patrick’s Day, you need to try my sous vide corned beef recipe. No longer do you need to wonder how long to boil corned beef or hope it is going to be the texture you love.

Be sure to check out my recipe for sous vide pork chops Be sure to check out my complete collection of sous vide recipes.

Why this recipe works:

The consistent lower temperature of the sous vide bath and long cook time will help break down the connective tissue of the brisket without turning the meat mushy.

New to sous vide? I explain in simple terms everything I know about sous vide cooking.

Corned Beef Brine Recipe Ingredients:

• water
• kosher salt
• brown sugar
• cinnamon stick, broken into several pieces
• mustard seeds
• black peppercorns
• cloves
• allspice berries
• bay leaves, crumbled
• fresh ginger, grated
• ice
• 1 medium beef brisket, trimmed

*This recipe is a variation of the Alton Brown corned beef recipe. He adds a few other ingredients that were hard for me to find, so I left them out.

How to Sous Vide Corned Beef

I walk you through how to make the corned beef brine and use the sous vide cooking technique to make the best homemade corned beef.

Prepare the brine

1. Place the water into a large 6 to 8-quart stock pot along with salt, sugar, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, bay leaves, and ginger OR the spice packet that is included with your beef brisket.
2. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and add the ice.
4. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F.
5. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a ziploc bag or an airtight container and add the brine. Remove as much air as possible, seal and lay flat inside a container, cover, and place in the refrigerator for 10 days. (yes, I said 10 days)
6. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and shake the sealed bag or container at least once a day.
7. After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water.

Cook

1. Set your sous vide to 180F.
2. After rinsing off the brine, place the beef in a vacuum bag and using your vacuum sealer, remove as much air as possible. It is optional but I lay some of the extra spices from the brine over the beef before sealing. I want to get EVERY piece of goodness out of those spices.
3. Vacuum and seal the corned beef. Cook at 180F for 10 hours.
4. Once you have finished the cook, remove the corned beef from the water and plunge into an ice water bath to stop the cooking.
5. Trim the fat off of the corned beef. (optional but encouraged)
6. Slice across the grain meaning, across the short width, in this case.

Trim the corned beef before slicing

You might not do this BUT I am not a fan of fat.

I trimmed the fat off of the corned beef. Scrape and trim and it fell right off. Feel free to leave some on if that is what you like.

How to slice corned beef

Slice across the grain meaning, across the short width, in this case.

Don't you just want to pick up a piece or make a sandwich?

What to make with leftover corned beef:

• Reuben tater tots
• More recipes that use leftover corned beef

👩‍🍳 Chef tip:

I did a 180F cook for 10 hours. There, I said it. It worked for me and the corned beef was not mushy, sliced lovely and had amazing flavor. Perfect for my taste.

Sous Vide Corned Beef Recipe

Sarah Mock

If you are looking for the best way to cook corned beef, you need to try my sous vide corned beef recipe. No longer do you need to wonder how long to boil corned beef or hope it is going to be the texture you love. I walk you through how to make the corned beef brine and use the sous vide cooking technique to make the best home made corned beef.

4.57 from 30 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 d 16 hrs

Cook Time 10 hrs

Additional Time 10 d

Total Time 12 d 2 hrs

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark, toggle to button to the right to turn GREEN

Course Sous Vide

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Calories 121 kcal

Equipment

• Joule Sous Vide
• Anova Culinary Sous Vide Cooker
• LIPAVI 19 Qt Sous Vide Water Bath
• Lid for Sous Vide Container, with precision cut-out
• FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer Machine with Bags and Rolls Starter Kit

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick broken into several pieces
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 8 whole cloves
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 4 bay leaves crumbled
• 1 inch fresh ginger grated
• 2 pounds ice
• 1 medium beef brisket trimmed

Instructions

 

Sous Vide Corned Beef Technique

• After rinsing off the brine, place the beef in a vacuum bag. It is optional but I lay on some of the extra spices from the brine. I want to get out EVERY piece of goodness out of those spices.

Sous Vide Time and Temperature

• I did a 180F cook for 10 hours.
• It worked for me and the corned beef was not mushy, sliced lovely and had amazing flavor. Perfect for my taste.
• Once you have finished the cook, remove the corned beef from the water and plunge into a ice water bath to stop the cooking.

Video

Notes

Corned Beef Brine

1. Place the water into a large 6 to 8 quart stockpot along with salt, sugar, cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, bay leaves and ginger.
2. Cook over high heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and add the ice. Stir until the ice has melted. If necessary, place the brine into the refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 45 degrees F.
4. Once it has cooled, place the brisket in a zip top bag or a air tight container and add the brine. Seal and lay flat inside a container, cover and place in the refrigerator for 10 days. (yes, I said 10 days)
5. Check daily to make sure the beef is completely submerged and shake the bag or container at least once a day.
6. After 10 days, remove from the brine and rinse well under cool water.

Here is where using sous vide to cook your corned beef is different from boiling corned beef.

1. Set your sous vide to 180F.
2. After rinsing off the brine, place the beef in a vacuum bag. It is optional but I lay on some of the extra spices from the brine. I want to get out EVERY piece of goodness out of those spices.
3. Vacum and seal the corned beef. Cook at 180F for 10 hours.
4. Once you have finished the cook, remove the corned beef from the water and plunge into an ice water bath to stop the cooking.
5. Trim the fat off of the corned beef. (optional but encouraged)
6. Slice across the grain meaning, across the short width, in this case.

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 121kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 5gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 18890mgFiber: 2gSugar: 16g

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

published July 2018