Sous Vide Corned Beef

Sous vide corned beef is the best recipe because it allows for precise temperature control, resulting in perfectly cooked and tender corned beef every time.

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 consistently lower temperature of the sous vide method 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:

*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.

📝 Notes on the ingredients

When selecting your brisket from the meat counter at your local butcher or grocery store, they may ask you what cut of brisket you would like to purchase. You can ask for a flat cut or a point cut.

The flat cut is the preferred cut for corned beef, but the whole slab of brisket is used often as well. The pointcut (also known as the second cut or deckle) will have less muscle and more fat than the flat cut.

Some people argue that the fat makes the point cut more flavorful than the flat cut so pick what is best for you.

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 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 freezer 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 immersion circulator 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. Another option is to place the brined corned beef brisket in a gallon size ziploc bag and use the water displacement method to press all the air out of the bag keeping the whole brisket under the water level.
4. Vacuum and seal the corned beef. Cook at 180F for 10 hours.
5. Remove the sous vide corned beef brisket from the sous vide bag and blot off the excess moisture with clean paper towels.
6. Once you have finished the cook, remove the corned beef from the water and plunge into an ice water bath to stop the cooking.
7. Trim the fat off of the corned beef. (optional but encouraged)
8. Slice across the grain meaning, across the short width, in this case.