Sous Vide Corned Beef

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.

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The sous vide cooking method also helps retain the meat's moisture, resulting in a juicy and flavorful finished product. Plus, the hands-off cooking method allows for easy multitasking in the kitchen.

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:

• 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.

📝 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.

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 few Reuben sandwiches?

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 Beef Tenderloin - Edge-to-edge consistent doneness, with no chance of overcooking, will take the fear out of cooking this expensive cut of beef.
• Sous Vide Prime Rib - Herb crust surrounds the most succulent and juicy roast beef, cooked to your desired doneness.
• Sous Vide Guinness Stew - Full of deep, rich comforting flavors the Guinness Beer is the star of this tender beef stew. 
• Sous Vide Beef Stroganoff - fall apart in your mouth beef while maintaining a medium rare center to the steak bites. The stroganoff sauce is creamy, silky and full of layers of flavor. 
• Sous Vide Beef Burgundy - Combining the techniques and flavors of a traditional beef burgundy with the advanced technology of sous vide cooking will make you change the way you cook beef burgundy forever.
• Sous Vide Roast Beef -the most delicious roast beef turning an inexpensive cut of beef into a memorable meal.
• Sous Vide Beef Brisket -take the guesswork out of achieving the perfect brisket. Finish the brisket on your grill, smoker or in the oven for the flavorful, deep-colored bark that you love.

Sous Vide Corned Beef Recipe

Sarah Mock

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.

4.57 from 30 votes

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Note From Sarah

There is more to a recipe than just the recipe card. Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!

Prep Time 1 d 16 hrs

Cook Time 10 hrs

Additional Time 10 d

Total Time 12 d 2 hrs

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Course Sous Vide

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Calories 121 kcal

EQUIPMENT

Joule Sous Vide

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Cooker

Sous Vide Water Bath

Lid for Sous Vide Container

FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer

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

Nutrition Disclosure

Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.

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published July 2018

👩🏻‍🍳 Sarah Mock

CEO/Owner/Founder/Culinary Blogger

Sarah Mock is a classically trained Chef and graduate of Johnson & Wales University. A culinary blogger for 14 years Sarah helps the home cook prepare her recipes with professional results.