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Sous Vide Corned Beef Recipe

This Corned Beef Recipe combines a 7-10 day brine, with a wet rub, and a 48 hour sous vide bath.  It's a true labor of love but well worth it! The ingredient list is long and the prep is a bit cumbersome, but if you want to take on a "project cook" then this is for you!
5 from 4 votes
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Prep Time 10 days
Cook Time 2 days
Total Time 12 days
Course Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 10 People

Ingredients
  

Corned Beef Ingredients:

  • 5-7 lb Beef Brisket (Trimmed but leave some fat on it for flavor)

Brine Ingredients:

  • 2 Qts water
  • 1 Cup Kosher Salt
  • 2 tbsp Pink Salt (Curing salt)
  • 2 tbsp Honey
  • 2 tsp Coriander
  • 2 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 tbsp Dill Seed
  • 1 tbsp Star Anise
  • 1 Cinnamon stick broken in pieces
  • 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
  • 1 tbsp Peppercorns
  • 1/2 tsp Mace
  • 4 Garlic Cloves (Whole)
  • 12 Whole Cloves
  • 12 Allspice Berries
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
  • 1/2 tsp Chili Flake
  • 1 tsp Garlic Salt

Wet Rub Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Sweet Onion Jam (Vidalia onions sautéed in olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, salt, & 1 tbsp sugar for 90 mins)
  • 2 tbsp Yellow Mustard
  • 1 tsp Dill Seed
  • 1/2 tsp Mace
  • 1/2 tsp Clove
  • 1/4 tsp Chili Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

Instructions
 

Brining the Brisket:

  • Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Mix in all of the brining ingredients until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved in the water. Remove from heat and add 2-3 pounds of ice to cool the brine.
  • Place the brisket into a 2-gallon zip lock bag. Add the cooled brine to the bag. Remove as much air from the bag as possible and place it into a large pan at the bottom of your refrigerator. Make sure all of the meat is submerged in the brine. (Double bag the brisket if you want to be extra careful.)
  • Brine the brisket for 7-10 days. Every day you must flip the meat over and shake the bag gently to make sure the brine mixture penetrates the meat evenly and throughout.
  • After your 7-10 day brine remove the brisket from the bag and wash it thoroughly under cold water. Remove as much of the brine as possible. The exterior of the meat may take on a slightly grayish/pale color.

Creating the Wet Rub:

  • Mix all of the Wet Rub ingredients together in a bowl. Pat dry the brined beef and rub the wet mixture liberally and vigorously into the beef. Don't be shy here. Make sure she is well rubbed down and feeling ready for her bath.
  • Slide the brisket into a large vacuum sealer bag (I use Food Saver) and make sure to double seal the edges. The last thing you want is to go through a 10 day process and then ruin your meat due to a leak. Using two sealed bags is an option also.

Sous Vide Cooking Process

  • Place the sealed brisket into a sous vide water bath and set your temperature to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow to cook for 36-48 hours.
  • After 48 hours remove the corned beef from the bath and allow it to cool while still remaining in the bag. Once the meat is slightly warm to the touch you can remove it from the bag.
  • You can do whatever you want with the meat but I highly advise trimming the top, bottom, and all of its edges (the skin). The edges are grayish/brown and are way too salty to consume. Once you trim it the entire corned beef should be a bright reddish/pink color. Slice or shred as you see fit!

Notes

If you are slicing the corned beef you need to study the movement of the meats grain.  Large pieces of meat often have multiple directions of grains.  If need be, cut the large piece of meat into sections based on grain direction.  Then, slice the meat against the grain.  I prefer ¼ - ½ inch slices for sandwiches.
 
Special Equipment:
  • Food Saver Vacuum Sealer & Large Bags
  • Immersion Circulator (I use an Anova)
  • 2-Gallon Zip Lock Bags