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ChefSteps

Spice grinder

Chamber vacuum sealer

Sous vide bag(s)

Joule® Turbo Sous Vide

Brisket

Coriander seeds

Black pepper

Yellow mustard seeds

Dill seeds

Star anise

Mace

Cloves

Chile flakes

Salt

Prague powder #1

Brown sugar

Water

Trim according to your preference—we like to slim down the “nose” (the thick section of fat pictured on the right in the photo below) and the particularly fatty section on top, but we generally err on the side of keeping some of that delicious fat intact.

Trim brisket

You can opt to coarsely grind all spices in a spice grinder—this will help the flavors infuse into the meat.In a large pot or other vessel, combine spices with salt, sugar, and water.

Prepare brine

Submerge brisket in the brine and place it in the refrigerator. Allow brisket to brine for 7 to 10 days. To get the gorgeous pink color we want from corned beef, it’s key that the brine permeates all the way through the meat. If you’re a seasoned briner (see what we did there?), you can cut into the meat and monitor the color, but 10 days should definitely do the trick. At least once a day, give the brine a good stir to maintain consistent salinity.

Brine brisket

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together until well incorporated.

Prepare beef rub

Remove brisket from the brine and pat dry with a towel. Massage rub evenly into the meat. Don’t be afraid to use a little muscle—we really want those spices up in there.

Rub it on!

Heat sous vide water bath to [c 60].

Heat sous vide bath

Place brisket in a sous vide bag and vacuum-seal. Lower bag into sous vide bath until brisket is fully submerged. If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, just place the opening of the bag against the side and clip it there.Cook for 48 hours.Store, sealed, in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Cook sous vide

For long cooks, use a lid or wrap the entire thing in plastic wrap to prevent evaporation. Monitor the water level to make sure the meat stays submerged.

Cover for long cooks

When you’re ready to serve, open bag and discard any cooking liquid. Now you can slice that beef up thinly and stack it into a sandwich, pair it with cabbage for a delicious Irish feast, squish it and a runny egg into an <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/english-muffin">English Muffin</a>, chop it up and sprinkle it into a scramble, shred it and serve it in a taco with crunchy cabbage and jalapeño, or layer it along with a little slice of swiss inside a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/slider-buns">Slider Bun</a> for an easy appetizer. We could go on, but you guys get the picture. Rewrap any leftovers in plastic wrap or a sealed bag and store in the fridge. Use over the next few days—corned beef keeps for about the same amount of time as other deli meats.

Serve

Who hasn’t obsessed over a <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/one-reuben-to-rule-them-all">Reuben sandwich</a> stacked high with rosy-hued meat? Or a sloppy corned beef hash, fragrant and hearty and intensely delicious when topped with <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-egg-calculator">a runny egg</a>? And then there’s corned beef and cabbage—one of the most comforting combinations that ever came out of the kitchen. These dishes rank high among the most craveable—not to mention satisfying—meals you can sink your teeth into. And while it’s easy to pop by the market and pick up some prepared meat, this recipe rivals any corned beef we’ve ever tried—and requires surprisingly little work on the part of the cook. Still, we need to work some magic on that meat. Cut from the lower breast of the cow, brisket is cheap, but it can be one tough customer. Transforming it into juicy, gorgeous corned beef replete with rich flavor isn’t difficult or work intensive, but it does take some time.We start by brining the meat in a mixture of spices, salt, sugar, and water, then let it bathe in flavor for 7 to 10 days. We dry it off, give it a quick rub, and then it’s straight into preheated water, where it evolves into a deeply flavored treat that you can take tailgating, pile onto a plate with some cabbage, or mix into a hash for a kickass weekend breakfast. Try it once, and you’ll never go back to the supermarket stuff.

Nine-Day Homemade Corned Beef