Mom's a cook

Mom's Rules on How to Cook Corned Beef
By Sturat Mitchel


The standard you'll hear in my mother's kitchen on how to cook corned beef is the slower, the better. This cut of meat comes from the brisket, right above the shank portion of the front leg of a cow. It is not particularly tender and cooking it quickly will result in shoe leather not fit for eating. Always cooked in water, many do it atop the range and some in a pressure cooker. This author recommends using your slow cooker or crock pot. When utilizing this method, you can prepare the entire meal in one pan and it doesn't need watching.


What you put in the slow cooker with your brisket is important. When my mother taught me how to cook corned beef she always added mustard seed, coarse salt and a bit of dill to the water. I have adapted all of my mom's tricks to my crock pot version. Just place the brisket in the bottom of the slow cooker and fill with water so the water is at least a full inch over the meat. Add in a cupped handful of mustard seed, one teaspoons of coarse salt and one teaspoon of chopped dill. Put the cover on, set it to low and let it cook for no less than fourteen hours.


An hour before serving, remove the corned beef and cover with foil. Place a head of cabbage cut in quarters with peeled carrots and onions in corned beef water in the slow cooker. You may even add some potatoes, if you'd like. Change the setting to high and cook for one hour. Serve with delicious stone ground mustard and a bottle of sweet apple cider vinegar. You now have a complete corned beef dinner prepared in one pot. Now that you have a recipe for to how cook corned beef, perhaps it's time to learn how to cook beef cheek?