I have a beautiful piece of Wagyu brisket ready for SPD. But how to cook it? I’ve never been satisfied with boiling–the results have usually been tough and stringy.
Yesterday at a party, my SIL extolled the virtues of pressure cooking the cut. For me, that raised the question of exactly what the PC contributes besides reduced time-at-temperature.
So how do you do it? Bake? Braise? Sous vide? Poach? Grill or sear, then finish? BBQ with a Texas Crutch? Tips and hacks?
Thanks!
Put it in a smoker?
I think your previous attempts have been undercooked if tough. I have no experience with Wagu, nor supermarket bagged corned beef. Who prepared your Wagu brisket?
For me, fork tender is the indicator….~3 hrs on simmer for ~ 3 lbs.
Were your previous attempts fork tender?
What is the size of your corned beef, and why did you choose Wagu?
Corned Beef on the BBQ, are you trying for Pastrimi?
I get you want corned beef rather than pastrami, but this guy has a great track record with beef for me. Maybe just cut down on the spices.
Thanks
Well of course I love pastrami, but my thinking on smoking it was more about slowly melting that wonderful marbling.
I know I should stay out of this technical CB conversation but what the heck. My husband prefers cooking CB in the slow cooker. I prefer the oven. Easier cleanup. No matter how you cook it, CB has a mind of its own. It’s done when it’s done and not a minute before.
My one attempt at corned beef was less than stellar. Tough and stringy, even though I followed all directions. It was a celebration of awfulness. I sincerely hope that the Wagyu beef’s better-than-prime interstitial fat will protect you from the dry, tough misery that results from a too-lean brisket (a store near me always stocks cryovac-ed prime briskets at all the Jewish holidays -I always nab one). Other than that, I guess it depends on whether you want corned (in which case you know what you have to do) or smoked -something-else (is there such a thing as SPD pastrami? If so, count me in!) or just a brisket (Passover and SPD don’t overlap this year, or any year AFAIK). I once sent my dad a smoked but uncooked pastrami. He and a friend figured out how to steam it. They were very happy campers.
If the heat is too high, it may make the beef stringy. There are factors that make cooked meats tender
Is the fork tender gauge with corned beef the same as potatoes?
Look up ‘stringy’ in the dictionay. You’ll find photos of a brisket and a halibut cheek.
There is such a thing as a Tenderometer. I ran one in my misspent youth.
My 2 cents: I have been doing CB in some type of a pressure cooker for many years, lately the newest version, the Instant Pot. They always come out fine, not stringy, tasty & tender. Maybe its because I always buy Point Cut Brisket…
Isn’t corned beef all about the brine.
Brine for 5-7 days, if not longer.
Boil and simmer for about 3 hours.
Is it already cured or are you curing it?
Re PC / oven / stovetop — if you search with corned beef as the thread title, there are several past discussions on this, right around this time of year.
PC is a great route for regular (non wagyu) beef, brisket is no exception. I’d do the meat first, then remove and quick-cook the veg in the same water.
But for Wagyu I’d go sous vide or low & slow in the oven, PC is overkill imo.
Yeah, I’m not a corned beef expert, but I would imagine that the last type of beef (not cut, but type) I would want to use for something like corned beef would be a really marbled fatty piece of meat from Wagyu cattle.
Corned beef lends itself to cuts of beef that are “tough” (i.e., brisket with lots of connective tissue) not a cut from a cow that is bred to be very very very fat and well marbled.
We will see…
I didn’t search out Wagyu for corned beef. But when I saw it in brisket form at a good price, I thought “Why not?”
I mean, I know the better the grade of brisket, the more highly it’s recommended for BBQ, yes? So why would it be any different for corned beef?
With brisket the grade will not necessarily mean more fat.
Most corned beef is made with the flat cut of the brisket, which makes up the majority of the brisket. It’s long and thin and lean (compared to the brisket point which is much fattier).
The flat cut comes with a thick layer of fat on top that keeps the meat moist when cooked. This cut is most commonly used for corned beef.
So having a very well marbled, or even a higher grade of beef (which usually just speaks to the beef’s tenderness, juiciness and flavor, not necessarily it’s level of marbling) isn’t critical.
I mean even Wagyu beef itself comes with different levels of grading, from A, B, to C.
In this case it does–it’s visually obvious. There is no cap, but what’s the point if it’s marbled?
The strange thing about this particular cut is that it appears to be 100% end grain and there’s no cap or middle layer of fat… It was the only cut in the case I found this way.
This is fine with me, because I don’t prioritize clean crossgrain slices. I’m looking forward to a jumbled assortment of chunks and short, succulent shreds.
When I lived in Europe, corned beef wasnt available, so I corned my own. It spent a full week in the brine in the fridge, and I flipped it every day (in a giant plastic ziploc). Its the 14th…youll get some flavor in 3 days but it will be subtle.
I agree with Ipse about it being a process for a cheap, tough cut… I’d be pretty tempted to smoke or braise your Wagyu to bring out all its lovely fatty goodness.
I do use bagged CB (because my life is on a different track now and I just dont have time to do it myself)…i cant remember thr brand, but the one in the red plaid packaging is the one I look for.
We had a Signature (Safeway brand) pre-corned brisket. Simmered for three hours and tossed in onion, red new potatoes, parsnips, and cabbage for the next forty minutes (beef still in there). Sliced across the grain. Like butter. So happy there is enough for sandwiches!
