I love corned beef, but I can’t stand how salty and fatty it can be.  By cooking it myself, I’m able to control both of those things!  I found this method a few years ago, and I’ve never looked back!  It seems a bit redundant to both boil and bake, but it takes care of the saltiness and yet has the yummy baked taste, rather than just that boiled taste.  I know it seems like a lot of work, but each time you bring it to a boil, it only takes 10-15 minutes, so you can do it while you clean up something else.  Try it!  I think you’ll agree that it’s worth the extra step!

Take your corned beef out of the packaging and discard the little spice packet it comes with.  Rinse off the beef and put it fat side up in a pot, covered with water.  Mine looks like an excessive amount of water because I have two big chunks of meat in there.  I’m not doing this twice, so I thought I’d cook double and freeze the rest!

Put the pot on the heat and bring it to a boil.

It will foam up when it boils.  Take it to the sink and dump out the water.  I usually rinse mine in the pot after this step and dump it.  By the time you rinse it, the water is running more clear instead of foamy white.

 

 

Then add more water and bring it to a boil again.

 

Dump the water and rinse the beef.  Then put it in a tin foil pouch with the fat side up again.  Slather some good grainy mustard on top and sprinkle brown sugar over that.  You’ll notice I realized too late that I had no good grainy mustard or brown sugar…so I dealt with spicy brown mustard and raw sugar!

 

Seal the package with a little air pocket between the foil and the top of the corned beef.  Bake at 350 for 2 hours.

That’s it!  Enjoy it as a reuben or just served alongside sautéed cabbage.  Look for my leftover recipes that will be posted in the next couple days…New York Wrap or Reuben Salad!