Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Corned beef and cabbage in the pressure cooker seemed like a simple idea; instead, it was a comedy of errors. I could not get the details right. Here is the post-mortem of my attempts to get this right, so you don’t have to make the same mistakes I did.
Problem 1: Too salty.
Last year, I tried my usual “cut back the water in the pressure cooker” approach. I used 1 cup of water instead of covering the corned beef. The result was unbelievably salty. I could barely eat it. The rest of the family took one bite, then ignored the corned beef and filled up with soda bread, cabbage, and carrots. Discouraged, I put one serving of the salty corned beef and cabbage in a container and tossed the rest. The next day, the leftovers tasted fine – I guess sitting in the cabbage and juices for a day pulled enough salt out to make it edible.
Problem 2: Undercooked
This year, instead of winging it, I researched recipes. They all said to cover the corned beef with water. (Whoops.) Then I ran into my next hurdle. Most sources cook corned beef at high pressure for 45 minutes to an hour. They quick release the pressure, remove the corned beef, add the vegetables, and cook the vegetables at high pressure for five minutes. That way, the vegetables aren’t overcooked by the long cooking time under pressure.
“Great!” I thought to myself, “Corned beef in an hour!”
I should have known what was coming. Last year I followed Lorna Sass’s instructions, and cooked a two and a half pound corned beef for 70 minutes at high pressure. This year I had a monster – four and a half pounds. I checked the recipe book that came with my electric Cuisinart pressure cooker; it said I should cook said 24 minutes per pound. 108 minutes? Seriously? The Cuisinart’s timer only goes up to 99 minutes. Nah, it couldn’t possibly take that long.
I put the corned beef in the electric pressure cooker, set it for high pressure and fifty minutes. When it beeped, I quick released the pressure and filled the pot with potatoes, carrots and cabbage. The result looked great, the vegetables were perfectly cooked…but the corned beef? Way undercooked. My jaw got tired trying to chew through it. Once again, everyone else took one bite of the corned beef, then filled up on the sides.
I had to crack this. I couldn’t let corned beef beat me. I went back to the store and bought two smaller corned beef roasts, each three and a half pounds.
In case it was the lower pressure of the electric pressure cooker, I cooked one corned beef in my electric PC and the other in my stove top PC.
*Most electric pressure cookers have a high pressure setting of 12 PSI. stove top pressure cookers have a high pressure of 15 PSI.
I cooked both roasts for fifty minutes, quick released the pressure, and checked the corned beef. It wasn’t done. I kept cooking at high pressure, quick releasing every ten minutes and checking the corned beef, until it went from chewy to tender. The stove top pressure cooker took 80 minutes, and the electric PC took 90 minutes. Finally, success!
But, wow, eighty minutes? So much for corned beef in an hour. Still, an hour and a half (including the vegetables) was much better than the ten hours my usual slow cooker recipe takes. Need a corned beef in a hurry? Get a small one, add plenty of water, and do NOT under cook it.
Problem 3: Too Long [Updated 2017-03-13]
So, 90 minutes worked for a smaller corned beef…and I used that recipe for years. But with another St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, I started thinking. (Always a dangerous thing.)
What if I tried the trick I learned with Pressure Cooker Pot Roast, and cut the corned beef into pieces? I am going to slice it before I serve – no one will ever notice that I sliced it into 4 pieces before I started cooking. Sure enough, it worked wonders. The 90 minutes under pressure is cut back to 60 minutes under pressure in an electric PC, and only 50 in a stovetop. And, I can get a bigger corned beef – I’m able to fit a 4 pounder in, once I cut it up and fit it in like a jigsaw puzzle.
*Don’t have a pressure cooker? Use a slow cooker. Recipe here: Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Adapted From: Lorna Sass Pressure Perfect
Video: How to make Pressure Cooker Cooker Beef and Cabbage – Time Lapse (1:19)
Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage – Time Lapse [YouTube.com]
Equipment:
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I used my electric Cuisinart PC and my stove top Kuhn Rikon PC)
Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage. My tradition on St. Patrick’s Day.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6-8
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients
- 4 pound corned beef with its spice packet
- 1 medium onion, quartered
- 1 stalk celery, quartered crosswise
- Water to cover (about 4 cups)
Vegetables
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch lengths (or a 1 pound bag of baby carrots)
- 1 small (3 pound) cabbage, cut into 8 wedges
Instructions
- Cook the corned beef: Rinse the corned beef, then cut it crosswise into 4 equal pieces. Put the corned beef, onion, and celery in the pressure cooker pot, sprinkle with the spice packet, then pour in enough water to cover the corned beef. Bring the pressure cooker up to high pressure and cook at high pressure for 50 minutes (stove top PC) or 60 minutes (electric PC). Quick release the pressure, then carefully remove the lid. Test the corned beef with a fork – it should be easy to poke a fork through the thickest section. If it’s not done, lock the lid and cook for another ten minutes at high pressure.
- Cook the vegetables: Add carrots to the pot, then lay the cabbage on top. It’s OK if the cabbage comes a bit above the “no fill” line on your cooker; there will still be a lot of airspace. Bring the cooker back up to pressure and cook at high pressure for 5 minutes. Quick release the pressure again. Using a slotted spoon and/or tongs, transfer the vegetables to a platter and the corned beef to a carving board.
- Serve: Pour the broth left in the pot into a gravy strainer. While the broth settles, slice the corned beef. Pour a little of the de-fatted broth over the platter of corned beef and vegetables. Serve, passing the rest of the broth at the table.
Notes
- This recipe will fit in a 6 quart or larger pressure cooker. I love my 6 quart Instant Pot pressure cooker.
- For my original recipe: Use a smaller corned beef – only 3 pounds, max, and leave it in one piece. Everything in the recipe works the same, except in the “cook the corned beef” step, cook for 90 minutes in an electric PC, or 80 minutes in a stovetop PC.
- I also removed the potatoes from the recipe – I think they come out better if you cook mashed potatoes on the side. If you want to use them in the recipe: Scoop the corned beef out of the broth after the 60 minute pressure “cook the corned beef” step and set it aside. Add 1 1/2 pounds of redskin new potatoes to the pot, then add the carrots and cabbage on top and continue with the “cook the vegetables” step.
Pressure Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage
Notes:
- Leftover corned beef and cabbage freezes well – as long as it is covered in broth.
- If you have the time, use a natural pressure release for the corned beef instead of the quick release. It’s almost impossible to overcook a corned beef, and my experience with undercooked corned beef has scarred me. I almost added an extra fifteen minutes of cooking time to this recipe, just in case.
- Watch out for extra-thick corned beef – you want a flat, even piece, three inches thick or so. If you get a thicker one, or a cut from the point end, give it an extra ten to fifteen minutes under pressure.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Irish Lamb Stew
Pressure Cooker Lamb Stew with Guinness and Barley
Pressure Cooker Champ (Irish Mashed Potatoes with Green Onions)
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes
My other Pressure Cooker Time Lapse Videos
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I wish you would have posted this Monday, before I tried it. I cooked it on the stove top for 55 minutes and it was still a bit chewy. Anyway, thanks for the tip. Now I know.
Yeah, I was surprised how long corned beef has to cook in the pressure cooker. Now I need to try a pot roast, to see if it’s something about corned beef, or if it is just the larger cut of meat.
I read your post about the Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker on Wednesday and ordered it that day from Amazon (using your link)- I had been looking to replace my very old and tired stovetop pressure cooker ,it arrived yesterday and today I made the Pressure cooker corned beef -it came out very well-Trader Joe’s only had a 4 lb. corned beef, I cooked it for 95 minutes and it was perfect. Last year I made corned beef in my slow cooker but this was much better, the vegetables were not overcooked. Thank you for inspiring me to do this.
You’re welcome – after all the trouble I had with it, I’m thrilled to hear it worked for you!
I made this last night for my family in my stove top pressure cooker, and it was wonderful. My corned beef is always a bit tough, but not this year. Thank you so much for testing, and posting this recipe. I also used a 4 pound corned beef from Trader Joe’s. Since I am at 5500 feet I cooked it about 95 minutes, and it was perfect. Next year I will get smaller potatoes because my potatoes took a bit longer than the other veggies.
Great! I’m glad you guys got to learn from my example.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us – it nice to know others have made the same missteps I have.
As I type this I have an almost 7lb corned beef (bigger than my son at birth, I should note) in my 8 quart Fagor Splendid stove top pressure cooker. The book that came with my PC says 15 minutes per pound for pot roast, and I’ve found that works pretty well for corned beef also. Obviously a 7 pounder won’t fit in my PC in one piece, so I cut it in two, but time it as if it were one piece. I usually use beer instead of water as I tried it once and my family liked it better. The cheap stuff works fine.
Have fun trying pot roast. It’s a little less forgiving than corned beef, but the result when you get it right is well worth some trial and error.
Wow – seven pounds is a monster corned beef! At fifteen minutes a pound you cooked it for…1 hour 45 minutes?
Thanks for following up.
And…I’m worried about the three teenager thing already. My three are between seven and ten years old; I’m scared to think how much they’re going to eat in a few years…
After raising 3 boys, all I can say is….Yes, Be Afraid…Be VERY afraid. 🙂
Yeah, it’s started. Was that the kids? Or did a horde of locusts strip the kitchen clean?
★★★★★
Yes, 1:45 exactly. The two halves held together well enough to go carefully from the pot to the plate, and by the time they was no longer the temperature of the sun, they cut perfectly. And don’t let the 7lbs fool you – with the amount it cooked down, plus my three teenagers and their hungry father, there’s very little left for my lunch this afternoon!
Oy, Gevalt. The other possibility is that you could use a device called “the oven”– a device used in many primitive cultures that cannot afford grills, pressure cookers or crock pots. This is, in fact, how most high-quality purveyors (e.g., Slyman’s) prepare the meat.
(Though I’m sure Nathan Myrhvold or some other retromingent putz has some 19-hour recipe involving a Thermonix, liquid nitrogen and a Sous Vide.)
Following Mr. Brisket’s instructions (http://www.misterbrisket.com/recipes/#corned%20beef), using one of those Reynolds turkey bags and a non-convection oven, my four-pounder cooked (reached temperature of 190 degrees) in an 85 minutes. The only special treatment: I had it at room temperature. before putting it in the oven
Another technique that helps if you want the meat to (a) taste better and (b) slice into thin strips, just like a deli is to leave the meat in the bag (or wrap it in saran wrap, if you didn’t use the bag, or use a big pyrex container with a plastic top) and refrigerate it overnight. As you discovered during your first jam-ola, it allows the surface spicing to get inhaled into the center of the meat.
Geoff, that’s IT! I’ll sous vide the corned beef next year. Why didn’t I think of that?
…ok, just kidding. Unless I get a sous vide supreme, then all bets are off.
Only 85 minutes in the oven? I’d expect it to take much longer, even with a room temperature brisket.
Surprised me too. Went to check it 75 minutes in and 75% was over 185. Didn’t have time to pour off the juices and use them to start cooking the vegetables.
Might be the bag (which traps heat inside) or maybe my rebuilt-in-2006 Thermador WO-18A. It’s tiny (two cubic feet), but everything seems to cook much faster. It’s not running hot, I’ve checked it. Maybe it’s just that the food is much closer to the heat element.
And for God’s sake, if you want a Sous Vide, either (a) make one for $75 (start here, but use the comments to idntify improvements to the design: http://blog.makezine.com/2011/02/17/75-sous-vide-immersion-cooker/) or (b) buy a $150 gadget that turns your rice cooker or crock-pot into one (http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13&products_id=44).
If you were going to sous vide a corned beef, the issues would be (a) making sure the unit can support a temperature of 190 and (b) finding a sealer that can handle the meat.
You’re in Cleveland and cooking corned beef? Why bother? Slymans baby!
Touche.
But…on St. Patrick’s day, I need a whole corned beef roast, not just a sandwich.
And, I live in the Akron area, so Slyman’s is a 35 minute drive. Sure, it’s great for a treat when I go up to the “big city”, but as an everyday thing? Not so much.
Thanks so much, this is the first time using an electric pressure cooker and your instructions, pictures are spot on!!! My husband kept saying how good the cornbeef was and I was amazed at the exact cooking time!! You are amazing!!
Thank you. I’m glad it worked for you!
It’s important to rinse the corned beef before putting it in the pressure cooker.3lbs at 80 minutes and add 15 minutes for each additional pounds you have.If ypu want you can make a browm sugar mustard glaze and finish it up in the oven. Pressure cooking this makes cooking corned beef not such a drudgery and more time to look for leprechauns.
Just finished making this recipe…came out amazing, substituted a bottle of beer and added enough water to cover the corned beef. 90 minutes in the pressure cooker was perfect. Thanks so much for this recipe it’s a keeper.
You’re welcome. Glad you liked it, and good substitution with the beer.
Most of the homemade corned beef that I have had was tough, so I never tried cooking it myself…not any more! Bought an Emeril pressure cooker and cooked the corned beef according to the DadCooksdirections and it was like cutting butter with a hot knife and it was moist and full of flavor…great cooking advice…thank you
You’re welcome! Glad I was able to help you out.
The cooking time was perfect on this. The best corned beef I’ve ever made. Thanks for sharing.
just made it – two pounds at 80 minutes – so tender it fell apart when i took it out of my new stovetop fagor pc! Delish! I added mustard, maple syrup, garlic cloves, bay leaf and extra pickling spice to mine. YUMMM!! thanks for posting the timing – all the others sites and the pressure cooker instructions had 45 – 60 mins which i am sure would have left it not fork tender like this!
You’re welcome!
I have read that 25 min. per pound is a good average for corned beef and that’s what I go by and seems to work fine. My PC does not go to 15 psi, probably more like 12 psi. I really like doing corned beef in a PC compared to other methods.
Thanks for the information! In my testing, I found that thickness matters more than weight – I had a really thick 2 1/2 pound corned beef that needed all 90 minutes to finish once. Don’t worry about the 12 PSI – that’s what my electric PC gets too as well, and it works fine.
I am in love with my Thermoworks thermometer (Christmas present) so rather than testing the corned beef with a fork to see if it is tender, I’d like to check the temperature. Mike, do you know the temp would be when the corned beef is cooked? Thanks in advance,
Leslie
Leslie, it should be 180F or higher, but that doesn’t really tell you if it is done. It takes time to break down the collagen in the meat to tenderize it. It needs to stay at 180F for a while – Kenji Alt’s research shows that in a regular cooker, 10 hours at 180F is needed to tenderize it:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/how-to-make-corned-beef-st-patricks-day-simmering-brisket-meat-the-food-lab.html
The pressure cooker speeds that up, but it still needs some time at the cooking temperature to tenderize.
I, having just bought an electric pressure cooker, have been scouring the internet in search of awesome recipes to try.I have used a stove top PC for years, but things are different with electric. I was very pleased with how this recipe turned out. I used a beer and beef broth mixture for the liquid. Thank you for your detailed experience, it paved the way for my success! i welcome any links that you or others could provide to help with my new cooking endeavor. I have looked at some cookbooks but it seems as if many of them are filled with recipes that don’t appeal to me and contain only a few that I would actually try. Thanks!!
You’re welcome! I’ve got a lot of pressure cooker recipes you can check out here:
https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/pressure-cooker-recipe-index/
For other sites, take a look at HipPressureCooking.com and PressureCookerConvert.com and see if they have the kind of recipes you’re looking for.
I received a Nesco Electric Pressure Cooker 2 Years ago for Christmas and I am finally using it tonight to make Corned Beef and Cabbage using your recipe. This is my 1st time using a pressure cooker so hopefully everything turns out. LOL!
Good luck!
I tried this recipe in my stove top pressure cooker last night. Cooked a 3lb. flat cut for 90 minutes and it came out perfect! So perfect in fact that I made it again tonight. I’ll have to share your recipe. Everyone raved about it.
Excellent! I’m glad it worked for you.
Hi!,
Have you tried corned beef in your instant pot?
Thanks,
Dr. Dad
Yes, I have. Works exactly as described above:
https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/2012/03/pressure-cooker-corned-beef-and-cabbage.html/
Thanks for this corned beef and cabbage recipe. This is a longtime favorite of my Dads, he could not wait to have it. Dad has passed, but this was amazing to eat and the memories were even Better.
Thanks!
Mike. this is the first recipe I have tried with my new Cuisinart PC.. I followed your directions exactly, covered the CB and onions with water and set it for 90 minutes, used the natural release method. The CB was very dry, we had to throw it out. Any idea what I might have done wrong.
I’m sorry to hear that! I don’t know what went wrong – I’ve used this recipe many times since I published it. Since this is the first recipe – any chance your pressure cooker isn’t working?
Hi Mike, just wanted to follow up. I did another one tonight—perfect. Not sure what happened on the first one.
It seemed to be working OK. The CB was 2.75 lbs–maybe it was too small for 90 minutes. I’ll try it again and let you know. Thanks for following up and thank for the website! Joe
Thank you so much for doing the research and posting this recipe. This was my fist use of a pressure cooker. I had 2, 6 pound corned beefs I cooked one in the pressure cooker for 1 hour 40 minutes and one for 5 hours in a regular stock pot. Both came out great. I really could not tell the difference between the two so from now on I’ll be using the pressure cooker. Thanks again 🙂
We’re having CB tonight. Glad I checked this out, though. I would have under-cooked it for sure
★★★★
Good luck!
★★★★★
I’m so glad to find this post! The recipes in my two pressure cooker books say cook less than an hour, and they don’t have proper instructions for the vegetables either. I don’t have a lot of PC experience, so your instructions are greatly appreciated. Making corned beef and cabbage tonight or tomorrow so we can have leftovers on St. Patty’s Day (after we party)! Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Tried this last night (March 17th). Had a 3lb flat cut CB brisket…and all the other ingredients as listed.
CB cooked for 90 minutes on high (plus I’m at elevation (~6000ft) so it doesn’t quite come up to the same pressure).
Left the Instant Pot on for 10 minutes more, did a quick release and added the three remaining vegetables. Bought it back up to pressure for 5 minutes.
Everything came out great. Meat was as tender as any CB I could imagine.
The only thing I would suggest is that maybe 5 minutes at pressure for the veggies was a bit long. Or maybe my pieces were a bit too small…but they were a tad-bit overcooked. 3-4 minutes probably would have been perfect.
But – great recipe. Very simple. And super flavorful!
Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Thank you for the feedback!
Best corned beef brisket I’ve ever had. Bought an expensive, angus grass-fed cut, and cooked exactly as you described. It was amazing. First time I’ve ever eaten the cabbage without having to put vinegar on it. Thank you so much for all of the research you did to cook this amazing meal!!
In gratitude,
Michelle
Perfection! This was the first time cooking the traditional corned beef and cabbage and your instructions were spot on. This was the best I have ever had (sorry Mom!). I made hash and eggs the following morning and was in heaven again! The only slight difference was that I had med size red potatoes so I chunked them up. The cabbage was melt in your mouth good. I do want to try a larger piece as I want to be able to serve a few people AND have leftovers for hash. I will follow your guidance when I do so.
★★★★★
My first time ever cooking corned Beef, I got a electric PC for my birthday so I searched for a recipe and found yours. Thank you for sharing, it definitely helped me through and it turned out great. Only issue I had was there was too much fluid in the PC when i put the vegetables in and like you mentioned it didn’t matter about the fill line and then when the pressure cap came open water was flying everywhere So obviously i have to make sure that there isn’t so much in it next time. Thanks Again! Please share any other PC recipes you may have up your sleeve.
★★★★★
I have a brisket that’s only just over 2 lbs. Would you reduce the cooking time?
Only if it is really thin. Thickness matters more than weight.
So glad I found this recipe. I started craving corned beef at 4pm which was far too late to do one in the oven. Found this recipe and realized I could have it after all! Ordered a corned beef from the grocery store along with carrots and cabbage. The beef just started in the IP and I can’t wait to see how it comes out. Thank you very much for sharing this.
With a 4.42# corned beef, I set the timer for 100 minutes. I may add another ten in the future for this because while the edges were perfectly tender, the center wasn’t as much and I really like corned beef falling apart. One side of the meat was about 3.4″ thick, and the other 2.5″ thick. There’s definitely something to be said for adjusting to the time for thickness vs. weight. I might try NR on it instead of QR and see if that makes a difference. I went 4 minutes on the cabbage and carrots and they were a bit too soft for my taste so I’ll go 3 on the next attempt. (I didn’t do potatoes–trying to keep this relatively low-carb.) The flavor was absolutely delicious and I heard happy grunting noises coming from the Hubbs as he ate. 🙂 What a treat it was to have this meal done in ~2 hours instead of 4-5 hours in the oven or 10 hours in the slow cooker. Thank you SO much for this!
Made this in the IP for dinner tonight. Came out PERFECTLY! Thank you for the write up, going into my food coma now.
I LOVE YOU DAD!
Oh thanks! I boiled the cb for a few, now it’s in the IP and it’s my first dish. Some recipes say cook 70 min some say 90. That’s a huge difference. Thanks for spelling out what you did, it helps. I’ll put it on 90 and hope for the best.
I cook frozen meats often in my pressure cookers. It’s hit and miss on the timing. For a chuck roast, I will go 2-3 hours. If covered with liquid, it won’t dry out but get very tender with the longer time. I haven’t tried a chunk of corned beef. That might be a bit tricky since it really needs to cook quite awhile. Anyone?
I been making corned beef in instant pot for long time,To eliminate a lot of salt i usually place a pot water on stove and boil the CB for half hour while preparing the rest of the cook. Then i cook a 4 lb CB on high for 90 min a 10 NPR i remove the CB and cover on dish.Place the pot/carrots/an Quatered head cabbage in the liquid and high pressure for 10min. Quick REl and then Slice the rested CB and serve w/ Ingredients WOW great meal
Thank you for the recipe and insight. I used my PC to cook a corned beef brisket for the first time tonight using your instructions/cook time. Wonderfully moist and tender I think I used more water (I didn’t measure) but I like to freeze the leftover broth for soup. I added more spices and seasonings, except for salt, to make up the difference in the water. It was perfection.
It’s just the hubby and me so a smaller cut (2 lbs) is good for us. I place it in the Instant Pot and just cover with water. It cooks to fork tender in 45 minutes on High pressure. I strain and save the “broth” to use in bean soup. Yum-ME!
So my husband is half Irish/half Jewish and I’m Cajun so while I loved your technique, (read with my Cajun accent)
“cha, I kin improve on dat salty boiled meat, yah.”
I threw out the spices that come with the corned beef and subbed in about two tablespoons of Zataran’s crab boil. I also added about 6 cloves of roughly minced garlic.
Perfect!
★★★★
I made this last year and LOVED it. I am going to make again for the 17th (and already bought another just for hash) but I have a question about the potatoes. I have a TON right now and was hoping to use them up but they are not red new potatoes. Can I use what I have and if so, what size should I cut them to? Thanks!
★★★★★
Cut them into 1 1/2 inch chunks – or, use them to make mashed potatoes on the side, which is even more Irish!
checking on your recipe for pressure cooker corn beef…have done some of your grilling recipes and liked them. Appreciate the time and effort
Thanks!
Hi Mike…I have a question. Every single pressure cooker cookbook as well as most very reputable websites all say to never do a quick release on meat. It supposedly tears something that keeps the meat tender. So with that in mind, I always cook meat for about 10 minutes shorter than a recipe calling for a quick release and do a full natural release. I see so much confliction on this subject I finally decided that’s how I would do it. Seems to work out well, hope it does for these corned beefs I bought to cook this upcoming weekend. And I looked at several recipes and found I like yours the best…but I will mash the potatoes…I don’t like boiled potatoes lol. Thanks!
If you want, you can do exactly what you say – natural release and 10 minutes less – though I usually go 5 less with a natural release. I know about the “toughens meat” claims, and usually use a natural release myself – quick release causes the pot to boil – but I didn’t notice much of a difference when I was testing this recipe.
I’m not one who usually leaves reviews…. this was by far THE BEST corned beef I have ever made!!! And it sure beats cooking all day in the slow cooker. Everything came out perfect…right down to the veggies. I have an instant pot and cooked it the 90 minutes then tented it with foil while I waited for the veggies. I will never do corned beef any other way from now on! thanks!!
★★★★★
I am making two good size corned beefs for work. They are both a little less than 5 pounds each. I have a 10 quart electric pressure cooker and I am going to try to use your technique of cutting them in chunks and should both probably fit in there together do you think that is a good idea or should I do them individually? IF i do them together, how long do you think I should cook them?
My guess is it will work in one batch if you cut them in to chunks – the cooking time is determined by the thickness of the individual chunks, not the total amount. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
I’m guessing that tenderness has something to do with which brand of corned beef one buys. I made Groebbel’s brand from Sam’s and a friend made Cattlemen’s Ranch brand from Aldi’s. The one from Aldi’s was more tender but I noticed that it had much more fat within the meat. I’m not talking about that large fat cap that comes on the corned beef that one removes much of before cooking it.
For the liquid, I used a can of beer with enough water to cover the corned beef.
So I’m wading through the comments and so many opinions gets a little confusing. This year I changed my corning method from the long brining process and I have two 6 lb briskets to cook and I want to use two Instant Pot. Of course cutting each in half will work, but so many conflicting times, would you suggest 90 minutes?
Cut them in 4 pieces, and go 70 minutes (a little longer than the 4 pieces/60 minutes in the recipe, for the larger pieces. Or cut them in 6 pieces and go 60 minutes.)
I like your additional/newest tip of cutting them. I’ve used your recipe before, and next time I’m going for 5-6 lbs. Did 4 today. Veggies (potatoes, carrots n cabbage) were perfect
Thanks, Donna!
Perfect recipe, thank you!! I JUST finished cooking 4.2 lb corned beef (pre-packaged with spices) in a 4 QT electric pressure cooker. Cut it into 4 pieces, and added to the cooker. Added 1 cup of dark beer + 2.25 cups of water to cover. (I did not use an onion or celery).
Cooked for 60 minutes.
Added the carrots and cabbage on top, cooked for 10 minutes (could have cooked it for a bit less). Removed the meat and veggies to separate dishes. Poured the gravy through a threshold colander to get rid of the spices. Thank you for all these tips, we were SO happy with the results. Prior to this, we used a crock pot and everything was a soggy mess and too salty.
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Thank you so much for this recipe. We just finished eating the corned beef I made according to your recipe & it was delicious! I cut up a 4 pound corned beef into 4 pieces and cooked it in my Cuisinart pressure cooker for 60 minutes & used the quick release. Then I made the cabbage, carrots & potatoes separately as you suggested. It was the best corned beef I’ve ever made.
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This was a amazing recipe! Followed instructions and used insta pot and everything turned out great. Had a 3 1/2 pound brisket that was pre-sliced and I washed & cut it into 3 even pieces, cook on high for 60 mins. Couldn’t find 3 pound cabbage so had to use 4.25 pound so when beef was done I add carrots & cabbage & cooked for additional 15 mins on high. Turned out fabulous! Best CB I’ve ever made.
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THANK YOU! You saved my dinner party. I was about to make all the same mistakes as you listed. What a gift you have given us. Blessings on you in return.
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Perfect! Like the idea of cutting it into smaller pieces! I bought my corned beef in the evening and by the time I got home to cook it, it was 8pm. I got this cooked in 60 minutes plus natural release, and finished by 10! It was all ready for the next night’s dinner after work. 🙂 Love your recipes! Thanks for taking the time to do the trials and errors!!
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I just made this tonight and followed the directions exactly. I had a 4.5lb corned beef. I’m reasonably new to pressure cookers. I have the Power Cooker XL 8qt. Only thing different is I used the canning rack that came with it so the corned beef wasn’t sitting directly on the bottom..Turned out great, my family said it was delicious and tender. Thanks, this is the second recipe I’ve done from this site in a week..the Senate Ham and Beans was awesome too.
I know I have nothing original to add here. I rarely leave comments either. But I gotta tell you, this was the best corned beef I’ve ever made. Thanks so much for your investigation and publication of your results.
You’re welcome!
This was my 3rd time using a pressure cooker, and first attempt with this recipe. Best corned beef ever! I will be trying more of your recipes. Thank you!
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Thank you so much! It came out amazing my first try! I used a 3 lb Wellshire Farms CB cut into four slices, ended up needing 70 min for it to be melt in your mouth fork tender. It was a bit salty though. Should I add more water next time?
Also, how do you clean your instant pot? I made Greek Yogurt the next day after steam cleaning the pot for 5 min with water, and my yogurt has an aroma of corned beef!
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Ission acco.plished –Thanks for this recipe. other than being afraid of the pressure cooker everything came out perfect!!
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Tried this recipe with a 4.5# corned beef brisket cut in 3 pieces & it worked out great. The meat was perfect using high (meat) setting for 60 minutes. I did slow release after reading that quick sometimes tightens meat. Took meat out & tented it to rest while I cooked cabbage, quartered, red potatoes & carrots, halved. They were a tad overdone (lowest setting on vegetables was 10 minutes & I forgot to pull plug a 6 minutes). 5 minutes w slow release worked great. Found that the more water I used the less salty the end product & the more salty the broth. Overall 5 Stars for sure, easy & as tender & tasty as my Mom’s 3 hour boiled corned beef. Great for sandwiches IF there’s any left over…
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I absolutely love this post and recipe. I love the trial and errors you talk about. It saves me from having to make those mistakes myself! Furthermore, I love that you keep updating and lastly (and most importantly) I love that this recipe is DELICIOUS and works every time! 🙂
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Mike,
Your recipe is totally awesome!
I have a T-Fal 6-qt PC and the problem that I’m having is that when I quick release the pressure, I get frothy liquid coming out of the vent, not just steam, which makes quite a mess! The contents were way below the fill line, and I removed the PC from the heat before releasing the pressure. I even moved the pressure control to low first, and I just got steam out, but when I moved it to quick release, that is when the frothy liquid came out. The meal, however, came out GREAT!
Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong?
Jackson, that seems to happen sometimes, when the pressure cooker is bubbling. If you get foamy liquid out of the vent, turn off the heat and let it sit for five minutes before trying to quick release again.