Quick Recipe: Easy Instant Pot Corned Beef

 

I've always loved corned beef ever since I was a kid, and I've tried a few different ways to make it before finally settling on the method I'm going to describe here. It gives perfectly tender meat with a crispy, slightly sweet crust on top that nicely compliments the salty corned beef. 

First though, let's take a minute to explore why corned beef isn't really an "authentic" Irish dish, although it's so closely associated with that country. The story begins during the industrial revolution in Britain...

Just kidding! If I ever make you scroll through five paragraphs of filler before I get to the recipe, call the authorities because someone is holding me against my will and I am trying to send a duress signal. Let's just jump to the important parts:
  • Get your Instant Pot out (or whatever off brand automatic pressure cooker you have) and set it to 70 minutes on high, and turn off the 'keep warm' if yours is like mine and defaults to that.
  • Rinse off the brisket (point cut or flat - you do you, Boo) to remove the excess liquid it's packed in - if you don't, this will foam up and make a mess while it cooks. 
  • Put the corned beef in the pot and add the spices from the packet that comes with the brisket. There's a lot of other ways to season it, but we're keeping it simple here.
  • Add two cups of water or beer. If you use beer, it helps if it's a little flat to help prevent foaming up. Some people use a stout like Guinness, but if you're going to do that you might as well keep your Instant Pot in the cupboard and just cook it in a chocolate ashtray, because that's what it will taste like. 
  • Seal it up, press start, and find something to do for the next hour and a half while it cooks. When it beeps and starts naturally releasing pressure, it's a good time to peel some potatoes and cut up cabbage if you want those as sides. 
  • After 15 minutes of natural release (heh... sorry children) hit the pressure release and transfer the corned beef to an oven-safe pan. Put the vegetables in the IP, close it up again, and set it to cook on high for 3 minutes.
  • While the IP is coming back up to temperature/pressure, put the corned beef fat side up under the broiler in your oven. Keep an eye on it, and be ready to pull it out when it first starts crisping up, like this:

  • Squeeze a little honey on top to glaze it and spread it around with a basting brush to get the top covered evenly. Put it back under the broiler, but keep an eye on it - you want the honey to caramelize, not burn. 
  • Take it out when it looks like this:

  • By now your vegetables should be done in the IP, so once the timer goes off you can do instant release whenever. 
  • Slice and serve!


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