Not long ago, my guests were on their way when I found out that my corned beef has turned tough beyond serving. But, I wasn’t going to let go of the dish I prepared with so much love and care. So I started searching for solutions.
Different sources kept telling me different things about how to fix tough corned beef. So, obviously, I got confused about which way to go for. Fortunately, I was able to fix my corned beef before the guests arrived, but that was a close call.
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Using my years of experience, I shortlisted and modified the solutions presented to me and created my own guideline. Let’s hope that no one else will have to run crazy before they’re about to serve corned beef.
How To Know If Corned Beef Is Tough?
So, you think your corned beef is tough. But are you 100% sure?
Well, if you aren’t, then you’ve got to check the texture. And this time, you’ve to be
completely sure whether the beef is tough or not.
Now for this, you can use two methods-
You can use this method to easily find out if you’ve cooked the corned beef properly or not.
If the meat is tender, the fork should easily slide in and out of the meat. You can even use the fork to pull apart the meat fibers. And if the fibers fall apart easily, that means the meat is tender.
However, if you don’t see the same results, you’ve failed to cook corned beef properly. Because when corned beef gets really tough, the fibers get tough and all. Hence, it gets hard to pull the meat apart.
Using a meat thermometer is another way to know the texture of the meat you’ve cooked.
If the meat is tender, it should be a piece of cake to insert the thermometer. Furthermore, you’ll get an internal temperature of 145-160 degrees Fahrenheit.
On the contrary, you can’t even poke a hole in corned beef that turned tough with a thermometer. So yeah, you probably won’t get the right internal temperature too.
Also, there are several other ways to test the piece of meat. For example, you can check the doneness of meat by doing a finger test. Interesting, isn’t it?
Anyway, if you’re now sure about the toughness, you can move on to the next segment.
How Do You Fix Tough Corned Beef After Cooking?
To make the tough cooked meat tender, you only have to let it cook for a little longer. You can even use onions and canned pineapple to tenderize the meat.
Also, sometimes if you let the piece rest for 10-15 minutes, it can automatically turn tender. How?
Well, if you didn’t know, after taking the meat out of the oven or stove, it stays hot for a while. So yeah it can come out tough because of the heat. But once you let it rest, the heat goes down eventually. And the meat becomes tender.
Nonetheless, if that doesn’t work, you can use two methods to get the tenderness back-
Simmering is the easiest way between the two methods. You can simmer your corned beef by using a pressure cooker or a slow cooker. You can even use a stockpot and cook on the stove.
If you choose a pressure cooker then just follow these instructions-
For a slow cooker, the instructions are almost the same. There are just two differences- time and temperature. To ease your pain we’ve mentioned the right time for two different temperatures.
| Temperature | Time |
| Low | 60-120 minutes |
| High | 35-60 minutes |
After the time is over, just check the temperature of the meat. Hopefully, the meat will turn out tender after simmering it in the slow cooker.
Lastly, a stockpot might be the most simple way to simmer the meat. And you’ll only have to follow 4 steps here-
Within this time, the tough meat will get tender gradually!
How To Fix Tough Corned Beef Before Cooking
If you cook the beef using the proper steps and care, there’s no reason for it to be tough. So, to summarize the whole process, there are three steps to fix corned beef before cooking. And as they all say, prevention is always better than cure.
Rinse
Rinsing is essential to remove excess salt from corned beef. First, rinse the beef two or three times using cold water. Then, drain the beef off the water.
You can also soak the beef in cold water and keep it in the refrigerator overnight if you wish to skip the rinsing part. Both ways are effective in removing excess salt from the meat.
Cook
If you have experienced tough beef, you’ve already cooked it before. So, I won’t get into the recipe. However, I’ll emphasize you pay extra attention to the parts where you can go wrong.
Remember not to boil the meat. Instead, simmer the meat and slow cook it. Use water or any other liquid your recipe demands, but make sure the beef is entirely under the water.
Monitor the process. If you notice the liquid drying, add more.
Rest
Letting the corned beef can benefit you both ways. Even if you’ve overcooked the beef, letting it rest can make it tender again. As for the general cooking procedure, resting the beef allows the moisture to get soaked up inside the meat, making it tender and juicy.
Many people don’t understand the importance of resting the meat. I must emphasize this step because it also works as extended cooking.
The meat keeps getting better with time, even after you’ve removed it from the heat source. However, the duration isn’t too long. Resting it for about 15 minutes should be enough.
FAQ
Why is my corned beef rubbery?
Brisket is not a fan of high temperature. When cooked on high for too long, corned beef is likely to turn out tough and chewy rather than soft and tender. Instead: Regardless of the cooking method, corned beef is best cooked over low heat.
How do you make corned beef tender?
Tightly wrap the meat in tin foil. Add some liquid such as water to the pan. Cook the meat in the tin foil with water in the oven for about 30 minutes. Some of that liquid will be reabsorbed into the meat and make it moist again.
Can you boil corned beef too long?