How to Cook Basic Crock Pot Corned Beef

This is by far the easiest meal I cook. When I first started making it, I tore through crock pot books looking for a recipe. They all wanted to add things, potatoes, carrots, onions etc. I have followed recipes with vegetables, and it's a lot of bother. The veggies never end up tasting very good in the strong corned beef juices. This is basic and perfect. It is one of the meals that I, my husband, and my finicky four year old and his sister can all enjoy.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• A corned beef brisket, any size.
• A sharp knife
• A cutting surface
• A crock pot. (the 5 quart ones work best because you can lay the meat flat. But if you don't mind cutting the corned beef, the smaller pot will do.)
• Water

1. Remove the corned beef from the packaging, and take out the spice packet. Put it aside. You'll need it soon.
2. Pam Spray the inside of the crock pot. (Technically you can skip this step if you enjoy soaking and scrubbing later.)
3. Trim the fat Trim the layer of fat off the bottom. Don't go into diet mode and start hacking away at everything or your beef will end up dry and disappointing. But the major layer of fat should disappear.
4. Pour water over the corned beef Set the meat in the crock pot. Pour water over the top until it just covers the meat. If a little is sticking out, that's okay.
5. Add the contents of the spice packet to the water Slice open your seasoning packet and pour in the water and over the meat. Cover. Set the timer (if you have one) for 10 hours. Part of the wonder of this recipe is that you can cook it as little as 8 hours but it's better at 10 hours or even longer. I've left it for 12 before and the meat was delicious.
6. The perfect dinner When it's dinner time, serve. We like to have mashed potatoes with ours (see my article, How to Make Basic, Easy Mashed Potatoes). It's nice to have the main course out of the way so you can make a side dish. Or, if time is an issue, simply get some hogie rolls and have sandwiches.

Tips & Warnings

• There are two kinds of corned beef cuts available: flat and point. The flat cut is more expensive, but it is a leaner cut of meat so we always opt for that.