Turns out I purchased one Ex-Cel and one Old-Fashioned, so I can compare. The slow cooker is running as we speak, stuffed with cabbage and tiny little red potatoes.

I'm smoking my first corned beef this year, using a nice pastrami rub and my electric smoker (curse you, tiny apartment roof). I'm excited - pics to follow!

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

My niece is making her first corned beef. The meat case had flat, point and round. I know the flat and point are known brisket sections. I never heard round described as part of the brisket, rather they pickled another meat cut. Is is possible round is part of the brisket? (I don't think so, but then again, I could be wrong.)

She did buy the round, because she couldn't reach me when she was shopping.

Regards,

Hi Cathy,

I'd never heard of this myself, but watching Good Eats on corned beef recently, it was mentioned that a bottom round roast is occasionally used for corned beef. So, I'm pretty sure it's not a new and mysterious brisket designation, but rather no brisket at all. Let me know how it turns out!

Hi,

Why thanks for asking!

My niece Brittany (who will put September 12th on her calendar for the LTHforum picnic) made her corned beef last night. I agree it is likely the beef round and not the brisket, though I never heard of any other beef cut corned before.

While this may not be the best lighting, it does show the meat cut:


Brittany's Irish corned beef dinner ready for serving:



I sent Brittany a variant of Joy of Cooking's Irish soda bread with more sugar and raisins called for in the recipe. The white stuff is decorator flour a friend's Mom suggested. Brittany figured it wouldn't hurt, so what the heck.



A have a sense a lot of Moms and Aunts consulted in the preparation of this meal from shopping, cooking to decorator flour. Pleased as punch this worked out well.

Regards,

Whatever cut it turned out to be, it looks delicious! Congratulations to your niece on her first corned beef dinner, even if it wasn't exactly a solo victory.

G Wiv wrote: Its all good though, its all good.


*With the exception of AP Deli on Wabash.

add this one to the exceptions list too.

Berkots is a small grocery chain(8-9 locations) with a well regarded meat department out here in Will County. They were advertising Extra lean corned beef from the eye of the round this week as one of their St Pats offerings.

atomicman wrote:Berkots is a small grocery chain(8-9 locations) with a well regarded meat department out here in Will County. They were advertising Extra lean corned beef from the eye of the round this week as one of their St Pats offerings.

Did it cost more or less than a brisket flat? I usually buy the point with its better flavor and bonus of a cheaper price.

Regards,

Yes, the Corned beef flats were $2.89 and the Eye of Round was $3.49 No advertised price on the point.

We simmer our corned beef for several hours. Once tender, I put it on a broiler pan, slather it in BBQ sauce, and put it under the broiler for a few minutes. Next time I'll fire up the WSM and do it GWIV's way. I also made colcannon torte, carrots and Irish Soda Bread. No pictures though. I had class tonight and was running late.

Once again, my corned beef turned out excellent, but the veggies & potatoes were terrible. I threw everything into a crockpot and added a beer, water, pickling spices, etc. The veggies and potatoes picked up a bitter taste from the beer. I'm just going to have to cook the veggies separate from now on! One more year of learning.

I made my corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots on Sunday but we decided not to eat it that night. So basically I had leftovers without ever having them in the first place. So instead of just heating everything up, I made kabobs for the kids and hash for my wife and me.

razbry wrote:Once again, my corned beef turned out excellent, but the veggies & potatoes were terrible. I threw everything into a crockpot and added a beer, water, pickling spices, etc. The veggies and potatoes picked up a bitter taste from the beer. I'm just going to have to cook the veggies separate from now on! One more year of learning.

I simmer the corned beef until it is tender. I take it out to rest in the oven. Only then do I use the cooking water to cook the potatoes, carrots and cabbage. I start the potatoes and carrots first, then add the cabbage a few minutes later.

Cooking the veggies all day with the meat is more time than they need.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I simmer the corned beef until it is tender. I take it out to rest in the oven. Only then do I use the cooking water to cook the potatoes, carrots and cabbage. I start the potatoes and carrots first, then add the cabbage a few minutes later.

Cooking the veggies all day with the meat is more time than they need.

Regards,

Somewhat similar, but definitely quicker procedure---

I took my 5.8 lb. Excel flat ( Thanks G WIV ) and threw it into the pressure cooker. After coming to full pressure, I reduced the heat to a slow simmer for 2 hours. Removed brisket from the pot (foiled it to keep warm), added Titleist-sized new potatoes and baby carrots to the CB water--- brought it back to pressure and cooked for 5 minutes.

No muss, no fuss and totally delicious.

Thanks again to Gary, the Excel brisket was probably the most flavorful and least salty CB brisket that I have made in years.

cito,

The simmering method has two plusses: 1) House smells great for hours, 2) Muscle won't contract as much. A boiled corned beef (pressure cooking has some pretty high temps) shrinks considerably.

Was there a significant difference in the meat's volume after pressure cooking? Or did the low pressure cooking mitigate this affect by not so high temperatures?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:cito,


Was there a significant difference in the meat's volume after pressure cooking? Or did the low pressure cooking mitigate this affect by not so high temperatures?

Regards,

You are correct,the darn thing does shrink considerably, but yesterday I was willing to accept that as a trade-off for the speediness. To my amateur taste buds, I also feel that the pressure cooking method tends to concentrate the flavors more intensely than other methods.

I corn my own brisket and this one was a large flat from Sam's that spent about a month corning. Even my 20 qt stock pots were too small for this one so I used a large roasting pan, added Guiness XXX, started it boiling on top of the oven and then wrapped in heavy al foil and stuck in the oven at 450F for about 5 hours. The last 45 minutes added cabbage.
Turned out very nicely. I use a LOT of garlic, cardamon, star anise, fenugreek, mustard seed, coriander, cinnnamin stick, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice, salt and a little saltpeter for color preservation.
I don't think I could ever go back to a commercial corned beef although I have purchased some from the Vienna Factory Store that were very good. You can get both types, fully cooked or just corned, ready to cook. Most commercial establishments finish the uncooked Vienna on thier steam table for a number of hours.-Dick

cito wrote:I took my 5.8 lb. Excel flat ( Thanks G WIV ) and threw it into the pressure cooker. After coming to full pressure, I reduced the heat to a slow simmer for 2 hours. Removed brisket from the pot (foiled it to keep warm), added Titleist-sized new potatoes and baby carrots to the CB water--- brought it back to pressure and cooked for 5 minutes.

No muss, no fuss and totally delicious.

Thanks again to Gary, the Excel brisket was probably the most flavorful and least salty CB brisket that I have made in years.

I almost did exactly the same thing, but not on purpose. We had fresh sardines Wednesday, so I thought I'd pop my flat in the crock-pot at breakfast time and have it ready for dinner - unfortunately, a quick volunteer PTA job kept me at school until almost 11. I poured some beer and some Woodchuck over it and hoped for the best.

At dinnertime, I decided I wasn't happy with the result, so out of the crock-pot and into the pressure-cooker it went. Cooked on high for about 10 minutes, let pressure reduce to admit potatoes and cooked for 5 minutes, then did it again to add quartered cabbages and cooked for another 5 minutes. Unfortunately, at this point PTA volunteer job # 2 reared its head, so I left the family and came home after dinner - to find that all but 3 slices of the flat (admittedly, it was a small one) had been consumed.

This was a fantasting piece of meat - you could really taste the seasoning, and as cito said, it wasn't at all salty. Pressure cooker did a bang-up job finishing it off.

razbry wrote:Once again, my corned beef turned out excellent, but the veggies & potatoes were terrible. I threw everything into a crockpot and added a beer, water, pickling spices, etc. The veggies and potatoes picked up a bitter taste from the beer. I'm just going to have to cook the veggies separate from now on! One more year of learning.

I throw in some brown sugar to cut the bitterness, especially if I put in Guinness. I taste a couple of times during cooking and add some more brown sugar until I get the balance I like.

I might as well post my method since I cooked Corned Beef and Cabbage last night and the veggies, especially, turned out GREAT. Never have I had guests swoon and say "the carrots, oh the carrots".

I got a flat and a point -- I love them both for different reasons -- the flat makes lovely slices, the point is fattier and kinda falls apart. I soaked the beef in cold water for 2 hours before draining and putting it on the stove. Covered the meat with a bottle of white wine, and added the seasoning packet, a handful of smashed garlic cloves, a good glug of worcestershire and another of hot sauce. Right there you know this isn't traditional, but it's delicious. Add enough water to cover and then simmer slowly slowly for 3 hours or so. About an hour before serving time, add a couple of chopped onions. 30 minutes before serving, add the carrots. Then remove the CB to a platter to rest and add wedges of cabbage. Simmer until the cabbage is cooked through. Fish out all the veg and serve them alongside the carved meat.

I serve with colcannon and spicy horseradish. Home made bread and Irish butter. Beers. Yum.

ETA: trying to post a (not very good) picture again:

LTH,

Excel corned beef point simmered for about 4-hours, potatoes 30-minutes, cabbage 15. Tender, rich flavor packed, horseradish, pickles and Kaufman's rye rounded out our meal.

Simmered Corned Beef





Enjoy,
Gary

Time to boil up some chunks of meat...soon.

I've been a fan of Ex-Cel corned beef for many years. I first purchased the product regularly at the Euro-Fresh grocery on Rt 14 in Palatine. Five years or so back, Euro-Fresh stopped carrying it, despite my repeated requests that they stock it again.

Since then, I've resorted to sending my wife on missions by taxi from her loop office to Ex-Cel's near-west side wholesale headquarters on Lake St. The bride does this without complaint, because she loves their corned beef too, but I know that carrying 22 lbs of corned beef home on the Metra UP northwest line is something of a burden to her.

Anyone know a grocery in the Northwest 'burbs (AH/Palatine area) that can be relied upon to carry Ex-Cel corned beef (without having to drive as far east as Niles)?

Thanks!

Can some one tell me the difference between Kosher style corned beef and Irish style corned beef?

I've tried a number of the shrink wrapped corned beef including some brands I was sure would be Kosher style, and they all end up tasting like the typical Irish style corned beef served on St Patrick's Day.

Is there such a thing as a packaged Kosher style corned beef?

Is there a way I can cook one myself?

What comes out of the packages tastes so different from what I get from my old favorite Kosher deli in Skokie, or Naperville or Buffalo Grove. I desperately want the real stuff.

Or can someone point me to a place where I can buy Kosher style corned beef in the far NW suburbs (any where between Elgin & Crystal Lake: NE Kane county or SE McHenry county)?

j r wrote:Can some one tell me the difference between Kosher style corned beef and Irish style corned beef?

According to Ken Harrington, king of Irish corned beef in Chicago, "the Irish took the seasoning out."

Saint Paddy's Day!

Three 48-hour water soaked corned beef points from Ex-Cel Corned Beef to be smoked for 6(ish) hours with light hickory on the Big Green Egg.

Soaked Corned Beef Points and pastrami rub



Starting the journey to deliciousness

When I get a corned beef to cook, it always says "sprinkle spice packet over meat" but I can never find a spice packet. What spices would be in this magical packet?

I did a flat cut earlier this week. It was OK, but too lean for my tastes. I LIKE FAT! I took the leftovers and made corned beef hash for today. I liked this more than the main event.

Since B&L opened in January, I have been buying up beef navels for pastrami, beef bacon, and this week for corned beef. Tonight, I cooked up some corned beef & guinness sausages with turnips, celery, fennel, carrots, potatoes, onions and cabbage. While the beef navel became a little bit of a running joke this week, it is really a good cut of meat that isn't used nearly enough. You will not have the issue of leanness with the navel. Here's a shot with quick kraut and caraway mustard on a bun.



I kept a 4" x 4" x 2" slab of navel and corned it whole and confited it in duck fat (I was fresh out of beef fat). I'll have that this weekend. By then, I'll be so sick of corned beef that next year's St. Paddy's Day will sneak up on me.

razbry wrote:I did a flat cut earlier this week. It was OK, but too lean for my tastes. I LIKE FAT! I took the leftovers and made corned beef hash for today. I liked this more than the main event.

sounds good, I have hash and reubens in my future. I have a beatiful flat cut from Ream's to do up Saturday(not enough time to do the corned beef and cabbage properly(south side irish style) on a work night for me).

LAZ wrote:

j r wrote:Can some one tell me the difference between Kosher style corned beef and Irish style corned beef?

According to Ken Harrington, king of Irish corned beef in Chicago, "the Irish took the seasoning out."

No wonder I never tasted the mystique in Harrington's corned beef...