Just got mine going in the crock pot. Last 4 or 5 times I made it in the crock pot, the corn beef was very tough. This time around I’m going to cook the crap out of it on high instead of low.
The secret to tender crock pot corned beef is "low and slow". I cooked mine overnight about ten hours on low and you could cut it with a fork. Many different recipes, but I prefer cooking in apple juice or apple cider.
Tough corned beef in the crock pot? OK, here we go... cook the “German Style (red)” corned beef brisket, even if the brand name is Callahan. I do not like the “Irish Style (gray)” corned beef (What a revoltin’ development that is” —Digger O’Dell). TRIM as much of the fat as you can off before slow cooking. (This ain’t Katz’ deli) Scrape with the blade where necessary and do not break the membrane, if possible.
Add apple cider, a lot, to the slow cooker, together with some pickling spices, pepper, brown sugar and a tsp. or so of spicy yellow mustard. In my opinion Colexxx’s may be an Irish name but it says English! Yellow mustard - I buy bulk ground yellow mustard on the Internet for a lot less.
Use the slow cooker on high or medium, that is the length of time it will take to hit the table after the parade. To see if it is done use a fork and when it withdraws from the meat easily, it is done. Cool and cut on a diagonal.
For gawd’s sake, cook the cabbage separately with some bacon. Try it wth some mustard on it when you eat it.
My opinions, my recipe and the family will be upset that I gave it out. Happy St. Patrick’s Day form Mexico and remember the Batalion San Padrico!
Next time, try a pressure cooker....That’s what we use, and it’s done in a couple hours.