Sous Vide Corned Beef: Temperature and Time

Sous vide corned beef cooks at 150°F (65.6°C) for 24 to 48 hours for meat that is moist and tender and still slices cleanly. For firm pink slices, use 135°F (57.2°C) for 48 hours. For the very soft texture of boiled corned beef, use 176°F (80°C) for 12 to 24 hours.

These are tenderizing times for pieces up to 3 in (7.6 cm) thick. They do not change with the weight of the piece.

Corned beef temperature and texture

The calculator has three settings. The temperature sets the texture, and each one has its own time, shown in the Time column.

135°F (57.2°C), firm and sliceable. The meat is pink, firm and easy to slice thin. The calculator gives a single time of 48 hours and no maximum, because its source gives one time and no upper limit. The time and temperature match the Anova recipe by Emily Farris and Jeff Akin.

150°F (65.6°C), tender. This is the default. The meat is moist and tender and still slices cleanly. The window runs from 24 to 48 hours.

176°F (80°C), traditional. The meat is very soft and falls apart, like boiled corned beef, in 12 to 24 hours. It is the shortest cook of the three.

In his corned beef guide at Amazing Food Made Easy, Jason Logsdon says he prefers the lower temperatures because corned beef dries out more as the temperature rises. Douglas Baldwin's guide to sous vide cooking gives the mechanism: above 140 to 150°F (60 to 66°C) muscle fibers shrink lengthwise and lose substantial water.

Color is not a guide to doneness with corned beef. A USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service fact sheet, Corned Beef and Food Safety, says corned beef may still be pink after cooking because the nitrite used in curing fixes the pigment in the meat.

What corned beef is and why it cooks for a day

The calculator treats corned beef as cured brisket. The USDA fact sheet says corned beef is made from one of several less tender cuts such as the brisket, rump or round, and that the name comes from the coarse grains of salt, some the size of corn kernels, that were once rubbed into the beef to dry-cure it.

America's Test Kitchen describes the cut and the cure. Brisket is a large slab of muscle from the chest. Corned beef can be made from the point or the flat cut, and the article says it is usually the flat, which is leaner, more evenly shaped and easier to find in stores. The cure uses table salt plus pink curing salt, which contains sodium nitrite.

The same article says brisket is tough and full of connective tissue, so it needs low, slow, moist cooking to become tender. That is the reason for the long bath. Baldwin's guide says collagen begins to dissolve into gelatin above 122 to 131°F (50 to 55°C), and reports that at 176°F (80°C) the tenderizing happens within about 12 to 24 hours. The calculator's times follow that pattern: 48 hours at 135°F (57.2°C) and as little as 12 hours at 176°F (80°C).

Thickness is not an input for corned beef in the calculator, because it changes a tenderizing time very little. The times cover pieces up to 3 in (7.6 cm) thick, measured through the thickest part. Thicker pieces heat too slowly and are not covered, so cut larger pieces down before cooking. Fresh, uncured brisket has different settings.

Saltiness: rinse or soak

Packaged corned beef is sold in its brine. Rinse off the brine before bagging if you want it less salty.

Logsdon goes further. He notes that most corned beef is brined with a lot of salt, and he puts it in a large container of water for a few hours, or overnight, to draw out some of the salt before cooking.

He adds the spice packet to the bag if the corned beef came with one, and adds no extra salt.

How to sous vide corned beef

1. Rinse or soak. Rinse off the brine. Soak the meat in water first if you want to remove more salt.
2. Portion. Cut the meat so each piece is no more than 3 in (7.6 cm) thick and fits a bag. The Anova recipe cuts a 4 to 6 pound corned beef brisket in half and bags each half separately.
3. Bag. Add the spice packet or a tablespoon of pickling spice to each bag. Vacuum seal it, or seal a zipper-lock freezer bag with the water displacement method.
4. Heat the bath. Set it to 150°F (65.6°C), or to the temperature for the texture you chose.
5. Cook. Keep the bags in a single layer, fully under the water, and not overlapping. Leave them for 24 to 48 hours at 150°F (65.6°C). The Anova recipe covers the pot with foil to limit evaporation and checks the water level from time to time.
6. Slice and serve. Slice across the grain as described below.

Slicing

The USDA fact sheet says corned beef is best sliced diagonally across the grain of the meat.

The setting changes how thin you can go. At 135°F (57.2°C) the meat is firm and easy to slice thin, which suits sandwiches. Logsdon mentions thin slices on rye with sauerkraut for Reubens. At 150°F (65.6°C) it still slices cleanly. At 176°F (80°C) it is very soft and falls apart, so it will not hold a thin slice.

Searing is optional. The Anova recipe cuts the cooked corned beef into large cubes and sears them on all sides before serving with potatoes and cabbage.

Baldwin's guide says vegetables need much higher temperatures than meat, so the potatoes and cabbage need a separate bath or a pot. The vegetables chart gives the 183°F (83.9°C) setting and the times for eight vegetables, and there are separate guides for potatoes and carrots. Cabbage is not in the calculator.

Cooking corned beef from frozen

Cooking from frozen at 150°F (65.6°C) adds 3 hours 15 minutes for the center to thaw and heat.

The first cell of the table gives the size the time covers. At this setting the limit from frozen is the same 3 in (7.6 cm) as for chilled meat. At 176°F (80°C) the frozen time is 15 hours 30 minutes to 27 hours 30 minutes.

The USDA fact sheet says uncooked corned beef can be frozen for 1 month for best quality.

Safety

All three settings are pasteurized at their minimum time. The one exception is the frozen 135°F (57.2°C) result, which is not recommended and does not count as pasteurized.

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for corned beef is 145°F (62.8°C) followed by a 3 minute rest. The 135°F (57.2°C) setting is below that. It pasteurizes the meat only because it is held for the full minimum time shown, so do not shorten it. The explainer on whether sous vide is safe covers how time and temperature work together.

An acidic sauce or marinade can make beef take up to twice as long to pasteurize. If the corned beef is bagged in one, do not rely on the pasteurization time shown.

Crowded or overlapping bags heat more slowly, and the times shown will be too short for them.

For leftovers, the USDA fact sheet gives about 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator for cooked corned beef, and 2 to 3 months in the freezer for best quality.

Common problems

Too salty. The cure is the source. Rinse the brine off before bagging, or soak the meat in water for a few hours or overnight as Logsdon does.

Pink in the middle at 150°F (65.6°C) or 176°F (80°C). This is the cure. Nitrite fixes the pigment, so the color is not a sign of undercooking.

Slices that fall apart. That is the texture of the 176°F (80°C) setting. Use 150°F (65.6°C) or 135°F (57.2°C) for clean slices, and cut across the grain.

A floating bag. Baldwin's guide notes that some of the liquid in the bag turns to gas, so the bag puffs and may float. Hold it under with a rack or a weight.

Falling water level. Evaporation over one to two days can expose the bags. Cover the bath and check the level.