Instant Pot or Crock Pot? Corned Beef Face-Off

With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I suspect a lot of people will be preparing corned beef, and while corned beef is traditionally boiled or steamed, I chose to test the impact of cooking in a slow cooker vs a pressure cooker.

Products used in this video:

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:00 Cooking
2:15 Slicing
3:05 Reheating and eating
4:52 Summary

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[bdctrans]

Those are great takes on both methods. I love these comparative videos! I think if you cooked the slowcooker roast for 6 hours instead of 8, your result would be closer to the Instant Pot version. The long hours in the crockpot condensed the salt as the moisture evaporated, and the heating element on the bottom broke the connective tissue down so much that there was no structure to hold a slice together!. The Instantpot pressure forced the salt out with the water moisture. I found the same results when I cook meat in the same two ways. I am a purist; I roast my corned beef on a bed of cabbage and onions with beef stock and whiskey in the oven for three hours. Sometimes, modern methods don't capture the unique qualities of good old oven roasting! IF there are any leftovers, I make corned beef hash balls or croquettes if you want to get fancy!

[theastewart]

Hi Steve. Thanks for this comparison video. I love corned beef. My husband, who was Irish, and I used to go to different Irish Pubs and restaurants on St. Patrick’s Day and not one of them made a decent corned beef and cabbage dinner!! We stopped going and cooked it at home. Needless to say, ours was much better. No boring boiled cabbage and other vegetables. We upped our game and it was always delicious. My lonely Instant Pot still sits unopened. Maybe I’ll actually open it up and give it a try! Thanks again. If you don’t post a video on Monday, wishing you a wonderful birthday!😊🎊🎉

[frances]

Corned beef leftovers!? What's that? LOL! Thanks for the comparison testing! I grew up on the boiling method. Tried the baking and slow cooker methods as an adult and stayed with the slow cooker one. Part of the reason is the set it and forget it, but also so that I can add the veggies at a different time to get them to the desired texture and seasoning that we like since they cook faster than the meat. The scents wafting through the house benefit seals the deal. Happy Birthday, early! Glad you all are on the mend from your recent health challenge! Great weekend to ya!

[Carol]

Happy St Patrick's Day! Got my corned beef in the freezer calling to me. I have also baked it covered in the past.

[jrjohnson]

Great comparison Steve! I corned a venison backstrap roast and it turned out fantastic! Anyway, another great video, hope you're feeling better!

[gabrielsyt]

I have not had corned beef in a long time. Now that I see you make it, I want to try it too. Keep up the good work Steve!

[peggyfitzmaurice]

My Irish born hubby will appreciate this video🍀

[MyFatAdaptedLife]

Corned beef has to be one of my all time favorite comfort foods; and I only have it on St. Patty's Day, just to keep it special. I like your approach and will have to try it next week. The two things I will do differently is to degas the beer and will use the Instant Pot Soup|Broth setting.

[anthonygoodwill]

Fantastic video as always sir! I make a lot of corned beef. One of my all time favs. Get a flat for slicing or point for shredding. I do not rinse the brine. I add a healthy dash of extra pickling spice, beef stock and a dehydrated hot chili. Set for 90 mins with a 10 min natural release, plate and cover. I then add a full head of cabbage, quartered, and a bag of radishes washed and cut in half to all the corned beef juices for 7 mins with a 5 min natural release. Pair this with homemade keto "big mac" sauce and I am golden... matter of fact time to hit the pig!

[NikkiK]

Sitting at work drooling lol. Thanks, Steve 🤤

[starfire]

I love corn beef. I usually bring it to a boil and vinegar, water tablespoon of vinegar and pour it off and then boil it in my beer. However, I have an Insta pot, so I’ll be trying that when I can. I have 3 to 4 more days in hospital before I can get home and cook. Thank you so much for your comparison. My Insta pot has a crockpot sitting on it, but I’m gonna try it the other way yours looked really good.

[marilynmcmanis]

Love this video Steve! Great comparison. Last year I made mine in the Instant Pot. I think this year I will try your Crock Pot method. I will definitely be picking some up on sale. 😋

[lisad.]

Love this video! The last time I cooked a corned beef, i couldn’t decide which way. Thanks.

[gyoung]

Thanks, Steve! I’ve actually never made corned beef, but now I’m inspired to give it a shot. Instant pot, I’m comin’ for you….

[cyndimiller]

I never even thought to use my instant pot 🤯 Then again, I always forget I have the dang thing, lol!

[brendashope]

This was great, thanks Steve! I will be using the crockpot mostly for the glorious aroma we enjoy all day. ☘️

[deborah]

I did corned beef with sous vide for the first time 3 nights ago. Easy peasy....BUT it did take 48 hrs. But boy was it good. Throw the corned beef in a heavy zip lock back with the seasoning packet that comes with it. ....and that was it. Went in a large pot with my sous vide wand set at 140 degrees F and two nights later maybe the best corned beef texture wise I have every had. Very sliceable but also very tender to eat. Not crumbly, not dry. Drained off the juice and cooked some red potatoes and some cabbage in that in a saucepan (as I nibbled on the sliced corned beef). Really excellent.

[keckojones]

Great video. I bought a bunch of these because they were on sale. I crock potted one yesterday in beer and it was great. Also a bit crumbly. If I’m slicing corned beef for sandwiches, I like to sous vide mine. That said, you have to desalt the heck out of it with multiple water soakings. That said, it’s great for slicing. Thanks again for the great video.

[KnittingmommyArts]

I love corned beef, but I'm not a fan of the boiled method. My mom always cooked it that way when I was younger and then started using a crockpot in the late 70s to cook corned beef with cabbage and potatoes. When I started making it on my own, I opted for cooking my corned beef in the oven slathered with my favorite whole grain mustard, wrapped in foil for most of the cooking time and then uncovered for the remainder of the cooking time. I love the crispy outside you get cooking that way. The issue with the oven is that it has to cook for a really long time to get the corned beef to the perfect tenderness. So I switched to cooking it in my digital pressure cooker and then transferred it over to the oven to crisp it up with the whole grain mustard. I did that for the longest time and it was my favorite way to cook corned beef.

Then I ended up buying a Ninja Foodi with Smartlid when my old pressure cooker died (not an Instant, Pot but a different brand), and it was a game changer for me. I could cook the corned beef with the steam function and then set it to switch to the bake function. That gets me a really tender corned beef that holds together like it was pressure cooked, but I also get the nice crispy outside that I like. And the cooking time is so much shorter than the pressure cooker and oven method or the oven alone! I love the ability to steam cook something and then crisp it up after the steaming without having to change appliances! My favorite way to cook corned beef now!

[cherylpopoutsis]

My Irish grandma always boiled St. Patty's. When the tradition passed to me I always used my crock pot since I made so much. It was always great. Once I got an instant pot though I've found even the cheapest cut turns out great. I'm team instant pot now.