Corned beef and cabbage is an all time favorite in my household, often craved and ravenously devoured. I utilize two methods when cooking briskets, boiling and steaming. Both methods have their own results and I have chosen steaming this time to seperate the flavor from the cabbage where as cooking them in the same pot produces a different flavor though equally desirable.
When steaming a brisket, I leave the brisket in the plastic bag it was purchased in. I remove the stickers and labels and, I wash the bag to disinfect it from handling.
I then wrap the package in plastic wrap several times to add support to the bag to keep it from bursting and releasing the meat juices the brisket is simmering in. The seasonings for the brisket are already in the bag.
When I place the wrapped brisket into the steamer, I make sure that the layer of fat on the brisket is facing up in the steamer. It is the oil from the fat that ultimately tenderizes the meat in the steaming process. I put a cover on the steamer and set the timer for one hour.
When the steam starts rising, I put towels where the steam is escaping to slow the process and keep the steam in the steamer as long as possible. Once the timer screams, I add one to two cups of water and reset the timer for thirty minutes. I repeat this process for four hours, every thirty minutes I check the fluid level in the steamer.
At the end of four hours, I have a brisket that is tender and juicy and very much in demand by a group of people that endured that wonderful aroma for four hours in anticipation, bon apetite' !