How far in advance can I cook my corned beef for a party on Saturday? (Today is Wed)

I like to cook corn beef in a crockpot with an inch or two of water. Would you be able to fit all the meat in a large roaster? Then you could just throw them in on Saturday morning and not worry about them the rest of the day until you are ready to eat.

bamcnamara, we'd love to know how your project is going. How are you going to do your potatoes and cabbage? Stove top or roast by themselves in the oven? Hope it's going well!

Nancy, my guess is that, for taste reasons, you could push refrigeration to three days, but only if the beef was brined first and stored cooked with juices. Otherwise it's going to get tough.

Hi bamcnamara - So even if you are boiling, the answer is the same. 24 to 48 hours in a cold fridge. You will have to cook the potatoes and cabbage separately, ideally the day you are going to serve them. Although the potatoes could be boiled a day ahead of time.

A related question, for normal amounts of corn beef ( 1 piece, a few lbs) do people prefer oven or stove top methods. I come from a long line of corn beef simmerers, have never roasted.

p.s. Sorry, meant to add: you can't roast the beef in the oven with cabbage, potatoes or other vegetables 48 or 24 hours ahead. The vegetables will be total mush. You'd need a separate plan for them.

By the way, in case it's helpful, freirich.com, your vendor, has a web site with recipes and also a contact/help line.

32 pounds? That’s a lot of corned beef!

Some questions:
- Are you cooking them in the oven with any vegetables (cabbages, potatoes, carrots, etc.?)
- You have to pour something over the beef while you’re cooking it. Do you have a recipe for that?

Assuming you’re cooking beef only in the oven without vegetables:
I assume you can fit two roasts together onto large roasting pans (place them fat side up). Normally, for one 3-4 lb critter, it would be a 300 F preheated oven but if you’re cooking two at a time, I’d increase the temp to 350 or 375. Roast until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of each roast registers 165 F. Take out and let sit for 10 minutes, will continue to cook. It’s going to take 2-1/2 to 3 hours or even longer to roast them if you’re doing 2 in the oven at the same time. It’s better to do them side-by-side and rotate the pan front to back once during roasting. If doing each roast on a separate pan, on two separate shelves, rotate them between shelves halfway through cooking time.

You have to let them cool completely before you refrigerate them.

I wouldn’t refrigerate longer than 48 hours. And you need to be sure your refrigerator is cold, 40F (not crammed with too much other stuff or being opened and shut all the time).

Take corned beef out of the refrigerator 2 hours before serving, to come to room temperature.