I'll never boil another corned beef after making it this way. (If you made this and it came out tough or dry, it's probably because 2 1/2 hours is not long enough for a four pound brisket.) With reviewers' suggestions, a tweak of my own and an extra hour, this came out unbelievably good, moist, and tender. I was going to include my variation in the review but it's too long, so I've submitted it as a recipe titled 'Revised Guinness® Corned Beef'. It mainly involves doubling the beer, bringing the meat to room temp before cooking, putting a layer of onion slices underneath the brisket, and cooking an extra hour. This was not only better tasting, but was so much easier than cooking on the stovetop, that next year I'm thinking about corning my own beef before making it this way. I'll also try using a bigger pan with more beer, so I can add the veggies to the braising pan. Also, do *not* be afraid that this will taste too beery-- I don't even like beer, but not only was the beef delicious, the leftover combination of cooked beer, onion slices, and rendered brisket made an wonderful (if a tad salty) jus to go with it. It ain't health food, but it is AWESOME.

Reviewed On: Mar. 20, 2007

I had to give this only 3 stars because it came out way too moist and uniformly soft, but that may have been my fault. Since onion is such an important part of the recipe I'd like a clearer definition of "large"--how much diced onion should I end up with? I only used what I would call a medium onion and it was still a LOT of onion. More importantly-- the information at the top of the recipe say the cooking time is 1:45, but the recipe directions only call for cooking for one hour. Which is the correct time? This was a good basis to start from, but next time I might cut the onion larger and try to drain more moisture out of the lentils.

Reviewed On: Mar. 7, 2007

I always make a large batch of this, because it is even better the second or third day. It's a terrific summer dish, not only because the vegetables are in season, but because it's as delicious cold out of the fridge as it is warm. The only change I make is leaving out the green beans and adding spinach just before it's finished cooking (the heat of the soup is enough to cook the spinach).

Reviewed On: Jun. 25, 2006