I don't mind them but I do sometimes use a piece of cheese cloth and string to make a spice or herb bouquet garni.

blog.williams-sonoma.com/how-to-make-a-bouquet-garni/

I quit adding the spices..not so sure they add much. YOu would be better off to make up your own in a tea holder.

Hey, thanks everybody. My mind isn't working up to par these days. Don't have an infuser but plenty of tea bags!

I love the flavors and aroma that the spices give to a corned beef. I usually make my own, though, and use a little muslin bag to keep the spices corralled.

Love this, thanks for asking the question and now I can do this too.

I'm also cooking brisket tomorrow, for the first time. So will the seasonings be dispersed enough if put into a tea bag or tea ball?

Another question. Can I prepare the veggies(onion/pot/carrot) the night before, putting them into a crock pot, pouring the recommended water over and spices, other ingredients, plus the brisket and refrigerating? Then I can just plug in the pot first thing in the morning. The pot/carrots won't turn dark will they? I'll add the cabbage at the last hour of cooking.

Edited to say: I thought about it and I think the best thing would be to just get up earlier in the morning. LOL!

If you have mixed pickleing spice shake a few red pepper flakes into about 2 tablespoons of the spice. If you don't have a tea ball. Cut a piece of thin material. Like a worn out T shirt , about 6 in square put spice in and tie it closed. Drag it around in pot to make sure totally wet . Add a few cloves of garlic to liquid. Makes corned beef taste nice. Be sure to allow time for meat to become tender.

I have never used the spices and I no longer boil my corned beef. My mother used to boil the thing to death. I bake it tightly covered. I do boil the new potatoes and carrots together and add the cabbage the last few minutes.

But honestly since there are just the two us I generally just go out for corned beef when the urge hits. DH will eat it but he's not a big fan. We have a hofbrau style restaurant nearby that has it on the regular menu and it is baked. The meat is served daily and one night a week it is served as a traditional special with potatoes, carrots and cabbage.

Like others said, I use a tea ball and have done so for many years. I cook it in the slow cooker all day. In the afternoon I add the carrots and potatoes and add the cabbage the last hour. I love corned beef but only have it once a year because DS & DH are not wild about it.

We absolutely love corned beef so I cook it fairly often especially if on sale. I have done in the slow cooker and the oven both are good but have a different flavor. I most often use the slow cooker, I put in a layer of sliced onion on the bottom, put the corned beef in, add the baby red potatoes not peeled, chunks of carrots which I don't peel I scrub the heck out of them with a vegetable scrubber, and contents of the spice package, I add a little Tony's Cajun seasoning for a kick. I add one can of beer or that equivalent of water. Cover and cook on high till meat is fork tender, I add wedges of cabbage on top the last 15 to 20 minutes. I like my cabbage with a little crunch left.

I found some time ago I much prefer nice carrots well scrubbed over peeled they have so much more flavor. I don't like those supposed baby carrots in the bags. They aren't really baby carrots they are cut and shaped and don't have much flavor. I buy nice big orange carrots and cut into chunks. The best ones I have found are at the Mexican market.

I don't have a corned beef since we were gone and I didn't get to go grocery shopping. I am jealous!

Well my brisket and veggies (sans cabbage) are in the slow cooker, been on since 8am. this morning, it's now noon. Unfortunately my cooker isn't really big enough I found out, the brisket is laying ontop and the lid barely covers it. So no room for the cabbage later I think. Take the brisket out, put the cabbage in to cook, put the meat back in? I'll have to see how much everything cooks down. Also, someone suggested to cook it on slow, but I have it on high also because I just couldn't see things getting done in a timely manner. Maybe I should turn the cooker down to low later in the afternoon.

Schoolhouse - When I have bought ones that were too big for the slow cooker to include the veggies too, I drained off some of the broth and cooked them in the broth in the microwave.

Well I ended up letting it cook until 4:30p, then took out the brisket, wrapped it tightly in aluminum foil like watchmelol mentioned, put it in my little toaster oven on 300 for one hour more as the cabbage cooked. Everything turned out great! It was delicious. Thanks for all the suggestions.

caflowerluver, in the microwave with some of the broth sounds like a good idea too. Thanks.

We love corned beef (just bought 14 pieces on sale, for the freezer). I take the meat out to let it "rest" before cutting. I also take the potatoes and carrots out at that time and wrap in aluminum foil or put in a warm oven to keep them hot. Then I strain the water that the meat was cooked in, and use it to cook the cabbage in. An easy and tasty meal. Someday, I will try it in the fancy crock pot my father gave me for Christmas (old dog...new tricks....).