Corned beef is at its most basic a brined brisket. To that brine you can add seasonings of various kinds.

The Brine:

For one gallon of water add two cups of salt. I use pickling salt because it dissolves easily.

Add 5 level teaspoons of Cure No. 1. You can do this without the cure, but it won't have that pink color and it will taste significantly different. Not necessarily worse but really different. More like a flavored pot roast than corned beef. Won't keep as long in a fridge either.

There is a whole host of spices you can add, but to keep it simple I buy pickling spice mix and add that. Start with 4 Tbsps and adjust up or down as you please.

Some people add brown sugar, I don't, but that's just me. If you do, start with about 1/2 cup or so.

The Brisket:

This will do about a 5 pound piece of brisket, trimmed of fat.

Place the brisket in a large ziploc bag and pour the brine/mix in and seal, squeezing out the air. Place the bag in a pan in case of leaks. Put in ice box and turn every day for 5 to 8 days. Once done it can be frozen for a long time or kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks at 40 degrees and sealed in an airtight container.

Cooking:

The best corned beef is cooked in foil in the oven, just like a bbq brisket, low and slow. 220 degrees, one hour for each pound plus one hour for good measure. Serve with steamed cabbage and onions and potatoes that are covered with butter and black pepper.

Experimentation

For fun you could smoke one and see how that comes out, but I stick with non-smoke, this thing has plenty of flavor. Lots and lots of ways to change the spice/flavor profile by changing the spice mix. Adding onions and celery and garlic to the brine can add flavor changes as well. Pretty much a blank canvas that you can play with to your heart's content.

Bonus

This will make you some real good friends.

I'd add a little smoke.

I do these, and the pink curing salt is the key. Have to order it online.

Most markets have the pink salt. Fiesta does for sure.

i don't associate corned beef with smoke, but then again, i've never tried it.

Smoking it makes it pastrami.

Aha!

Grocery stores don't carry pink curing salt. I looked the world over and never found it. They have pink salt, but it is not the same thing at all. It must be "curing" salt, or it won't work. I ordered mine from Amazon for about $10, and it will last a lifetime as you use very little to brine it. I brine them for at least a week with pickling spices and pick out the cloves. Otherwise, it comes out to "clovey" for me. I boil them and put vegetables in a rack above at the end to make a New England boiled dinner. Never tried baking but sounds good. The early recipe listed here is basically the same thing I do. They are delicious, and you'll never buy another in the store. I also use lean roasts like rump or bottom round. Doesn't have to be brisket but needs to be a very lean cut of meat.

I've only recently started baking them instead of boiling them. It started as an experiment - but it is so good, so much better than boiled, that I wonder why I ever boiled one in the first place. The answer to that of course is tradition, that's how my mom made them, boiling just as you described. She even called it a "New England Boiled Dinner".

Fiesta has pink curing salt.

Yep. I know exactly where on the shelf it is at the Arlington store on Pioneer. It's on the aisle facing the lunchmeats and bacon and hispanic cheeses... with all the bulk spices. Just saw it there last weekend when picking up some more achiote.

There is a product sold in most grocery stores called Morton's Tender Quick that can be used for corned beef cure. It takes more than pink salt, but the instructions are on the bag. It's in a blue bag. One bag of this will go a very long way. Probably make a hundred corned beefs with it.