When making corned beef at home, buy a whole flat or point-cut beef brisket 10 days before you wish to serve it — reserving ½ pound per person you’re feeding.

Corning beef takes six to eight days. If you don’t have that much time, buy a pre-corned brisket with a spice packet — whether to use the spice packet is entirely up to you.

If you’re making a traditional corned beef and cabbage, pick a white or green cabbage that feels firm and heavy and has crisp, bright, fresh-looking outer leaves.

The oblong Napa or delicately flavored Savoy cabbages can also be used but may be harder to find. Red cabbages, though not traditional, will work if you’re braising or stir-frying.

If you bought your cabbage at the grocery store, you can keep it fresh and crisp for about 10 days by refrigerating it in the plastic produce bag it came in.

If your cabbage has its interior exposed, cover its exposed side with plastic wrap and refrigerate it with that side down. Remove discolored, wilted, or dry areas before cooking.

Not rinsing the meat can make your corned beef far too salty. If you’re using ready-to-cook corned beef, rinse it in cold water before proceeding with your recipe.

If you’ve corned the beef yourself, once you’ve removed it from the brine and are ready to move on to cooking, rinse the meat first to take the residual salt off its exterior.

To start cooking, submerge the meat in water, Guinness, or a medley of broth and spices, ensuring it’s covered by an inch, and then boil it in a Dutch oven.

Add bay leaves, carrots, onions, celery rib, coriander, yellow mustard seeds, and black peppercorns as needed, and boil over medium-high heat before simmering it all over low heat.

A 4-pound brisket should take about 3 hours to become tender. Once ready, remove the beef from the pot, discard the rest, and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.