Find Out the Best Way to Reheat Brisket

Brisket is a tough piece of beef, which is why some BBQ enthusiasts avoid cooking it. But those who have the patience and are willing to spend extra time to make it know that brisket is one of the best meats to smoke. When you follow the proper brisket temp, cook it properly – this food will become meltingly tender and full of robust flavor. 

However, if you smoke a large brisket, you may end up with some leftovers. And nobody wants that delicious beef to go to waste, right? Hence why it’s always useful to learn the proper brisket temperature, properly store it, and find out how to reheat smoked brisket to enjoy its succulent taste the second time around. 

And that’s why we’re here! Today we’ll share with you all about how to warm up brisket, what’s the proper way to store it, and just what is the overall best way to reheat brisket.  

How To Reheat Brisket In Oven  

An oven is the best way to reheat brisket, especially if you have previously frozen it. The meat will remain moist, tender, and flavorful with this method if you do everything right.

So, how to reheat brisket in oven? Here are steps to follow:

1. Get the meat out of the fridge, let it sit for about 20-30 minutes at room temperature. This way, you’ll ensure your brisket warms up evenly.
2. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Remember to sustain this brisket temperature since anything higher temperature may dry the meat out. 
3. Place the brisket on the baking sheet and give it extra moisture. You can use leftover cooking juices / a cup of beef broth / or a cup of apple cider or apple juice mixed with a few tbsp of bbq sauce.
4. Wrap the moist meat in the double layer of foil –  there shouldn’t be any holes. Also, remember to double-check it! This way, you’ll be sure that no liquid escapes when you reheat brisket in the oven.
5. Pop your sealed meat in the oven. The whole piece has to sit there for about an hour; sliced brisket reheats within 20 minutes. However, do check the internal brisket temperature before taking it out from the oven. It must be 160°F, which means your perfectly juicy meat is ready.

How To Reheat Brisket Using The Sous Vide Method

Sous vide means “under vacuum” in French, and it refers to cooking or reheating a meal in a vacuum-sealed bag. And while this method is really time-consuming, it’s also the best way to reheat brisket so that it tastes like it’s fresh off the smoker.

To reheat your brisket this way, you’ll need either a specially designed machine or just an ordinary large pot. Experienced home chefs also recommend using a vacuum sealer to reheat brisket more effectively. This device will help you seal up your leftovers into whatever size portions you want, comfortably store them in the fridge or freezer and effortlessly reheat sliced brisket whenever you want. 

So here’s how to heat up brisket using the sous vide method:

1. Bring your brisket to room temperature.
2. If the meat isn’t vacuum-sealed, place it into the air and water-tight plastic wrap.
3. Heat up the water to 110-175°F.
4. Leave the meat in this warm bath. If you’re warming up a whole brisket, it’ll take up to 5 hours; yes, that’s way too long! But on the other hand, sous vide is the best way to reheat brisket slices – for 1/2-inch pieces; it’ll take only 10 minutes to warm up; for thicker 2-inch pieces, you’ll need to wait about 2 hours. 

After all this, your brisket will be perfectly juicy with very little work on your part, thanks to the sous vide method!      

How To Reheat Brisket In Smoker   

Reheating in a smoker is very similar to reheating brisket in an oven. The biggest difference is that this method of reheating brisket will take a bit more time.

Here’s what to do:

1. Bring the meat to room temperature.
2. Preheat the grill to 225°F.
3. Use the 2-zone cooking setup to be sure you don’t burn your brisket.
4. Place the foil-wrapped meat into the cool zone. Let it sit there until the internal brisket temp comes up to 155°F.
5. Unwrap the meat and leave it over the direct zone for 5-10 min. 
6. When the internal brisket temperature reaches 160°F, you can serve your delicious meat!        

What Methods To Avoid?        

You might feel tempted to boil or reheat brisket in microwave, however, these are the worst methods to do so. And here is why:

Microwaving 

Sure, microwaving is the quickest option, but not the best way to reheat brisket. The thing is, microwaves work by turning water molecules into steam. It means that your brisket will be steamed from the inside out, thus, losing all its juice. So unless you want your food to become dry and rubbery – consider some other ways to reheat sliced brisket.    

Boiling 

Boiling brisket in the vacuum-sealed bag is pretty similar to the sous vide method. However, you won’t be able to assess the internal brisket temperature, thus there’s a chance your food won’t be as juicy as with sous vide method.

How To Freeze Brisket              

How to freeze brisket depends on whether you want to slice it before or after you freeze it. Both approaches have their pros and cons, and you should know them before you decide what to do with the meat:

Freezing Separate Slices

How To Freeze Brisket Slices While Keeping Them As Moist As Possible?

1. Let the brisket slices cool down in their own cooking juices before freezing. This way, the meat will remain juicy even during defrosting and reheating.
2. Put slices on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a single layer. Leave them in the freezer for about 3 hours until they are solid.
3. Place these slices in vacuum-sealed bags, label them with the date, and put the packages back in the freezer.

Slicing Brisket After You Freeze

How To Freeze A Whole Brisket While Keeping It As Moist As Possible?

1. Let the brisket cool down in its own cooking moisture.
2. Tightly double-wrap the meat in the plastic bag, and make sure there are no holes!
3. Put the wrapped brisket in the zip-top freezer bag labeled with the date.
4. Squeeze the bag to eliminate excess air, then seal it tightly and place it in the freezer.

How To Properly Store Brisket

First, you should find out the answer to the question “How long does meat last?” Because the shelf life of your cooked brisket will totally depend on the way, you store it!           

• If you keep smoked brisket at room temperature, it shouldn’t be left for longer than two hours.
• You can keep brisket in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just ensure that the temp in the fridge is not higher than 40° F and use an airtight container or vacuum-sealed bag to reduce liquid loss and preserve flavor.
• Store the meat in the freezer for up to 6 months, however, be sure it’s tightly sealed as we described above.

What To Do With Your Leftover Brisket?         

If you don’t want to bother with storing and reheating pounds of the brisket leftovers, here are just a few brief ideas of mouth-watering meals you can make with it:

• Wrap your brisket leftover eggs, shredded cheese, and salsa in the tortillas.
• Make a brisket sandwich, add some complementary ingredients like cabbage, grilled cheese, fresh apple slices.
• Try brisket omelet or scramble. For that, fold brisket into an omelet and garnish with shredded cheese and fresh herbs.
• Brisket fried rice – whip up fried rice, cooked brisket, egg, and some fresh vegetables.
• Shepherd’s pie – improve Shepherd’s pie by swapping out ground beef for brisket. Yummy!

Conclusion

It’s hard work to smoke brisket, you put lots of time and effort, and surely you don’t want it to go to waste. That’s why you need to know how to properly store and warm up the meat! And hopefully, we’ve helped you learn more about the best ways to reheat brisket!

So have you tried to reheat brisket before? If so, which method have you used: sous vide? Smoker? Or perhaps tried to reheat brisket in oven or even have your own method? Then feel free to share it in the comments below; we would love to learn from you!