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Brisket is one of the hardest meats to cook properly, and it’s a fairly large cut of beef in most cases. You’re likely to have a lot of leftovers after smoking a full brisket. So, how do you reheat smoked brisket properly?
Well, there are six methods that you can use. Some of them are more recommended than others, but all of the six methods we’ll be listing will effectively reheat your brisket without ruining it.
6 Ways To Reheat Your Brisket
Here are the six different methods we recommend using to reheat beef brisket.
How To Reheat Brisket Using Steam
Steaming your brisket is easy to do, and it keeps your leftover brisket from losing its moisture. To steam your brisket, you just have to toss a steaming basket on top of a pot of boiling water, and then you can put the brisket in the basket until it has an internal temperature of 140-degrees. If you can’t tell if the temperature reached 140 degrees, you can use a food thermometer to help you.
How To Reheat Brisket By Boiling It
Boiling meat is something that most barbecue enthusiasts scoff at. However, it’s a viable method to reheat brisket leftovers if you don’t have any other option. To be clear, you should not throw your brisket directly into a pot of boiling water. You should boil your water first, seal your brisket in a heat-safe plastic bag, and then boil it until its temperature reaches 140-degrees.
How To Reheat Brisket In The Oven
Your oven is one of the best tools you have for reheating brisket. If you saved your brisket without slicing it up and saved the juices, you can preheat your oven to 325-degrees, and then you can bake your brisket for about an hour. Slowly baking your brisket with its leftover juices will keep it from drying out, and it’ll be just as delicious as it was when you first made it.
How To Reheat Brisket Using Sous Vide
The Sous Vide cooking method has been growing in popularity a lot over the last few years, and you can use your Sous Vide equipment to properly reheat your brisket. You’ll need a bit of time and the appropriate pieces of equipment for this technique, but it’s almost impossible for you to mess up. Just place your brisket in a vacuum bag, put it in your Sous Vide container, and set your Sous Vide machine to 150-degrees. It’ll take up to six hours for you to reheat a large brisket with Sous Vide equipment, but you won’t dry it out if you forget about it, and it’ll retain all of its juices.
How To Reheat Brisket In The Microwave
Using the microwave is not the most ideal method for reheating brisket, but it will work. You just have to be very careful. This method works best with slices of brisket. We don’t recommend trying to reheat an entire brisket in your microwave.
Before you start reheating the brisket, reduce your microwave’s power to 20-percent. That’ll keep you from overcooking your brisket slices. Then, simply heat your brisket up in intervals of 30 seconds. Unless you’re cooking tons of brisket in your microwave, it shouldn’t take you more than a couple of minutes to properly heat your food up. Check the temperature of your brisket every 30 seconds to keep from drying it out.
How To Reheat Brisket In A Smoker
Using a smoker to reheat your brisket is one of the best ways to do it. You get more delicious smoke flavor, and if you do it right, you won’t dry it out. First, set your grill or smoker to 225-degrees, and then wrap your thawed brisket in tin foil. Make sure to set your grill up with a two-zone setup. When your grill is preheated, put your brisket in the cold zone of the grill, and let it cook to an internal temperature of 155-degrees. Once that’s done, you can unwrap your brisket. You can finish heating it by putting it in the direct heat zone for about ten minutes.
Pros And Cons Of The Above 6 Ways
There are pros and cons to each of the methods we’ve recommended, and we’ll discuss those pros and cons in this section.
Simplicity
The simplest methods to use are the microwaving, steaming, boiling, and Sous Vide methods. It’s difficult to mess your brisket up if you follow our directions, and three of the methods can be done by just about anyone.
Baking or smoking your brisket will definitely be a little more complex, but they produce better results.
Effectiveness
The most effective ways to reheat your brisket are baking, smoking, and Sous Vide cooking it. Smoking it is going to produce the best results, though.
Microwaving, steaming, or boiling your brisket can ruin some of the flavor, and if you mess one of those methods up, you can dry your brisket out to the point that it’s inedible.
Time
Microwaving, steaming, or boiling your brisket will reheat it the fastest. If you’re reheating slices, the microwave can reheat them within a matter of minutes. However, saving a bit of time isn’t always worth it. You’ll get better results with any of the other methods.
Cost
Obviously, most people own ovens, microwaves, and pots. So, the methods that only require those things are the cheapest. You don’t have to invest in anything special. Some smokers are really expensive, though. If you don’t have one, we suggest buying one. Sous Vide equipment is also quite expensive, but it lasts a long time. If you haven’t noticed, the more expensive and time-consuming methods provide the best results.
Tips To Store And Freeze Leftover Brisket
Your leftovers won’t last long enough for you to reheat them properly if you don’t store them properly. So, we’ll give you several tips to help you do that.
Use A Vacuum Sealer
A proper vacuum sealer will allow you to properly store your leftover brisket for much longer than plastic bags or other containers. It’ll also allow you to keep bacteria from reaching your leftovers by sealing out the air around the brisket.
Use A Plastic Resealable Bag
If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can use a normal resealable bag to store your brisket. You won’t be able to fully remove the air from the bag, but you can push most of it out, and the brisket should stay preserved without any problems.
Label The Bag
Always make sure to label your brisket bags with the date that you put them in the freezer and the contents of the bag. Brisket will only last three months in the freezer before its quality starts to drop.
Use Heavy-Duty Aluminum Foil
Aluminum foil is not ideal for storing brisket, but you can use it. If you do use it, buy the heavy-duty aluminum foil. You don’t want it to rip while it’s being stored, or the meat can be contaminated.
Let It Cool Before Storing It
This tip is for when you slice your brisket before freezing it. You do not want to put hot slices of brisket directly in the freezer. Let your slices of brisket cool down while sitting in their own juices before storing them. That’ll ensure that they don’t dry out when you reheat them.
Using Baking Paper For Sliced Brisket
When you first freeze slices of brisket, freeze them on flat sheets of baking paper. When they firm up, you can put them into bags.
Tips For Monitoring Temp When Reheating Brisket
The best way to monitor your brisket’s temperature while you reheat it is to use a ThermoPro food thermometer. A ThermoPro food thermometer will take your brisket’s temperature instantly, and it’ll provide you with the most accurate results possible.
Final Thoughts
Reheating your brisket properly will allow you to enjoy it as if you just pulled it out of your smoker. The flavor will be better, and the texture of the meat will be much more enjoyable. Don’t forget to check your brisket’s temperature throughout the reheating process, though. We recommend using a ThermoPro food thermometer to ensure that your brisket is always heated to the perfect temperature.
If you want to buy the ThermoPro food thermometers, there are some thermometers you can choose.
