How To Reheat Brisket Without Drying It Out? [Answered]

After spending most of your time cooking a delicious brisket, you want to ensure that nothing goes to waste. If there are any leftovers after the feast, you should refrigerate them well. So, how to reheat brisket without drying it out?

You can embrace different methods to reheat the brisket without drying it up. For instance, you can use the oven, smoker, crockpot, or sous vide to make your delicious hot and delicious once again. Besides knowing how to reheat your brisket, you should ensure that you store it well.

Each of the various methods you can embrace to preheat your brisket have different procedures you should follow to make the entire process successful. Read on for more details on how to reheat brisket for the best results.

smoke brisket

Reheating The Brisket In The Oven

One of the best ways to reheat your brisket is in the oven. The oven is more desirable than the other methods for several reasons, including the fact that it takes less time to complete the process. Therefore, if you are in a hurry, this method will serve you the best.

Further, reheating the brisket in the oven is a simple process as you only need to pop it in and switch it on. Here are the simple steps to follow.

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
  • As the oven preheats, get the brisket out of the fridge and allow it to get to room temperature.
  • Put the brisket in a cooking or deep baking tray along with leftover juices, if any. You can use beef stock if you do not have any original cooking juices.
  • Cover the brisket with butcher paper or aluminum foil and cook for 60 minutes. The time you will need to preheat your brisket depends on its size. Use a digital meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature of the meat.
  • Once the brisket’s internal temperature reaches 140 degrees, it is ready to serve.

Since you want to ensure that the brisket does not dry out, use the original cooking juices to make it moist. If you do not have the original juices, make sure to make your sauce.

Reheating Your Brisket In A Grill

A grill can also make it easy to reheat your brisket. It works similarly to the smoker, as you would need to start by preheating your grill to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. As the grill preheats, wrap the brisket in aluminum foil and put in the indirect heat of the grill.

Once the brisket reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees F, unwrap and place on direct heat for about 10 minutes. The idea is to ensure that the brisket’s internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point, the brisket is ready to serve.

Reheat The Brisket In The Smoker

Using the smoker to reheat your brisket is close to reheating in the oven. The main difference is based on the duration it will take to complete the process.

Here are the instructions you need to follow to reheat a brisket in a smoker.

  • Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Get the brisket out of the fridge and let it adjust to room temperature.
  • Rap the brisket in aluminum foil or butcher paper and place it in the smoker to heat with indirect heat.
  • Once the brisket attains an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit, unwrap it and put it over direct heat.
  • The brisket is ready to serve once the internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Reheating In An Air Fryer

Using an air fryer is also quite a common method you can embrace to reheat your brisket. However, it is important to understand that the temperatures on the fryer are high (350 degrees F), which leads to a loss of juices.

If you decide to use an air fryer, cook the brisket for 30 minutes or until the meat’s internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Reheating The Brisket Using A Sous Vide Machine

If you have a sous vide cooker, you can use it to reheat your brisket. Although the sous vide machine takes a lot of time, it does provide the best results.

Get your brisket out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature before transferring it to the vacuum-sealed bag. Set the temperature of the sous vides to 150 degrees F and fill the machine with water. The brisket is done once it achieves the same temperature as the water. The time it will take to reheat the meat depends on its size and can range between 2-5 hours.

Why You Should Avoid The Microwave

Using a microwave to reheat your brisket can be tempting as it seems easy and enticing. However, there are better methods to use whenever you want to heat your brisket. This is because using a microwave will result in dry meat.

A microwave works by turning water molecules into steam. Therefore, your brisket’s delicious juices will dry out, making it less delicious.

Tips And Tricks To Remember

Regardless of the method that you embrace for reheating your briskets, there are several tips and tricks that you should practice for the best results. Some of these tricks include the following;

Let The Brisket Get To Room Temperature.

For the best results, always ensure that you get the brisket out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before reheating. Ensuring that the brisket gets to room temperature before reheating the brisket guarantees even heating.

Avoid Overcooking

One of the objectives you want to accomplish when reheating your brisket is to ensure that it stays moist and juicy. Besides picking the right method for reheating the brisket, you must also ensure that you cook it appropriately. Overcooking your brisket will not only deprive it of the most needed juices but can also interfere with its flavor.

Have A Digital Meat Thermometer

Equipping yourself with a functional digital thermometer will make your work easy. With a digital meat thermometer, you should be able to tell when your meat is ready to serve. Moreover, there is no way you will overcook your meat if you have a functional thermometer. Your brisket is ready to serve once it attains an internal temperature of 145-160 degrees F.

big brisket

How To Store Your Brisket

Storing your brisket well is an important skill you should learn if you are a BBQ enthusiast. Being able to store your brisket well means that you will always have something in your fridge or freezer.

You can either slice your brisket before freezing or slice it after you freeze. The advantage of slicing the brisket before freezing is that you can reheat only what you need and leave the rest of the brisket undisturbed. In addition, small pieces of the brisket only occupy as little space as a whole.

On the other hand, slicing after you freeze is advantageous because the brisket will retain most of its juiciness. Furthermore, slicing a whole brisket minimizes the chances of contaminating it.

Keeping Your Brisket Moist

Whenever you have brisket leftovers, keep them as moist as possible. That is the best way to ensure that you retain most of its flavors. Here is how you ensure you do not lose much juice when storing your leftover brisket.

  • If you want to slice the brisket before storing it, let it cool in its juices so that when you reheat, you will have all the juices back.
  • When reheating the brisket, reheat it with its original juices.
  • Always let your brisket rest before slicing it.

Conclusion

Although there are numerous methods that you can embrace when reheating your brisket, reheating the brisket in the oven is the best method to embrace. It is fast and minimizes the loss of the brisket juices.

All you need is to preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and reheat the brisket for about an hour or until it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.