Reheating brisket

[Big T]

I am trying my 2nd brisket and getting very excited. We are going to have about 30 people over on Saturday for my daughter's first birthday. I am planning to have brisket, BBQs, and beans for the main meal with a few odds and ends as apps. I am going to cook the brisket today. My last attempt failed due to the length of time needed to cook a brisket.

When I am finished cooking it what should I do with it? Let is rest and then wrap it in foil, place in fridge? Freeze it?

For reheating I plan on wrapping it in foil all sliced up with some sauce and beef broth and reheating either on the grill or oven at 325. How long will a 6lb brisket take to reheat?

[TexLaw]

Do yourself a favor and get a FoodSaver. Package everything in there, and then simmer to reheat. It works every time. You will continue to use that FoodSaver and be very happy about it.


TL

[M38A1]

Yeah, get a Foodsaver, and vac-seal your goods. Then you can either keep in the fridge or freeze for "plan-aheads"

The beauty of the vac-seal process is when you reheat in boiling water, you only max out at 212*F so the chances of overcooking the meat are very slim. We run our briskets and butts to about 200*F on the pit, so as long as you don't boil it to reheat for, say 5 hours, you're good to go.

Little trick----- If you have a lot of moisture in the product, stick it in the freezer for 45 minutes or so INSIDE the unsealed bag. Then remove and seal. Or, place a folded paper towel inside where the seam will go and then seal it. Not fun getting all the juices inside the vac unit.

To answer your question, based on what you've said, I'd stick it in a baking dish, covered with the juices and keep a thermo in it. Heat until about 165-170*F or so and serve if it's already been cooked.

Hope it helps....

EDIT:
Here's a link. http://www.foodsaver.com/ SAMS's typically has the best deal or Mal-Wart, er.... Wal-Mart.

[Big T]

I do have a food savor but it is a small unit. The bags are only about 8 inches wide. Can I cut the brisket into halves or smaller pieces to fit in the bags or should I slice them compelely and then put in the bags? I think that I will boil them to warm them up and then put in a dish for serving.

[Bowhnter2]

Be careful about 'boiling'. I think the key is 'simmering' so there are not any mishaps with the bags opening up as some have previously indicated.

[DoubleBarrelSmoker]

I do have a food savor but it is a small unit. The bags are only about 8 inches wide. Can I cut the brisket into halves or smaller pieces to fit in the bags or should I slice them compelely and then put in the bags? I think that I will boil them to warm them up and then put in a dish for serving.

My opinion-- do not slice . cut the largest pieces possible that will fit in your bags. Also add some gravy from the brisket to each bag. thats the way I do it.

[TexLaw]

I agree. Don't slice until after you've reheated. There's no problem with cutting into chunks small enough to fit in the eight inch bag.

Also, M38's tip about putting the brisket, in an unsealed bag, in the freezer is a good one. After I put the meat in the freezer, I set the oven timer (or some other timer) for an hour. When the timer alarm goes off, I go and seal the bags. If I don't set the timer, I'm liable to forget the dadgum bags are in the freezer until the next morning.


TL

[TexLaw]

Also, for a whole flat straight out of the freezer, I usually put the flat in a pot large enough to hold it, cover with hot water, put it on a lit stove, and then set the timer for 45 minutes (or about 25 minutes after the water starts to boil. Once the water does start boiling, I turn it down to a simmer. The pot is covered at all times.

I imagine it would work about the same for large hunks of flat. You might be able to get away with a shorter time, but I wouldn't get too ambitious. The last thing you want is to slice into the brisket and find it's still frozen in the middle.


TL