If you are trying to figure out the best way to warm up some cold brisket then I have you covered! This article is a collection of tips for reheating whole briskets from some of the top barbecue restaurants in the world as well as my personal favorite (and easy) way of reheating slices of brisket.
The biggest trick is getting the brisket hot without drying out the meat. It is actually easier to warm up a whole brisket than individual slices as the slices can dry up fast if you don’t know what you are doing.
Keep reading and I will show you a few techniques for both whole and sliced brisket.
How to Reheat a Whole Brisket
If you have a whole brisket that needs to be warmed up then here are three different ways to warm it up.
Using Your Oven (Snow’s BBQ)
Snow’s Barbecue has been named as the best barbecue restaurant in Texas so it is safe to say that they know a thing or two about brisket. You can buy a brisket from Snow’s online and have it delivered to your home. Here is how Snow’s says you should reheat their brisket:
• To warm, moisten with water or sauce… be careful if using sauce not to let it burn during warming
• Wrap in foil placing a little water in the foil, seal tight and place in a dish (cake pan, aluminum pan, etc)
• Place in preheated oven at 250 degrees
• Warm until desired temperature
This will take about an hour.
Using Your Microwave (Cooper’s BBQ)
The folks over at Cooper’s Old Time BBQ also make some pretty incredible briskets and sell them online. They say that while you can use your oven to reheat the brisket you will run the risk of drying the meat out. Cooper’s BBQ preferred method is to use your microwave.
The instructions from Cooper’s BBQ are pretty simple:
RECOMMENDED: Warm in microwave. Cut slit across label, moisten
with sauce and heat to desired temperature.
Warming times depend on how thawed the meat is.
Basically you need to cut a slit in the plastic wrapper so you can add some sauce and let some steam out as the brisket warms. If you are working with a brisket that doesn’t have a plastic wrapper then you can always wrap it in some cling wrap first (it helps hold the heat in).
Using Your Grill (The Salt Lick BBQ)
The Salt Lick is another well loved Texas barbecue joint. The folks at The Salt Lick say that you can reheat the brisket in a 250F degree oven for 45 minutes or an hour. However, they are adamant that for the best results you should heat the meat on a charcoal grill.
FOR THE VERY BEST FLAVOR WE RECOMMEND THE USE OF AN OUTDOOR GRILL. Coals should be glowing and without flame. Place meats directly on the rack at least six inches above the coals. In order for the Brisket to reach an internal temperature of 168 degrees, it will take approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.
How to Reheat Slices of Briskets
There are two ways to reheat brisket slices that I recommend, boiling in a bag and using the microwave.
Boiling (Jack Stack Barbecue)
The folks at Jack Stack Barbecue sell sliced brisket in vacuum sealed bags. They say that you can reheat the slices by immersing the bag in boiling water for 20 minutes.
I have to assume that these are the instructions for reheating frozen slices as 20 minutes would be way too long for meat that has been thawed and in the refrigerator. For thawed slices about 5 minutes would be fine.
I would suggest using a FoodSaver and vacuum sealing the slices before boiling instead of using a zip top plastic bag.
Microwave (My Method)
The trick to reheating brisket slices in the microwave is to use damp paper towels. I will take three or four paper towels and run them under just enough water to get them damp.
Next I lay out the brisket slices on the paper towels with a few inches between them.
Fold the paper towels over the slices and start stacking them up.
When I am finished wrapping the slices in the damp paper towels I microwave them for 45 seconds. They come out hot, steamy and juicy every time!
