Brisket- smoked and refrigerated whole

ShaneBGE

I need to make a few briskets ahead of time for a friend. I would usually make them, let it rest in foil in a cooler with towels for a few hours, slice and then vacuum seal. But he wants the briskets in whole and will slice once reheated.  Has anyone done this method before?  What would be the best way to reheat it?  I have a very large crockpot/warmer that it would fit in. Could also do an oven in a turkey roaster pan, or should I just put it back on the smoker to reheat?  unsure of temps and times, but I am sure some of you have done this method before.   It would be great to have bark on it when reheated, and I don't imagine I would have much after doing the crock pot/oven route, but I don't want it to dry out on the smoker.   Thanks!

SGH

Not sure what all you are asking but I will take a shot nonetheless. If you are wanting cook brisket in advance to be served on a later day the best trick that I have found to use is vacum sealing. If you vacum seal the brisket along with the captured renderings it will taste almost exactly like it would have right off the smoker. Only a very trained tongue could detect the minor difference in meat texture. The taste is virtually spot on. To reheat the vacum sealed brisket just simply drop the sealed brisket in a large stock pot and simmer until the brisket is warm. Note:
You will lose a tad of your bark but not enough to worry about. The heat and agitating action of the boiling water will cause a little of the bark to free up. Again not enough to be overly concerned with.
You can also reheat them in a low oven or smoker. Simply remove the sealing and place in a pan with just a touch of beef broth and warm to a internal serving temp of 140. Either way will yield good results. I use these above methods myself when cooking for events and time is going to be a issue. Good luck my friend. If you have any farther questions feel free to ask.

SGH

After re reading I think I farther understand the question at hand. You absolutely can seal and refrigerate/freeze whole brisket. I do them this way around Christmas so I can ship them. As to re heating please see the text above. Again good luck my friend.

ShaneBGE

Thanks SGH for the reply.  I re-read my post and it was not very clear.. sorry. 

I smoked a brisket like I always do, but this time instead of slicing and vacuum sealing, I refrigerated it whole. What is the best way to re-heat it?  Would putting the whole brisket bare on the smoker dry it out?

I agree in the vacuum sealing thing-- that is what I have always done and it works great. My friend, however, wants to have the brisket whole and reheat it.  I think I would be fine reheating in oven/crock pot because it would "steam" and stay moist, but my main question is: has anyone ever refrigerated a whole brisket and days later put it on the smoker to reheat?  Did it dry out?

Below is a pic of the brisket. I took it off the smoker, wrapped in foil and let sit on the counter inside for a few hours, then put inside large plastic container with lid and refrigerated.

Foghorn

Having a whole reheated brisket is my preference - over reheating a previously sliced brisket.  There is something about seeing someone slice a brisket just before they serve it to you that seems to make it taste better. 

I don't do anything fancy.  I wrap it in two layers of foil when I take it off and refrigerate it.  Then when it is time to reheat I leave it in the foil and put it in the over at a relatively low temperature until it smells good.  At 250 it takes about 2 hours.  At 300 it takes about 1 hour.  Once it smells good, turn the oven off (or FTC it for transport) and try to give it another hour for the heat to distribute more evenly before you slice it.

@SGH's recommendations sound good also and he sounds like he has more experience than I do and better tools - so go with whatever sounds best to you.  Just know that as long as you don't over-reheat and dry it out you will likely prefer reheating the whole brisket going forward.

SGH

Absolutely you can reheat a whole brisket. My preferred method is to reheat on the smoker at 225 degrees. Simply pan the brisket in a foil steam pan with a little beef broth and and let it run until the internal hits 140. The oven will produce the same results for reheating. I just like to do things outdoors. Note: I do not cover the pan when reheating. Why? The precooked brisket can become mushy fast if covered. It can be done but I don't see the point so I just leave it uncovered for the reheating.

ShaneBGE

I will reheat as advised and thanks for the knowledge. I think you are correct, I will prefer this way over vacuum sealing going forward if I have to cook multiple briskets ahead of time. Vacuum sealing is great for leftovers and if I know I need to store it for awhile.

I am considering starting another discussion about this, but figured I could throw out the question here first.   I have a Large BGE and was seeing if anyone has tried to smoke two 11-14 lb briskets at the same time.  I don't think they would fit side by side. I have looked at the two-tier racks and may go that route. Also considered crossing them with a foil wrapped stone on either side to hold up the higher one. The briskets would lay in a + pattern.  Thoughts?

SGH

You can pull cooking 2 off at once. You just have to be very cautious of restricting heat and air flow around the two meats. Check occasionally for even browning. This will be the tell tale sign of improper air circulation. You can adjust on the fly until you get them situated proper. The pattern it's self is not important as long as you are getting 100% heat and air coverage to the meat. Also if you chose to load 2 be mindful of reflective heat from the dome. Make the necessary rotation and adjustments as needed to avoid scorching. Short of this nothing to worry about.

ShaneBGE

After being refrigerated for 4-5 days, I used a large roaster/crock pot and put the brisket on a slightly raised rack to warm it up slowly with some beef broth on the bottom. About 3 hours later it was moist like it just came off the grill. Turned out really good and everyone loved it. I even managed to keep some bark on it while warming up. Sorry no pics, it was gone pretty quick after slicing. Thank you all for your expertise.

minniemoh

That's great info @ShaneBGE. May have to do one like that sometime for a tailgate gathering.