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How to properly reheat my brisket without it drying out?

Hello Fellow Green Egg'ers,
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
I have a question for the forum. I am cooking 3 pork buts (21lbs total) and 3 briskets (40lbs total) for my Aunt's New Year celebration. I have never prepared this much meat for one celebration. I plan to start cooking Thursday, and finishing by Saturday at 12:00 noon. The party starts at 9:00pm, and is 6 hours from my home. I am not concerned with the cook, but just the reheating on all this meat to insure the best quality.
1. Any ideas or instructions on how to properly reheat without losing moisture?
2. Should I slice the brisket before or after I reheat?
3. Should I pull the pork shoulder before or after I reheat?
Your thoughts.
Comments
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First- do not slice the brisket before you get there. Period.
Next-What's the kitchen/grill situation when you get there?Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
Standing by for the brisket question. I have a brunch on Saturday and wanting to cook a 7-8# flat the day before.Dallas, TX - 1 Large BGE, 28in Blackstone
Instagram - @jetcooks -
Hi Cen-Tex Smoker,
There will only be an oven available.
Any Suggestions? -
I have reheated in a crockpot , slow cooker and keeps the moisture in. But far from an expert on the matter
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I'm going to use my new Anova precision cooker sous vide to reheat my frozen leftovers - I'm guessing it'll be very good“There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.”
Coach Finstock Teen Wolf -
I use a vac sealer to seal pork butt. I then reheat it in a water bath set at 130 Deg. The temp of the bath isn't critical, just don't set it too hot.
Pork reheated this way, too me is just as good as fresh off the egg. -
Put them (whole, uncut) in some disposable aluminum baking pans, on a rack. Add water to the level of the rack. Cover with foil being careful to avoid touching the meat with the foil but cinch it down over the baking pan. Throw in the oven at about 400F. It will steam. You want to heat the stuff up to somewhere between 120-140F. If it was cold, it will probably take a couple hours. Make sure you don't run out of water.
There are many ways to reheat - this is a technique frequently used for pastrami (frequently brisket) in delis.
______________________________________________I love lamp.. -
BIGGREENER_EGGERR said:
Hi Cen-Tex Smoker,
There will only be an oven available.
Any Suggestions?
Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
Low heat like 200 for a lomg time like 2 hrs. You will be fine....
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I transported a brisket from Texas to Louisiana for a family reunion a few months ago. After the brisket finished cooking, I let it rest so the juices would redistribute. Once it cooled to under 120, I left it whole and vacuum sealed it in the large vacuum sealer bags (Not a commercial sealer, by any means). Put it on ice in the cooler and went on my way. When it came time to reheat, I pulled it from the ice and let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes. Then put it in an empty cooler. I had some water on the stove warming to a simmer. Once it was warm and steaming (Absolutely not boiling!) I poured it in the cooler on top of the brisket and let it warm up for about an hour. Pulled it - cut it - served it. It was wonderful. That's the exact way Franklin sells his whole briskets. Good luck!Big Green Egg Owner since 2012
Fort Worth ,Texas -
KEEP REFRIGERATED AT OR BELOW 41*F UNTIL READY TO REHEAT.
Reheating Instructions for sous-vide method:
Remove package from refrigerator. Do not break seal. If frozen, defrost in refrigerator for 1 to 2 days.
Submerse sealed package in a pot of simmering (not boiling) water, for about 1 hour.
Reheat to preferred internal temperature (USDA recommends reheating internal temp of 165º)
Oven method:
Unwrap brisket from sealed plastic and place the brisket in a baking dish.
Slice several pads of butter onto the top of brisket & cover dish with aluminum foil.
Place in pre-heated oven at 250º
Reheat to preferred internal temperature (USDA recommends reheating internal temp of 165º)
Reheating time varies between 1 and 2 hours.
Big Green Egg Owner since 2012
Fort Worth ,Texas -
I Sous Vide them. Exactly what Franklins BBQ is suggesting.
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You could cut your stress level by 80% by just doing pulled pork and chopped brisket. Bag it up and keep it in 140 degree water and serve it in steam pans. That way people can serve themselves and you can enjoy the party and refill pans in 30 seconds as they get low. As stated above, pork is still very good this way and your guests will tell you it's the best they have ever had. Same for brisket. We did this for a wedding with 300 guests and served them all at the same time with 4 people. If you want to serve sliced brisket, i would slice it at home and vac seal it and refrigerate it. At the party, Keep it in warm water with the pork and Put it out a little at at time maybe with a little sauce in the steam pan so it does not dry out. You will be managing water levels in the steam pan but this should still give you some time to socialize, have a fun New Year's Eve, This will require you to have a sous vide immersion circulator and a cooler. If you are planning on cooking for groups this large, those things will be invaluable to you anyway.
My advice is to keep it as simple as you can and enjoy the party. I've been there and done that many times and it's always an ass-kicker when everyone else is having fun.
if it were me and this was the menu, my prep and set up would be:
At Home-
Cook everything, have it done the day before the party. Pull/chop the pork and brisket and bag them in 5 lb packs with a little sauce and refrigerate.I would never do sliced brisket for a party when people are just grazing. It loses integrity very fast when sliced.
At the party- arrive 2-3 hours early to set up.Fill a large cooler with hot water. Confirm there is a large stockpot available for you to heat water on the stove (don't use all their hot water to fill a cooler)
put your immersion circulator in at 140 and drop in the bags. They will need a couple of hours to heat throughout at 140.
As the meat is warming, Set up a long table with a tablecloth with 3 steam pans (this is for the meat only- if you are serving warm sides, plan accordingly). You can buy steam pans for cheap at costco, sams, restaurant depot.you can also rent them for like $10 a day fat any party rental place (tables too if you don't have one).
about 30 minutes before guests arrive, fill with water and light the fuel for the steam pans. When they start to steam, put about 10lbs of meat in each one and cover. In the 3rd steam pan you will have simple white buns for people to make sammies if they want.
You will be filling pans pretty regularly for the first hour or so and then it should slow down once people are full and getting their drink on.
You can't serve 100+ people over many hours by just putting meat out at room temp. You are going to need the steam pans no matter what. This is a safety issue aand a quality issue as well.
good luck- didn't mean to be a downer before. I've just done this so many times I always like to give people an out. IT's hard ass work and you are slaving away for hours while everyone else is having fun. Then they all leave and you are cleaning up until 2am. I'm always excited to do it, then halfway through I'm like good god what have I done
Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX -
Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions. It is great to always have the forum to support all of my egg questions and needs. I will update the forum with the results from my Aunt's new year eve party including pics.
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