How to Reheat Brisket (Without Accidentally Turning It into Beef Jerky)
Brisket is one tough piece of beef, but when cooked long and slow, a kind of magic happens and the meat becomes meltingly tender and full of robust flavor. The preparation of brisket requires patience, but if you do it right, you’ll receive a handsome reward: Roughly ten pounds of juicy, tender heaven. The only problem is that when you have that much mouthwatering meat, it’s hard to eat it all in one sitting. Thankfully, there’s no need to give your leftovers a nervous side-eye. Not a single slice of meat will go to waste with this handy guide on how to reheat brisket without turning it into jerky.
(Note: The USDA recommends cooking beef until the internal temperature reaches 145°F, so keep your thermometer handy.)
What’s the best way to reheat brisket?
While there isn’t just one way that’s best to reheat brisket, there is, however, one definitively wrong way to do so, and that’s the putting it in the microwave. Because the microwave works by turning water molecules into steam, microwaving sucks all the moisture out of your meat, resulting in a dry, rubbery piece of beef. No good. Here are the four best methods at a glance (we’ll give you in-depth instructions for each below).
Oven: This method is ideal when you have a large piece of brisket leftover and you want to serve it like it’s the first time.
Sous Vide: Choose this technique when you have pre-sliced brisket that you want to reheat without drying out.
Slow cooker: This is the most time-consuming method, as it requires cooking at a low setting for four hours.
Air fryer: Though this is the fastest method, it can dry out your brisket, so make sure you add some gravy or another condiment to your meal.
How to Reheat Brisket in the Oven
Brisket is prone to losing its tenderness after serving but a conventional oven can do a bang-up job of reheating your meat—as long as you take a couple of precautions.
Step 1: Preheat the oven. Start by setting your oven to 325°F. You might be tempted to turn the heat up higher so you can sink your teeth in sooner, but higher temperatures will cause the meat to lose its moisture and you’ll end up chewing on shoe leather instead.
Step 2: Prep the meat. Pull that brisket from the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes while the oven preheats. Cold meat doesn’t warm through as evenly, and you don’t want to add to the overall reheating time because you had to pop the brisket back in the oven to bring the center up to temperature.
Step 3: Make it moist. Once the meat has mellowed on the counter for a while and the oven is ready, transfer the brisket to a cooking tray and pour any reserved cooking juices over the top. (Pro tip: Reserve any and all cooking juices when roasting meat—it’ll almost always come in handy for reheating.) If you don’t have any leftover juices available, use one cup of beef stock instead.
Step 4: Wrap the brisket. Cover the baking tray tightly with a double layer of foil, crimping around the edges of the tray to ensure a tight seal. Give the foil a once over for holes and send the brisket to the oven.
Step 5: Wait (and wait some more). Heat brisket in the oven for one hour if whole and 20 minutes if sliced. When the time is up, remove the meat from the oven, unwrap and dig in.
How to Reheat Brisket with a Sous Vide Machine
If you own this fancy piece of cooking equipment, you and your brisket are in luck. Sous vide is a pro chef secret to reheating meat so that it warms up without extra cooking, meaning that every bit will be juicy and tender. This method—essentially a warm bath for meat—takes a little more time, but if you made brisket then you already know a thing or two about the benefits of patience.
Step 1: Prep the meat. Bring the brisket to room temperature by letting it rest on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 2: Seal the brisket. Transfer the meat to a vacuum-sealed bag.
Step 3: Soak and warm. Fill the sous vide basin with enough water to completely cover the brisket and set the sous vide machine to 150°F. Place your brisket in the water and let it luxuriate—this is a bath, after all.
Step 4: Watch the clock. When the brisket has reached the same temperature as the water, it’s ready to go—but this can take up to five hours for a whole piece of meat. Fortunately, you can speed things up by slicing the brisket before you start. Typically, a pre-sliced brisket is more likely to turn tough and dry, but the risk is negligible when using this clever method. The time it takes to sous vide sliced brisket depends on the thickness of the pieces: Brisket sliced into ½-inch shavings will be ready to pile on sandwich bread in as little as 11 minutes, while more substantial pieces (say, two-inch-thick) will need to bathe in the sous vide for two hours.
How to Reheat Brisket in the Slow Cooker
It might not be quick to reheat beef in a Crockpot but it sure is convenient—just set it and forget it, while your meat is warmed to melty goodness. But if you choose this reheating method, keep in mind that the whole process will take about four hours. One more thing: Be sure to introduce some extra moisture to keep your brisket fork-tender.
Step 1: Let the meat rest. Prior to sending that slab of meat into your Crockpot, follow the same advice mentioned above: Let your brisket languish on the countertop for 20 minutes so it can reach room temperature. Once your dinner has acclimated, it’s ready for slow cooking.
Step 2: Put the brisket in the pot. Once your beef has basked in the moderate climate of your kitchen for a while, plunk it straight into the slow cooker. If your leftovers are oversized and can’t comfortably fit, slice the brisket into thick pieces before placing it in the ceramic container of your Crockpot.
Step 3: Add moisture. Don’t start pushing buttons yet or the brisket will be thirsty (and chewy). Empty all of the reserved drippings and juices into the slow cooker—no matter how congealed and unappetizing they look. If you don’t have drippings handy, use the same trick mentioned above and substitute with one cup of beef stock. (You can also opt for a cocktail of stock and apple juice to better compliment your brisket’s barbecued sweetness.)
Step 4: Start cooking. Your brisket has been given the equivalent of a spa treatment now, so it’s time to reheat that sucker. Cover the meat and set the Crockpot to low (or between 185°F and 200°F, if your slow cooker has more precise temperature settings).
Step 5: Wait. Your brisket will be ready after four hours, but it will be even better if you transfer it from the basin to a sheet of tinfoil, drizzle it with drippings and wrap it up. After resting for 10 minutes (five if you’re famished), your brisket will be juicy, tender and ready to board an express train to your mouth.
How to Reheat Brisket in the Air Fryer
Air fryers are basically just convection ovens, which are ovens that use high-powered fans to circulate heat. Unlike standard baking, convection baking uses an interior fan to blow heat directly onto the food (that's why air fryer fries are so damn crispy). Not only does it heat the food evenly, but it does so lightning fast. As long as the portion of brisket you're reheating fits in the air fryer basket without too much crowding, you're good to go. But be warned: It may dry the brisket out a bit and cause the texture to be a little chewier, so have plenty of warm gravy at the ready.
Step 1: Prep the meat. Bring the brisket to room temperature by letting it rest on the counter for 20 to 30 minutes. While you wait, preheat your air fryer to 350°F.
Step 2: Add moisture to the meat. Place the meat on a large piece of aluminum foil. Pour leftover juices, gravy or beef broth over the meat and wrap it.
Step 3: Put the brisket packet in the air fryer basket. Cook it for about 35 minutes, or until the brisket is heated all the way through.
How Long Does Cooked Brisket Last in the Fridge?
It depends. If you refrigerate the brisket dry without gravy, it should last about four days. In gravy, it'll last for only two days. However, the opposite is the case for freezing cooked brisket. It lasts longer with gravy (three months) than without (two months). No matter how you store it, be sure to wrap the meat well and place it in an airtight container before stashing away the leftovers.
Here are seven leftover brisket recipes we love:
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