20 Best Leftover Brisket Recipes - The Three Snackateers (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to moist brisket? ›

Let Your Brisket Rest

This part is easy. Once you take your brisket out of your smoker, let it rest at room temperature for about an hour. If you start cutting right away, you won't give your brisket's juices a chance to redistribute throughout the meat, potentially leading to an uneven or seemingly dry bite.

If your leftover brisket seems a bit dry, never fear. It can still be revived and no one will be the wiser. To moisten the meat, give it a marinade in some warm beef broth, and make sure to add broth when reheating. Another option is to use the meat in dishes where it can soak up a rich sauce.

You can do this by placing the brisket in a covered dish with a small amount of beef broth, water, or tomato sauce. Cover the dish with foil and bake it in the oven until it is heated through. Add a marinade or sauce: Another option is to add a marinade or sauce to the brisket.

The Texas Crutch doesn't exclusively refer to brisket. You can use the technique with any meat. The popular 3-2-1 method of cooking ribs uses the Texas crutch. The numbers simply refer to 3 hours in the smoker unwrapped, then 2 hours wrapped in foil, with the final hour unwrapped at a slightly higher temperature.

If you want to give your brisket some extra moisture without messing with the flavor, just use plain water. It will get the job done and allow you to focus on imparting your desired flavor into the meat through a brisket injection and exterior rub.

Dry rubs are great on their own but can be spectacular when finished with a sauce in the case of ribs, brisket, and pulled pork. Wet rubs are fantastic when you are cooking low and slow – again, brisket and pulled pork. This allows your food to develop a unique bark and allows the sugars to caramelize instead of burn.

The meat was overcooked: Slow cookers are known for their ability to tenderize meat, but if the meat is cooked for too long, it can become overcooked and tough. It's important to follow the recommended cooking time for your recipe to ensure that the meat is cooked to the correct doneness.

USDA recommends using cooked beef within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. USDA recommends using cooked leftovers within 3 to 4 days.

Reheating the brisket whole, and then slicing it when it's time to serve helps keep the brisket from drying out.

Can you eat cooked brisket cold? ›

You may eat brisket cold, lukewarm, or hot … if it has been first cooked to an internal temperature of 180°F or 82°C.

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.

That means that they smoke the brisket with a medium temperature, then on a very high temperature for a short period and then steam it for the last 10 degrees over a very long period of time.

The term “Texas Crutch” refers to a wrapping process used to speed up the brisket cooking process and push through the infamous “stall” that makes smoking a brisket so challenging. It was most likely a technique and term used on the competition circuit.

When using the Minion Method, I no longer wait for the cooker to come up to temp before adding the meat. Instead, I put the meat in the cooker immediately after arranging the lit coals on top of the unlit charcoal. Set the top vent to 100% open and leave it that way throughout the entire cooking process.

Roast low and slow.

In the oven, that kind of time and temperature would dry the meat out, so use a slightly higher temperature of 300°F and keep the brisket covered in foil for the first six hours or until the brisket is 180°F in the thickest part.

When the brisket reaches an internal temperature of 195°F it should be properly smoked. Depending on the method of smoking, the time can vary. This can take 1 to 1 ½ hours per pound.

It's more likely that a dry brisket is overcooked, rather than under, but the dryness can also be the result of improper seasoning or particularly low fat marbling.

One of the tricks I use for making a brisket with great bark and tenderness is wrapping it in aluminum foil or butcher paper. The wrap helps to keep moisture in the meat, ultimately speeding up the cooking process. This technique is commonly called the "Texas crutch."