Reheating whole Brisket w/out drying out

Question

I made brisket last night (to serve tonight) using a recipe I have made several times. I usually cook the night before serving, using a Large Le Creuset pot. Recipe uses carrot/celery/onion, red wine and canned tomatoes. Brown the meat, sauté the veggies, return meat to pot and cook nestled in the veggies, covered 3-4 hours @350. In the Dutch Oven I wind up with a very saucy result. I refrigerate overnight, slice meat cold, return to the liquid and reheat slowly. It’s great.

Last night I decided to use a roasting pan due to the size of the brisket. Followed same steps as above, but used tin foil to cover as tightly as I could. But the veggies reduced down MUCH more than in the past. The result is actually fabulous. The veggies are amazing and hearty, and the meat was unbelievably juicy, reminiscent of really good BBQ.

So I want to serve as such, sliced juicy meat, not in a sauce bath, w/ veggies on side. I’m concerned I will dry out the meat though. I have it wrapped tightly in tin foil. If I reheat in that wrap low and slow, will I maintain that juicy awesome brisket? If not, do you have another suggestion?

Any advice highly appreciated.

Answer 1

Reheating a brisket will generally dry it out a bit more. It will depend on the quality of the brisket whether this will lead it to become too dry.

Moisture in cooked briskets is actually mostly fat. Some BBQ joints will call their point slices "moist" while others call them "fatty", which is probably most accurate. What you will probably want to do is to avoid rendering additional fat as much as possible. I would aim for a maximum internal temperature of about 120-125 F (50 C) and go slow about it. If you have any juices left, leave them in. And when it's finished, rest it for a little while (20-30 minutes should be plenty).

Answer 2

Do you have access to an immersion circulator? Reheating without drying is an excellent application for sous vide.