Brisket - After the smoke question

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muley05

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 17, 2008
26
10
I'm going on a mini road trip for a football game next month. For our tailgate party before the game, I'd like to have some smoked brisket. It will be way to difficult to bring my smoker with me, so I have plans to smoked the brisket overnight on Thursday taking it off the smoker early Friday morning. Then holding it until Saturday late morning/early afternoon.

What is the best way to do this? Should I let the meat rest for a few hours after taking it off the smoker, then pull/slice it and keep it cold in an ice chest, then reheat the cut meat on a grill on SAturday? Or would I be better off keeping it whole, reheating it whole, and cutting it after it has been reheated?
 
Depending on the brisket and what it's cooked to..it might be easier to chill and slice it, then reheat. Remember to pan or foil it after like 170-ish and save the juice for the reheat. A pan would be best, as you could use it for the reheating, covered in foil, of course.

But if you want to slice it warm, or pull it...it's OK to do that and reheat in the same manner too.

As far as leaving it whole for a re-heat...never done that, but I guess it'd be fine...again covered and with juice either left in, or added back in after some fat removal if you wish.
 
It is very easy for sliced brisket to dry out. If you have a vac sealed, I would place the brisket in a seal bag along with some juice. Then place bag and all in freezer until the juice is almost frozen. Vac seal the brisket and place in your refrigerator. To warm it up, place bag and all in a pan of water at a SLOW boil until your brisket is warm. Remove from bag, slice and serve. If you boil the bag at too high a temp the seal on the bag will develop a leak, or that is my experience.
 
I'm with the goat. I slice the brisket and vacuum seal. THen when it's eatin time I boil in the bag. It comes out great! Since you are tailgaiting a camping stove would be needed. I've done it on my camp stove after a storm that killed the power and everything was wonderful.

Dave
 
another vote for the "goat method".!
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I personally, would do the Richtee ;{) method, which I also think would give a better "tailgaiting presentation" when done on a grill in an aluminum pan with foil, as opposed to boiling a bag in hot water. This would also keep the brisket warm for a longer period of time.
 
The "Goat" method won't work for me in this instance. I'm not going to have a freezer or a way to boil water since we will be on the road.

After thinking about this some more, my plan is this:

Thurs night - Smoke the brisket
Fri early morning - Pull the brisket off when done, wrap it in foil, keep it in a cooler with towels for 3-5 hours
Fri afternoon - While driving from KC to Austin, TX, pull the brisket and put it in a foil pan with all the juices. Then put the foil pan in a cooler with ice to keep it cold.
Sat afternoon - Heat the foil pan with the pulled meat on a regular grill, adding some extra juice (such as apple juice) to keep it moist. After an hour or so, the meat should be heated up and ready to eat.

Anyone see any flaws with my plan? I realize it is probably not ideal, but remember that we are going to be on the road or in a hotel most of the time, without amenities such as a stove, fridge, or freezer.
 
What temp are you taking the brisket to? Flat or Packer? In the past I've smoked a 7.5 lb flat to 160. Double wrapped in foil and rested it 1 hour. Put the whole brisket in a large ziplock, squeezed out all the air I could and sealed. Put the meat in the fridge overnight and saved the juices from the foil in a container in the fridge.(You could do the same in a cooler) Took it all out the next day and heated it up in a foil covered pan in a 200 degree oven.(do this on the grill) Skimmed the fat off the top of the juices and warmed them up.(Use a foil pan on the grill) Removed the brisket when internal temp got to 140. Sliced the meat and basted the slices with the juice. It was extremely good.

(You'll be a hero at the tailgate)
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It will be a full brisket, with the flat and point, probably in the 12-14 pound range.

Since it will be difficult to slice it after letting it rest because we will be driving, I am probably going to take it to 190* or thereabouts so that I can pull the meat rather than slice it. I did that on the first brisket I smoked and it was very good.
 
Sounds like a good plan.
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I think I read here on smf something about making sure to reheat to and maintain at least 140* for serving just to be safe
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Just curious.... what are you travelling in? Car, truck, van, RV? I was thinking you could cooler it then slice the flat and pull the point when you get there. Then reheat on the grill. The juices are very important for the best taste IMO. BTW I sliced mine after reheating.
 
Traveling in a pickup truck, and it is about a 13 hour drive. I don't think it will hold in a cooler with towels for that long, which is why I am planning to pull the whole thing. If I was doing it at home, I would likely slice it, but pulling it will be much easier while on the road. I doubt we will want to stop for 30 minutes or so just to cut the meat when pulling will only take a few minutes.
 
I was recently enlightened that it will hold in the cooler that long.
That said, pull it when you get there...put into tin pans for the r-heat on the bbq...
I just did a tailgate party at California speedway, and it was pulled pork sammies we had, I had smoked the pp a couple of weekends before. Reheating in the tin pans on the bbq worked like a charm! Took about an hour, the meat had thawed the night prior in the fridge.
Good luck and happy tails!
 
My opinion... All you said will work but skip the apple juice. The juices from the beef will be enough. Fruit and beef... not for me... my opinion only.
 
A trick I leared a while back, if you are so equipped - I have Coleman PowerChill electric 'ice chest' that can be set for cool or for heat. Used it both ways for long distances. You can keep stuff pretty hot in there, and it only draws about 5 amps so it is no strain on your vehicle's electrical system. I wouldn't leave it running all night with the engine off, however. Currently about $80 =/- at WalMart.com. The older style is at left, newer at right. Note: the new style makes no mention of heating as well as cooling, but the old style does.

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I think your plan as modified by Goddess will work fine. Keeping the moisture is key. I like goats idea real well and don't doubt it will work at all. I just have trouble wrapping my head around "boiling" and "smoked" meat in the same sentence, paragraph, or story. I know it's not really boiling, just sounds wrong. Its all me...really.

p.s. Like the forum name Muley, care to elaborate?
 
yes, i agree as bbqgodess said, it will hold in a cooler wrapped 12 + hrs, and still be warm.

just make sure ya get some liquid in the foil with it....
 
A sharp knife, a cutting board and a tailgate will set you back 5 minutes. I'd vote for cutting if you were going that way.

If you decided to not pull or cut prior to getting to the event, and put it in the tin pan, use some kind of grate to keep the meat off the bottom of the pan or you risk cooking the bottom of the brisket more while the rest is trying to heat up. You will have a ton of juice in there and after heating up and getting close to a boil, you don't really have to skim the fat off the top beforehand. That just adds to the flavor. Not to mention, I can't remember ever taking anything Diet, Low Fat, Fat Free, Light to a tailgate party. This way would also be good for wow factor when you take off the grill and there sits a huge chuck-o-meat. If you have a digi therm, you could leave that in the meat and just have the cord sticking out so no one sees it til it's done.

Just ideas. By the way. Who's playing?
 
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