My typical brisket smoke session starts late on day 1, smokes overnight, and finishs in the oven the next day. Continuous cooking for 12-16 hours. I would be hesitant to break that up too much with a rest in the middle. Seems like your asking for bacteria problems. And so I don't have to start another brisket thread, any tips for getting your brisket tender, but not just falling apart. I smoked a few briskets and some ribs for the Baylor tailgate, and while everything turned out great and garnered a lot of compliments (thanks in no small part to knowledge gained on this board), the brisket turned out a touch too tender and it was difficult to get good slices that held together. I smoked 3 briskets (8-12 lbs each) for about 12 hours then finished in foil in the oven for another 4 or 5. They were transported to the tailgate wrapper in foil and in a cooler so they probably cooked a little longer during transport. Did I overcook?? Any tips for getting that tender brisket that stays together? No foil? Skip the oven and leave on the smoker for the duration?
Well, for me to 'finish off' in the oven is tantamount to using a microwave. Heresy, I say... Heresy! Personally, I stick to the smoker all the way through & any additional "curing" is done for the transport (for Baylor, I did beef ribs started early in the day on Saturday & from Drippin' into Austin it rested just about right). BTW, since I'm new to the conversations, I'll probably be restating a prior comment: always tinfoil wrap your meats & let 'em sit for @ leat 5 or more minutes; don't cut in right away. That way your juices recede back to the center of the food & don't get lost in the first cut.
I smoked a large (18 lb) brisket last weekend. I put it on the smoker at 2 pm, took it off at 11:30 pm, wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven at 225 F overnight. It hit 195 F in the center by 11 AM Sunday morning, and was, dare I say, incredible.
Briskettexan's argument about finishing your brisket in the oven makes perfect sense, seems practical and well thought out. Kinda like driving a minivan. But there will always be some people that wouldn't be caught dead doing either.
Q: How are banging a fat chick and finishing your brisket in the oven alike? A: There both easy to do, but you don't want your friends to find out that you did either one.
I am a Deacon in the Church of Finish It In The Smoker. While I'm not worried about making sure the brisket continues to get smoke the entire process, I am just lazy, prefer not to screw with my brisket any more than I have to, and have eliminated as many steps possible to smoking a quality brisket. And, like Brisketexan, I am told time and time again my brisket is the best they've had. We really do need a brisket/smoked meats board.
My smoker takes a lot of work to keep it at 225 F. I'll be damned if I'm gonna stay up all night long to do it.
OK, this is not going where I needed, so I will rephrase the question Is it possible to smoke the brisket one day and then re-heat it at a later date without ruining it.
Without getting into the "how do you finish it" debate again (in which my opinion is well known, but to each his own -- I am a practical man at heart, and so long as I acheive maximum flavor with maximum efficiency, I'm happy -- if you want to keep stoking a fire another few hours, more power to you), YES, you can smoke a brisket and then re-heat it later just fine. For example, when have shipped briskets to Macanudo, I actually trim them of most fat, separate the point from the flat, and foil wrap each again separately, then freeze them. I ship them to him frozen, and they arrive mostly thawed, but still plenty cool. He then reheats them, still wrapped in the foil, in the oven. He has seemed pretty happy with the results. I wouldn't slice it up beforehand. So long as you keep it whole, and keep it wrapped, you should be fine with reheating. Oh, and we also have a minivan. My wife HATES it, but I don't mind it so much. I am the master of practical, and don't give a rat's *** about image. I am mere days away from wearing black socks with shorts, and getting velcro hushpuppies for weekend wear.
I hear that the Salt Lick cooks their briskets to 160, puts them back in the fridge, and heats them the next day to 195 or whatever. I'm not sure if that cooking process makes a difference, but they have one of the best smoke rings for a commercial establishment that I've seen. So, it sounds like you could combine the advice of brisketexan and the salt lick to come up with half-cooked on the smoker, finish in the oven the next day.
