Arguably the most important pillar in the pilgrimage of barbecue, smoking a whole brisket is a great accomplishment. However, some would argue eating a whole brisket in one sitting is even greater, therefore, it’s important your leftovers receive the treatment they deserve.
In this guide, TheGrillingDad explains how you can reheat your brisket using 4 different, easy-to-follow methods while offering expert tips on how to stop your brisket from drying out.
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How To Reheat Brisket: The 4 Best Options
Luckily, there are more than a few ways in which you can reheat your brisket, meaning you won’t be too limited by your kitchen! The 4 ways I recommend reheating your brisket are:
1. The Oven
2. The Smoker
3. The Crockpot
4. Sous Vide
How To Reheat Brisket: In The Oven
- Preheat Oven to 325ºF
- Double Wrap Your Meat In Foil (This Helps Keep It Moist)
- Let It Sit At Room Temp For 20-30 minutes
- Use Leftover Cooking Juices To Keep It From Drying Out
- Place The Brisket In The Oven
-20 minutes if it’s already sliced
-1 hour if it’s whole
When reheating brisket in the oven, you’ll want to start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees.
While waiting on the oven to preheat, wrap your brisket in a layer or two of foil. Allow the brisket to rest at room temperature, which usually takes 20-30 minutes.
Two layers will ensure any holes in the first layer are covered.
Holes in the foil can lead to dried-out meat!
The oven can dry the brisket out if there isn’t enough moisture, so make sure to save all of the drippings from the first brisket cook. You can use those leftover juices later!
If there isn’t enough juice from the brisket, you can cover the bottom of the foil with beef broth to keep the moisture.
Depending on how big the brisket is, it should take about an hour in the oven to reheat if it’s whole, or when the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
If it’s already sliced, you’ll only need about 20 minutes in the oven.
Remember, we’re not cooking brisket, we’re reheating it.
Supplies you’ll need:
- Baking pan
- Heavy-Duty Aluminum Foil
- Beef broth or brisket drippings
How To Reheat Brisket: In The Smoker or Grill
This method works whether you’re using a:
- Charcoal grill
- Gas grill
- Electric smoker
- Charcoal smoker
- Pellet smoker (like a Traeger or PitBoss)
When using the grill to reheat your brisket by smoking, start by heating the grill to 225 degrees.
Wrap the brisket in foil and place it in the indirect heat of the grill.
Once the brisket reaches 155 degrees, you can unwrap it and place it back on the grill.
Place the brisket in direct heat for 5-10 more minutes.
Remove the brisket from the heat once it reaches 160 degrees internally and place it on a serving plate to prevent it from overcooking.
Supplies you’ll need:
- Aluminum Foil
- Optional: Barbecue sauce
How To Reheat Brisket: In A Crockpot (or Slow Cooker)
While this method is slower than the others, it is a good reheating method that prevents drying out your brisket.
Start by letting the brisket rest on the counter for about 20 minutes so it can reach room temperature.
If the leftover brisket is too big to fit in the crock pot, slice it and place it in the crock pot.
Before turning the crock pot on, empty all drippings and juice from your brisket. If you had no drippings saved with the meat, you can use beef broth to keep the meat juicy.
Set the crockpot to low (between 185 and 200 degrees) and let it cook.
Reheating with this method will take around 4 hours. Once it’s heated to the proper temperature, you can remove it from the crock pot and place in aluminum foil.
Drizzle the broth and drippings from the crock pot over it, wrap it in the foil, and let it sit for 10 more minutes.
Supplies you’ll need:
- Beef broth or leftover drippings from the brisket
How To Reheat Brisket: With Sous Vide (Water bath)
For this method, there is a countertop Sous Vide appliance you can use. However, there is an alternative method if you don’t have one available.
Start by filling the pot you’ll be using with water, leaving enough room that it won’t overflow once you add the food.
Place the digital thermometer on the pot, attaching it with a clamp. You can also choose to periodically check the temperature if you don’t want to attach it to the pot.
The temperature you want is 165 degrees. Once your water reaches that point, you can begin preparing the brisket.
Place your brisket into a freezer baggie, pouring the drippings and broth in with it. Put the baggie in your pot of water, leaving the top of it open.
You can pin the baggie to the side of the pot to prevent it from falling over while it’s cooking.
Once your meat is in the pot, it’s time to bring the water temperature back to the ideal place.
After the temperature is set again, let it cook. Depending on how big the brisket is that you’re reheating, it can take anywhere from 1-3 hours (maybe longer!). Check the internal temperature periodically and once it’s the same temperature as your water, it should be good to go.
It’s much quicker than getting the internal temp of your brisket back up to 200-210 like when you originally smoked it.
Supplies you’ll need:
- Digital thermometer
- Water
- Vacuum seal bag, Ziploc bag, or plastic wrap
- Sous Vide Machine
How Do You Keep Brisket From Drying Out?
Prevention is always the best answer.
How you store brisket or freeze your leftover brisket can have an impact on how well it reheats.
When you’re storing leftovers, slice the brisket and let it cool in the remaining juices to protect it against drying out. This will also help it maintains some of its tenderness.
We have 4 easy ways to reheat your meat below, but please don’t throw it in the microwave unless you absolutely have to.
“Brisket in the microwave” doesn’t even sound right!
Related >> Can You Freeze a Brisket? Tips and Guidelines
Does Brisket Reheat Well?
Brisket reheats very well. In fact, many people smoke their briskets ahead of time and then reheat them when it’s closer to the time to eat.
This is great for most people since it can be tricky to time exactly when your brisket will be ready to eat.
What Temp Should I Reheat Brisket To?
Your brisket should reach an internal temperature of at least 165°F to ensure it is safe to eat, anything above that is fair game. TheGrillingDad argues that brisket internal temp is best at 195°F, but you should reheat brisket to a temp that is just right for your eating preference.
I do recommend reheating in the oven no higher than 325° F to prevent the juices from evaporating and creating dry brisket.
How Do You Serve Brisket The Next Day?
Serving brisket the next day starts with how you store it.
Slice your brisket now, then put your meat into a container and pour all of the meat juices (or au jus) on it.
When you pull out your brisket the next day, discard the hardened fat that has risen to the top.
Put the slices onto a tray and follow your preferred heating method listed above.
Should I Slice Brisket Before Refrigerating?
Slicing your brisket before you refrigerate it allows for much quicker reheating for later.
With it sliced, your brisket can soak up more of the au jus which will make it taste great after refrigerating it!
Read More >> How To Slice Brisket (5 Quick Steps)
Reheating Other Foods?
If you hate throwing out food like I do, you’ll love our other guides on reheating food.
- How To Reheat Chicken Wings
- How To Reheat Pulled Pork
- How To Reheat Ribs
- How To Reheat Steak
- How To Reheat Prime Rib
More Brisket Resouces:
- How Long to Smoke Brisket at 250 Degrees
- How Long to Smoke Brisket per Pound
- BBQ Brisket Burnt Ends Recipe
- Brisket Tacos Recipe
- How to Reheat Brisket Properly
- How to Slice Brisket
- Hot and Fast Brisket Recipe
- Best Wood for Smoking Brisket
Final Thoughts On Reheating Leftover Brisket
If you have leftover brisket, throwing it out would be a shame! You can also find a way to use it again and still keep it nice and juicy!
My go-to is making brisket sandwiches with any leftovers we may have.
Here are 4 ways for how you can eat leftover brisket:
- Brisket tacos
- Smoked brisket nachos
- Brisket stuffed peppers, with cheese of course
- Mac & Cheese topped with brisket
- Keto Chili (replace ground beef with brisket for this recipe)
For safety, always make sure the internal temperature of any meat is at its minimum safe temperature.
The last thing you’d want is to be sent to the hospital from food poisoning, so be safe and take the temp of your meat.
Want to learn more about grilling? Check out these other useful resources!
