Brisket Ahead of Time

[jergles]

Hi everyone,

Up front I apologize if this has been done to death, but I couldn't pull up a post that describes my situation here.

The day before my upcoming wedding I've decided to host a BBQ at my place just for fun. If everything goes wrong I can cook my brisket overnight into BBQ day, but I am wondering if it would be feasible to cook it and rest it 1-2 days ahead of time so I can simply reheat it and not have to be babying my cooker as guests arrive throughout the day.

Last brisket I cooked came out pretty much ideal to my standards, and when I was done eating it fresh I just sliced the rest of it and into the freezer it went. I found that it microwaved beautifully (or at least good enough for me!) with a wet paper towel over it straight from frozen. I'd prefer to find a way to refrigerate or freeze the brisket whole or at least separated between the point and flat. Do you guys have any experience with this? My gut tells me to just refrigerate it since it'll only be 1-2 days, and then to reheat it in the oven in butcher paper or foil at somewhere between 250-300 until it gets up to a servable temperature.

I know it's a bit silly to do this right before my wedding but I think it's fun to be unwise. If it comes out bad I'm happy with Costco pizza too, the stakes are low.

[Jerod Broussard]

Finish on smoker, wrap if you haven't already and let sit at room temp until 135 internal. Place in freezer until under 40 internal. Reheat day off to 165 internal.

[jayjordan]

A lot of the bbq places here wrap the finished brisket in plastic wrap to hold it at 140 degrees until next day's service. If you can time your cook to wrap and hold in a heated up cooler until time to slice and eat you'd be fine.

[jergles]

Quick update: ended up getting some pork butts on sale from Costco and just cooking/pulling those ahead of time. Much more of a known quantity making pulled pork over brisket, and it reheated like a breeze. The event was wonderful. Thanks all for the help!

[Jerod Broussard]

I got 2 briskets to cook a day or two ahead in early March, but I got 30 butts to cook ahead and do what you did at the end of March. Glad it worked out!

[Santamarina]

First, congrats on the nuptials!

Here’s my take, since you’ll probably want to serve barbecue again…and not slaving over food when guest arrive is elite.

Started doing this when I wanted to serve barbecue for lunch *and* sleep. I’ve done brisket and pork shoulder this way for 7-8 years with great success.

Instead of babysitting a cooker all night I start my cook the afternoon of the day before. Try to time it so everything is done, wrapped, and ready to hold by midnight.

Toss it in a warm oven - bonus points if you have one that’ll hold in the 140°-150°F range. Mine doesn’t go lower than 170° so I cycle it on/off so the meat doesn’t dry out.

Get a respectable amount of sleep, serve great barbecue at noon without fuss!

As for leftovers…I started vac sealing 1lb portions of pulled pork and sliced brisket. Toss in the freezer. Whenever you want barbecue soak in hot water - sous vide at 165° if you’ve got one. Cut the bag open and serve!