Oven Vs Slow Cooker: Which Is Better For Reheating Brisket?
Really great brisket is a splurge in both time and money. A smoked brisket recipe might take you upwards of 10 hours from start to finish, and a homey, braised brisket will keep you and your oven occupied for five hours or so. And then there's the cost of the hefty piece of beef to consider as well. With that kind of effort on the table, you'll want to be sure to treat the leftovers with the care they deserve to get every delicious bite out of your brisket. So we reached out to Christie Vanover, the owner and pitmaster of Girls Can Grill, to see what she recommends.
It might be tempting to pop the slices of brisket from last night's dinner in your slow cooker to gently warm them, because low and slow is the way to cook the raw cut of beef. But according to Vanover, that would be a huge mistake. She says, "I don't recommend using a slow cooker to reheat brisket. Because of the size and shape of the slow cooker, you'll have to stack the brisket slices on top of each other, which will prolong the preheat time." Instead, she prefers to spread the slices evenly on a pan in the oven, where she says "you can adjust the temperature more precisely."
Slow heat is not your friend when reheating brisket
Christie Vanover is critical of the slow cooker warming method because it forces the slices of brisket to be piled up in the smaller space inside the container where it's hard for heat to circulate. This causes the beef to be exposed to heat for a longer time as the middle reaches the right temperature. And a longer cook time "will lead to shredded beef versus brisket slices" she explains. It would be a shame for your neatly sliced brisket to turn into a pile of chipped beef because of the wrong reheating method.
Instead, set a low heat in your oven, and pop the sheet in with spread-out brisket slices on it just until they're warmed through. For extra moist meat you can cover the pan with a layer of foil as you heat it. With the right warming technique, you'll be all set to transform your leftovers into the taco Tuesday of your dreams.