Another brisket with a question

[JBPilot]

Ok so I’ve smoked another brisket and I think this one turned out awesome! (See pictures below) Here is my problem though. I had to smoke it a week early so that I would have it ready for a family meal next weekend (after Christmas). How would y’all store it? I’ve got it wrapped in foil tightly to help keep the juices on it. Should I just put it into the fridge for a week or freeze it then thaw and reheat it in the oven?

Thanks y’all!


Who doesn’t love a good prime brisket?

I need a bigger cutting board!

I didn’t weigh the fat I trimmed but it’s at least a pound. This got vacuum sealed and frozen for either snack sticks or summer sausage later.

finished after 15.5 hours at about 250* F Some small nibbles tasted AMAZING!

 

[jcam222]

Mmmm Prime , Shame you had to cook that so early. I’d vacuum pack it and freeze. If you can’t vac pack it wrap tightl in a few layers of Saran Wrap , then foil then another layer of Wrap. I’m not an expert on food safety and there are those here who are. They may be able to advise omg safety of leaving in frig for a week instead of freezing.

 

[chopsaw]

That does look great . I would freeze . Just my opinion . Outside of safe / unsafe , I would be afraid the fridge would start to dry it out .

 

[JBPilot]

Thanks guys. I’ll see if it’s narrow enough to fit into my vacuum bags. If it can I’ll do that. I wonder if I should take it out of the foil to seal or just leave it in the foil to seal and freeze to keep the juices on it. Seems that every time you wrap and unwrap you’ll lose some of the juice.

 

[chopsaw]

JB , when I buy in bulk , or make sausage in bulk , I skip the vac pack and wrap tight in Saran wrap . Then into a 2 gallon freezer bag . I do this if I know it will be used quickly and don't want to waste vac bags .
If you decide to take the foil off , and there is alot of juice you could drain it off and freeze separate ?
Then add it back when serving ?

 

[JBPilot]

Well it won’t fit into my 11” bags without scraping off a lot of the bark (which I refuse to do!) so it’ll probably get wrapped tightly with Saran Wrap over the foil I think to keep moisture out when it goes into the freezer. I hated to have to do it this early but I just wasn’t going to have the time to do it right before the event! I’m going to try to put the juice that dripped during cooking into a ziplock and freeze that also. Should help when serving. Thanks for that advice!

 

[texomakid]

Maybe you could separate the point & flat and freeze them separately? We do freeze some brisket for use later I've just never tried to freeze a whole packer before. I've got one friend that actually comes over and digs through our freezer looking for frozen vacuum bags of brisket

 

[JBPilot]

I considered that but ultimately left this one whole since it’s going to a family meal with a good many people. I’ll post some pictures here once it gets cut!

 

[tx smoker]

Fret not JB. It will still be juicy, flavorful, and decadent after freezing. We always freeze brisket after a meal and actually like it every bit as much as the day its cooked. You'll be fine.

Trying to type on a tablet 600 miles from home,
Robert

 

[JBPilot]

Thanks tx, I feel like it will be ok, I just hate having to wait to find out lol!

 

[tx smoker]

All good things to those who wait

Robert

 

[JBPilot]

It turned out great! I’ve got a couple pictures attached. It turned out much better than my last one! Having the thermometers to tell when it’s done makes a big difference! It got reheated in a pan covered with foil with the juices poured over the top of it. It isn’t as crumbly as the pictures show. The knife I had to use to cut it up was pretty dull. I can hold a piece up and it will not fall apart but if you shake it it’ll break apart. I love it!! Now I’m just going to have to do another one!

 

[chopsaw]

Nice work
Looks great !