There are cooking hacks or cooking tips that have proven to be life savers time and time again, especially for meals that require long hours to be perfectly done. One of such meals that takes a long while to prepare is brisket.
Smoking, cooking, or grilling brisket can be a time-taking procedure that most people seek to cut down using various tricks. Naturally, some people wonder if they can get an early start on cooking their brisket and finish right before it is to be served, is this advisable?
Yes, you can partially cook a brisket and decide to finish later, you just need to know the best cooking techniques to employ to ensure that it feels fresh and has retained all its juices after the second half of the cooking process has been completed. You can finish cooking your partially cooked brisket in an oven for the best results.
Brisket is simply referred to as the best that it gotten or cut out from the chest of an animal and this is generally gotten from cows.
This means that brisket is usually beef cut out from the juiciest and most tender part of the cow. It is tricky to cook and usually takes longer when it is being smoked or grilled, let’s help you figure out a way to cut down on your cooking time so that your brisket is ready exactly when you need it to be.
Is It Okay to Partially Cook A Brisket And Finish Later?
Enjoying a juicy and delicious brisket meal comes with the price of patience due to how long it takes to cook brisket. A pound of brisket could take an hour to cook so if you are cooking brisket for guests or the entire family, it would take you an hour per pound of the brisket to cook.
Five pounds of brisket could take you up to six hours to prepare and we all know it would not be ideal to keep your guests hungry for that long.
To make things easier for you who would be saddled with the responsibility of cooking the brisket from scratch, it is best to turn to an alternative that helps you cut down on your cooking time considerably.
This option or alternative would simply entail you mastering how to partially cook your brisket and finish it the next day or much later on the same day just in time for the arrival of your guests and lunch or dinner time.
So yes, you can cook your brisket halfway and finish the cooking process later when you are ready to serve it fresh.
How To Finish Cooking A Half-Cooked Brisket?
If you have decided the try cooking your brisket partially so that you can do the process the next day or later in the day, you would need the best method to complete your brisket cooking process in order to avoid getting stuck with dry and juiceless brisket and we can help with that.
Here we will give you a detailed guide on how to finish cooking your brisket in an oven for the best results.
What you will need:
- A grill or smoker
- A trimming knife
- A full packer
- Rub
- A thermometer or probe
- An oven
- A cooler
- Onions
- Olive oil
Steps to follow:
Step 1: Prepare the brisket
You would need to get a parker with good marbling for this process. Use the parker to carefully trim the excess fat off your brisket in order to keep the beef moist for the rest of the cooking process.
Apply your choice of rub to your brisket and place it in a cooler while you get your grill or smoker ready for use.
If you do not have all the materials to prepare your brisket in this manner, you can opt for wrapping your brisket in plastic wrap and refrigerating it overnight using a rub made out of salt and pepper, you can add other ingredients you have a preference for.
Step 2: Place the brisket on the grill or smoker
After getting your grill or smoker ready for use, ensure that the temperature stays between 225 to 250 F for a smooth cooking process.
Place the brisket in the grill or smoker and monitor it while it smokes for 2 hours. Take the brisket out and allow it to rest on a cutting board for the time being.
Step 3: Prepare the oven
This method would be best with a Dutch oven but you can use your regular oven if it has a high-temperature range.
Slice some onions in olive oil and let them simmer in the oven for about five minutes with medium heat. Place the brisket in the oven with the fat side down and leave it uncovered to simmer for half an hour. After these thirty minutes go by, close the oven and cook the brisket at 300 F for 3 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I half cook a brisket the day before?
Yes, if you have a lot of briskets to cook and you are concerned about cutting back on time, it is advisable to cook it half the day before and finish cooking the next day.
Can you pause cooking brisket?
Absolutely, you can decide to spread out your cooking time between two days and use thorough methods to ensure that your brisket still tastes juicy by the time you are finally done cooking it.
How many days in advance can I cook a brisket?
You can decide to cook brisket up to 3 days before you need it to be ready for consumption, you just need to know how best to refrigerate, reheat, spice, wrap and prepare it for each cooking process through those three days.
Summary
If you love smoked or grilled meals and you have not tried reporting brisket then you are missing out big time.
We understand that your session to not attempt the dish might be due to the long cooking process that threatens to take up most of your day, however, we can assure you that you need not worry about that anymore.
We have provided adequate information to prove that you can split your cooking into two days or more and still enjoy a fresh and juicy brisket meal, and we have also included a detailed guide to help you complete the second cooking process of your brisket.
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