We strive to provide you with authoritative, trustworthy, and expert advice. In doing so, the staff at bbqdropout.com performs extensive research, editing, and fact checking to every post on this webiste. If you feel that this article can improve, please feel free to reach us at staff@bbqdropout.com
The temp that you want to slice a brisket at is anywhere between 150-170 degrees internal.
Throughout this post, BBQ DROPOUT will discuss 4 different questions a lot of people seem to ask regarding slicing a brisket.
What Temp to Slice Brisket After Resting?
When you are slicing brisket – Make sure to only slice into it when it is temping out at around 150 – 170 degrees internal.
Anything higher than 170 degrees, and you risk having all the moisture drain and dry your brisket out.
When you think about it, slicing a brisket is a very critical part of the overall cooking process.
You go through the effort of prepping your pit, seasoning the meat, and smoking the thing for well over 12 hours.
Little do some people know – that if you don’t heed the advice I just laid out – slicing in the temperature range of 150 – 170 degrees internal – you will make all of that incredible effort go to waste.
That is why you need to become better informed on how a brisket can react to certain stimuli.
Stimuli in this case meaning slicing the brisket.
Should you Slice Leftover Brisket?
You should ideally slice the Brisket only when needed.
If the brisket is to be served all at once, then you should slice as you are serving.
If you have intentions on seconds – then you should definitely wait to slice the brisket.
Brisket is such a finicky piece of meat when it comes to serving.
It is very prone to drying out, which is why it is touted as one of the hardest cuts of barbecue to get just right.
Don’t worry though – just follow along in all of my posts and you will have great brisket every time!
When you are ready to begin slicing your brisket – like mentioned above – you need to slice only when necessary.
You don’t need to slice the whole thing at once.
That means when you are finished smoking and resting the brisket – ask yourself when you need to eat it?
If you can wait to eat it and need to slice at a later time, that’s completely fine.
If you are wanting to eat perhaps a small portion of the brisket – then you will want to try to only begin slicing the brisket areas that you intend to actually eat on the spot.
Everything else can stay in tact.
Again, this can be crucial to making sure all left overs are adequately taken care of and you don’t get a nasty and dry piece of meat.
Not only will it be dry and dull – but you will be very frustrated with a lackluster product despite spending 12 hours or more cooking it.
Can You Slice Brisket Cold?
You can slice brisket cold.
Be aware though, that if you do this and attempt to reheat the slices individually – you are greatly increasing the chances the slices will come out dry.
If you choose not slice the brisket pieces cold – and instead only cut into your brisket when you’re ready to serve right then and there – then you will most likely end up with an amazing end product.
Usually, when smoking a brisket and deciding to either rest it down to a reasonable internal temperature for serving – or putting it in the fridge for slicing cold and serving later – the option to only slice the brisket when necessary is the better option.
Sliced brisket, when left uneaten will dry out almost immediately.
That is again why you will commonly hear pit masters say that when you do actually slice your brisket – to keep all the slices still compacted together so the juices and moisture doesn’t evaporate away.
If you don’t follow that advice, rest assured you will end up with a distasteful brisket slice.
All this to say – you certainly can slice a brisket cold if you so wish, and here’s how to do it and make sure that you’re slices don’t dry out:
- Slice the brisket cold and hold the individual slices inside a pan of the juices left over from the cook.
- Basically – the best way to hold brisket slices is to hold them in what’s known as an jus.
- You can think of it as the brisket’s beef broth.
- It keeps it moist, tender, and ensures a great flavor throughout.
- This will also make sure that whenever you decide to serve these slice – they will be dripping all over!
Can You Slice Brisket The Next Day?
You can slice brisket the next day.
Make sure that the internal temperature is roughly around 150 degrees.
This will ensure a great, warm, and tender product.
You need to be asking yourself what your overall goal is if you were to slice the brisket the next day.
Also – you should be asking yourself what the current situation is that makes you consider such a question.
When you smoke a brisket – depending how hot you decide to cook it at – you will find that the entire process takes at least 12 hours no matter what you do.
The process of cooking usually takes that time alone – plus any amount of resting you do.
My recommendation is to rest a brisket as long as humanly possible, just to ensure all moisture content has come to a halt temperature wise.
You do this to prevent any from evaporating when the meat is way too hot and you slice into it.
All of this being considered – you may very likely find yourself in the position to begin slicing the brisket the next day.
That’s completely fine, just make sure you are resting it appropriately.
When decide to slice the brisket the next day – if you take the appropriate resting methods to heart AND you pulled it off the smoker at the right time (internal temps around 200 while probing tender), you will rest assured that your brisket slices are going to come out amazing.
Upon slicing your brisket the next day – make sure that each slice is still compacted together – meaning don’t start handing them out until necessary and make sure to keep all slices sitting together.
This helps to ensure that the moisture doesn’t evaporate and dry each of them out.