Many of us have stood in front of the grill to cook brisket only to find out that brisket is dry and tough. Honestly, it’s frustrating, but it’s not uncommon. Needless to say that well-cooked brisket must be tender enough to melt in your mouth and have a rich beefy flavor.
In addition, brisket is made from lean meat, which means it must be moist and juicy. So, if you have a dry brisket and want to know how to fix the problem, then you’ll find the ideal solutions in this post!
How to Fix Dry Brisket?
- Turn the Brisket into Something New
If your brisket has come out too dry and there isn’t a way to fix it you can use the meat in a new dish. You can slice up the pieces and add it to a chili sauce. You can then use the sauce on other meals such as eggs or over French fries.
You can also make a stew or add brisket pieces to a cheese sauce and pour it over another type of meat such as steaks or lamp chops.
- Use Sauce
When it comes down to red meat, there is nothing better than peppercorns and brandy, and this mixture can be used to revive the dry brisket. For this purpose, you must sauté one tablespoon of butter at medium heat.
Add minced garlic and cracked black peppercorns along with whole green peppercorns, and stir for 1 minute. Then, add 1.5 cups of beef broth or stock and bring it to a low boil, and make sure it’s reduced to one cup.
Once reduced, add around ¼ cup of brandy along with 1.5 cups of heavy cream and stir. Then, you have to heat the mixture to reduce it to one cup. Then, thicken the reduced mixture by mixing cornstarch in lemon juice.
Once the texture is thickened, add salt for seasoning, and just pour this mixture on the brisket but make sure the brisket is sliced.
- Use Oil and Spices
Another way to fix dry brisket is to recook it but in oil and spices. Shred the brisket into pieces. Then in a bowl mix canola oil with garlic sliced onions, chili powder and ground cumin. Mix the meat in the oil and spices and then cook the meat in a pot at a low temperature.
The oil and spices revives the dry brisket and makes it juicy and tender again. You can add other ingredients to your mixture such as herbs and spices you enjoy. Once the brisket is cooked add the shredded meet to tacos with salsa sauce, cheese and guacamole, or place it over a bed of rice and vegetables.
- Barbeque Sauce and Vinegar
Another way to fix dry brisket is placing the meat in barbeque sauce. The sauce will marinade the meet and give it more flavor. You can then add the meat as a pizza topping or on burgers. You can also add other ingredients to the sauce such as sliced onions, herbs and spices.
When placing the brisket in a barbeque sauce you can place a bit of oil in a pot and throw the mixture into the pot to heat it up. Add three tablespoons of red wine vinegar to make it more saucy. You can then eat the brisket with a side of Greek salad or mashed potatoes.
- Soak the Brisket in Marinade
Soak your brisket in a marinade of your choice. Some people like soaking their dry brisket in melted butter with garlic and salt. But you can use other types of marinades that contain vinegars, spices and herbs.
We recommend cooking the marinade in a pot first before placing your brisket into the mixture. You don’t want to cook your brisket too much especially if you’re using butter because this can dry the meat out more. Simply reheat the meat in the marinade and then serve it as you’d like.
What Causes Brisket to Dry Out?
If you don’t have experience with cooking brisket then chances are your meat will come out dry. It can be frustrating especially when you have the perfect cut of meat. Here are a few reasons as to why your brisket has come out dry so you can prevent it from happening when you cook brisket again.
- Temperature
Brisket can be difficult to perfect when cooking because you have to grill it at certain temperatures and for a specific time. In most cases, the brisket dries out because of over or undercooking the meat. The brisket cooks better on lower temperatures and for a longer period of time.
- Incorrect Turning
The brisket can become dry because of turning it incorrectly when braising. It’s important to allow the meat to sear well before turning it. When cooking, there must be minimal loss of juices so avoid poking the meat with forks or skewers when turning it.
- Letting Liquid Evaporate While Cooking
Lastly, the reason your brisket is dry is because you haven’t cooked it in a liquid such as a marinade or a broth mixture. This is called braising. It’s crucial that you don’t allow the liquid to evaporate when cooking your brisket because it can cause your meat to dry out.
How to Prevent Brisket From Drying Out
When cooking brisket preventing the meat from drying out in the first place will save you time. Then you won’t have to find methods to fix the issue. In this section, we’ve provided methods on how to prevent your brisket from drying out.
- The Cut
In various cases, the brisket comes out dry because the meat doesn’t have enough fat. This is because the meat should have sufficient marbling to make sure it comes out juicy and delicious. The ungraded cuts will result in unevenly cooked brisket that’s dry.
This is why the chefs need to be particular about the cut, and they need to choose the right portion of the meat. For this purpose, you can opt for the point because it has sufficient fats as compared to the flat meat cuts.
Brisket that has more fat on it will be tender and have more juices provided you cook the meat at the correct temperatures. As mentioned before, cooking brisket at higher temperatures can cause it to become dry.
- Grill
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that a grill is one of the most important pieces of kitchen equipment, especially for people who like grilling meat and barbecuing. However, people hardly pay attention to which grill they are purchasing.
It’s important to consider the grill because it can affect the quality of your brisket when cooking it. If you are comfortable changing your grill, you need to invest in a grill with deflector plates because it helps retain proper heat levels.
In addition, you need to use the upper grate of the grill when making the brisket to ensure the meat doesn’t burn. Using the correct grill to cook your brisket can give you satisfactory results especially if you cook your meat in a sauce or marinade.
- Settling
Many people don’t know this, but brisket has to rest for a few minutes before it’s served. This is because beef has to rest to make sure the natural juice of the beef thickens up. If you don’t rest brisket, the juices will simply run out as you slice the meat, leading to a dry texture.
The brisket must rest at room temperature because higher temperatures will lead to a loss of moisture. Leave the brisket to rest for at least 10 minutes. Place a cloth over your meat while you wait. Then cut your brisket into slices and serve the meat as desired.
- Foil-and-Baste Method
If you prevent you brisket from drying out, you can start with the foil-and-baste method. With this method, you need to use well-made beef broth or beef stock. Keep in mind that you can’t use bouillon cubes because they can be too salty.
To begin, you need to have brisket at room temperature, use two cups of stock or broth in a medium-size saucepan, and heat it. Warm stock works better.
Once the stock or broth is heated, you must wrap your brisket in the aluminum foil and make sure you don’t close it too tightly. There should be a small opening for broth, and if you are worried about leaking, you can use a second layer of foil.
Once wrapped, you have to pour broth or stock on the brisket and just crimp the foil to make sure the moisture locks in while the brisket is cooking. This method will ensure your brisket stays tender and doesn’t lose its flavor.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are methods on our list that revives dry brisket and tips to prevent the meat from drying out while cooking. Use the information in this article to guide you so you make flavorful and tender brisket every time!