Melt in Your Mouth Oven Cooked Brisket

Name: Melt in Your Mouth Oven Cooked Brisket
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 8 h
Total time: 8 h 10 min
Cuisine: Ashkenazi
Ingredients: 7-8 pounds of brisket; 1 bottle of ketchup; 1 1/2 cups of dry red wine; 1 1/2 cups water; 1.5 tbsp chicken base (I find it milder than beef base); 1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes; 6 cloves of garlic (roughly chopped); 2 onions (roughly chopped); 6 large carrots (cut into large chunks); Salt and pepper to taste

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A simple and mouthwatering oven cooked brisket that is truly fuss free! Delicious, tender and freezer encouraged!!! This is the ULITMATE crowd pleaser! This is part of my perfect high holiday meal! With plenty of make ahead and freeze options…your dinner table this year will be a breeze!

Ultimate Guide to Jewish Brisket in the Oven: A Recipe for Unmatched Delight

Across the world, as the Jewish high holidays approach, a sense of anticipation fills the air. Families gather, bringing out their best dishes and linens to celebrate traditions passed down through generations. Central to this festive season is a dish that embodies the warmth and joy of the holiday: the Jewish brisket in the oven. Known for its tender, melt-in-your-mouth quality, this dish has a special place in the hearts of those who gather to share it. In this guide, we reveal a jewish recipe for brisket in the oven that’s not only steeped in tradition but also ingeniously simple, promising to elevate your holiday feast without the fuss.

The Secret to Perfect Oven-Baked Jewish Brisket

The journey to creating the perfect Jewish brisket in the oven begins with understanding the meat’s humble origins. Traditionally crafted from modest cuts, brisket achieves its delectable tenderness through a slow cooking process. This culinary alchemy, perfected in kitchens through the ages, breaks down connective tissues, transforming a simple piece of meat into a succulent masterpiece. And this year I have a super easy dinner plan for you. Loaded with tons of freezer friendly dishes that are ridiculously delicious and incredibly easy to just heat up and plate!

It’s these holidays that bring me some of my fondest memories with my family. Golden chicken soup with fluffy matzo balls, tart apples with sweet honey and the star of the dinner : the oh so magical, dreamy, melt in your mouth brisket. Like many Jewish recipes, brisket gets its roots from the need to use up some of the least expensive pieces of meat and transform it into tender deliciousness. As the brisket cooks low and slow, connective tissue breaks down, leaving a tender piece of smothered meat.

A Personal Quest for the Ultimate Recipe

My culinary journey, enriched by years of experience and a formal culinary education, has been a quest to create a signature Jewish brisket recipe. From smoking to slow-cooking, each method explored added layers to my understanding, culminating in a “no fuss, no muss” brisket that I proudly call my own. This cherished recipe honors tradition while embracing the ease of modern cooking techniques, ensuring a delectable result every time.

The Brisket Technique

If there is anything I have learned from the hundreds of briskets I have made over the years, the technique is one of the most important aspects. Go slow. Lower temperature, slower cooking. This will allow the connective tissue to break down and the fat to melt slowly, leaving you with that ultimate melt in your mouth brisket.

There must also always be an acidic component. I use both tomato acid (ketchup) and wine to allow for a deeper and richer flavor in the meat and the sauce.

The best thing about this brisket is that it is one pan and FREEZER ENCOURAGED. Make it ahead of time. Freeze it. And let it warm up in a 350-degree oven the day of service. It will be perfection. Something magical happens when you freeze foods like brisket or my amazeballs this to happen to food. It just works! And it could not be easier!

You can also do it in the Instant Pot, if you have a smaller brisket. The recipe could not be easier and it is always a hit!

Meet your new weeknight dinner best friend! This Instapot brisket is done in one hour, including a heavenly sauce loaded with savory flavors! Forget the 6 hours of cooking time and enjoy a tender and juicy brisket on any weeknight! — This is my Instant Pot Brisket and it is fantastic for a smaller brisket!

This is a brisket. A HUGE one. I have 16 people coming over. I always get my brisket from my favorite meat guys Second City Prime. It is always clean and they have my very favorite.. WAYGU! I like to use foil pans for this because I hate cleaning roasting pans…as do you I am sure. Plus since I end up freezing it anyhow, it makes more sense to just do it in ONE PAN.

When you purchase your brisket. Do not purchase it cleaned. Purchase it whole with the fat still on it. And place the fat side UP when roasting. NOT DOWN.

Now combine your ketchup, dehydrated onion, garlic, chicken base, wine and water in a bowl. Mix it all up to combine.

Now slather it onto EVERY nook and cranny. Massage your brisket. Making sure to cover it all over. Now you have two options, if you have time to marinade for 24 hours…please do so! Just cover it and place in the fridge for 24 hours or at the very least overnight. But if do not, you can throw your carrots and onions right over it and cook it as is!

Before roasting, roughly chop your carrots and onions. You want nice, large chunks. I had some gorgeous multicolored carrots leftover so I used that. Throw the veggies on top and also nestle them in between for good measure. You want the liquid to cover almost all the way to the top.

Cover with foil tightly and place into a 350-degree oven for the next 3-4 hours or so. I like to flip my brisket half way into the cooking time that way both sides cook evenly. The ultimate test of course is the fork test. You want it to be nice and tender. For our family…I know it is perfect when the ends are easily falling off. That means the center has a more meaty texture. But again, that’s how my family rolls 🙂

I always make mine weeks ahead of time. So these next few steps are crucial. Take the whole pan and place it into the fridge over night or for a few hours until it cools completely and fat solidifies.

(Ignore the little yellow specs, I was making some rice and a few sprinkles made their way into the pan. )See all that orangy looking goup around the meat? That’s fat. And you do not need it. It will make your sauce greasy.

Just take a spoon and lift up the fat. It will come off easily. And it’s kind of fun.

Now we slice. This is a VERY important step. If you slice the brisket with the grain, you can forget about that gorgeous melt in your mouth brisket. You need to cut AGAINST the grain, just like with my flank steak. That way you will get perfectly beautiful slices. This is also why we chilled it first. Not only is it easier to remove the fat, but it is much easier to cut the meat when it is cold.

Using a sharp knife we are going to be cutting AGAINST the grain. Make you use the length of the knife instead of sawing through the meat with short motions.

And now we place it into the pan…FAT SIDE DOWN. Because when you reheat your brisket…it is better fat side down.

At this point, I cover my brisket back up…and stick it in the freezer until it’s time to cook it!

This year I made it 2 weeks in advance. Again…16 hungry Russians and a Russian style dinner is not an easy task. I take all the precooking help I can get 🙂

Reheat it in a 350-degree oven, covered for about 40-45 minutes. And serve.

I promise people will rave…

Plates will be licked clean…

And eager fingers will try and get a slice in before you do 🙂

That’s hubby’s finger…trying to finagle its way in…
And you will be the ultimate host 🙂 With a few less dishes to clean.
Perhaps this time.. I will even get a chance to sit down and have a slice 🙂

Recipe Highlights

Choice of Meat: Opt for a whole brisket with fat intact, placing it fat side up in the cooking pan.
Marinade Mastery: Blend ketchup, dehydrated onion, garlic, chicken base, wine, and water, massaging it into the meat to ensure every crevice is coated. Marinate for 24 hours for optimal flavor infusion.
Vegetable Integration: Add roughly chopped carrots and onions around and atop the brisket, allowing their flavors to meld with the meat as it cooks.
Slow Roasting: Cover with foil and cook in a 350-degree oven for 3-4 hours, flipping halfway for even cooking. The fork test will confirm when it’s perfectly tender.
Preparation for Serving: Cool, remove excess fat, and slice against the grain. Freeze if desired, then reheat at 350 degrees when ready to serve, ensuring a mesmerizingly tender brisk