How to Marinate Brisket Overnight

A brisket marinade is one of the best ways to ensure that your brisket will be full of flavor. For best results, you should marinade the beef brisket overnight. An overnight marinade both can add flavor, and help tenderize, the meat when you cook it the next day.

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Beef brisket is a slightly tougher cut of beef. Beef brisket comes from the chest area of the cow. Beef brisket can be cut and to include fat or into a cut where primarily the lean meat is eaten.

According to the USDA, 100 grams of lean-cut brisket will contain about 30 grams of protein, about 10 grams of fat, and 92 milligrams of cholesterol. Also according to the USDA, if you were to eat 100 grams of brisket with the fat included, you would eat about 27 grams of protein, 19 grams of fat and 92 milligrams of cholesterol.

Though you should not eat beef brisket for every meal, you can make it a part of your regular diet. According to the current, 2015-2020 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, you can safely consume up to 26 ounces of meat a week. However, the guide does warn that meat consumption may increase your risk of developing health conditions such as heart disease, type II diabetes and certain types of cancer.

Read more: What is the Healthiest Meat?

Though marinades often call for short amounts of time, in some cases as little as 30 minutes, the longer you marinade meat the more flavor it will get. Marinades can also tenderize the brisket before you cook the brisket. For a very tender brisket, you can let your brisket marinade overnight, prior to slow cooking the meat.

In order to help tenderize the brisket, your marinade should include an acidic element. This could be wine, citrus juice or vinegar. The acid helps break the meat down a bit, before cooking, which results in a more tender brisket. The acidic element will also help add additional flavor.

When preparing your marinade, mix the ingredients in a separate bowl, before adding the meat. Premixing the ingredients helps ensure all the ingredients are incorporated. Be sure to make enough marinade to fully submerge the brisket.

With the marinade mixed, place the brisket on a cutting board. You should trim extra fat before placing the brisket in a large bowl or pot. The bowl needs to be big enough to hold both the brisket and the marinade. To avoid splashing, place the meat in the bowl first, then pour in the mixed marinade.

A brisket does not necessarily need a wet marinade. A dry rub can also provide flavor and help tenderize the meat. A dry rub often contains several different spices, salt, sugar and, in some cases, some wet ingredients, like small amounts of citrus, wine or vinegar and possibly some olive oil. There are many recipes for rubs for briskets that you can choose from.

Before adding the rub, you should prepare the brisket. To do this, you should trim any of the extra fat on the meat.

When you find a recipe you like, mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Once the spices and other ingredients are well combined, spread the rub all over the meat. Once it is covered in the rub, place the brisket in the refrigerator. You can rub the brisket the night before and leave it overnight for more deep flavor.