HELP!!!! Have I overcooked beef brisket?

[peggotty]

Had a total of 2kg in 2 pieces in the oven for 4.5 hours. Realised that original recipe we're using is for 5kg. Ours is not feeling very tender now! When I stick a fork in it it feels quite hard and there's no 'give'. Bloody bollocks. Is it overcooked or can I save it? Please help, it's for a BBQ this afternoon and we'll struggle to make it all over again!!

Bump

I think it may possibly be too late, but if it was me I would shred it and make a BBQ sauce and steep it in that for a bit to perhaps tenderise it a bit, serve it in french sticks with some crispy onions or something. I wouldn't throw it, but try - you never know. Alternatively,just whizz it in the magimix and turn it into a cottage pie - that would be ok, and just get something else for your BBQ. Sorry I can't suggest more positive ideas.

Thanks rock. It was already roasted in a BBQ type sauce. The idea was to then char it on the BBQ and slice it up. Gah! Whole point of it was that we could just have the beef and some bread/salad etc and not be faffing about with chicken/sausages/burgers etc.

Brisket does go very firm once it is cold, it goes soft if you slice it and heat it up in a sauce or gravy...worth a try?

Peggotty then I think the best thing to do is to shred it, wrap it in some foil loosely, make sure there are a couple or three little holes at the top of the parcel and then pop it on the BBQ - you will benefit from the smoky flavour a little and then serve it in buns/bread/tortillas with salad etc -it should be ok, maybe not as perfect as you had hoped, but I doubt very much it will be a total disaster. Good luck!