Long "active" brisket hold methods/temps

[grisch]

Happy New Year fellow brethren!!! I've been on a brisket journey as many others have and continue to tinker. There are some great threads here about holding brisket but thought it might be helpful to get consolidated feedback into a single thread.

So, when you hold for extended times 4+ hours how are you holding and at what temp?

I've had best luck holding at 148 in a used alto shaam holding oven. 8-12 hours seems to produce best results for me. What I am currently experimenting with is the interplay between the cook and hold wrap. For instance, I typically smoke at 275-300 in top flow offset smoker (outlaw). If I go until probe tender naked (no wrap), I've had good luck with resting brisket until it is in the 150's IT, wrap in plastic wrap and into warming oven at 148. If I wrap in BP during the cook I let rest as described in BP and then hold in same BP. I haven't tried re-wrapping yet.

So curious, for those utilizing long active holds:
How do you hold? In BP, foil, plastic, naked? Re-wrap, yes or no? At what temp? In what vessel (roaster, oven, warmer, etc)?

Finally, what's your process after the long hold? Eg onto smoker to firm up bark? Increase temp in oven? Just pull from oven and slice?

Cheers to better 2021!!!

 

[gtsum]

In for info. I haven’t experimented with “active hold” but would like to learn


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[Jason TQ]

While I don't think active holding makes things better vs a shorter non active hold.....when I had access to alto's at the restaurant 150 did great after venting and played with humidity %, but not sure I found one that was more magical than another. Would hold the big meats all day (with no noticeable loss of meat quality) and we'd fire smalls for both services with minimal holding.

At home if I am holding long oven at 150 does fine for the same 6-12hr hold time. Wrapped in butcher paper and also in foil or foiled pan.

Most restaurants doing long active holds are doing as a way to produce as much meat as possible in limited smoker space (gotta free up space for small meats), not necessarily because it produces better meat.

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

I recently bought a dadgum turkey roaster for this specific purpose. Someone here turned me on to Chud BBQ on Youtube and I tried his method. Brisket goes into a foil boat and it cools on the counter for a bit before the hold. The times I have done it I just left the top of the brisket exposed.

Turkey roaster settles in around 153 and each time I have rested for 15+ hours. Best briskets I have made, but I haven't made many good ones either. I think it was a Kosmos video where he put plastic wrap around a brisket that was already wrapped in paper for the hold. Look forward to learning from this thread.

 

[Royalslover]

Man you are thinking this through pretty deeply! I will be curious to see what folks say. I personally just wrap in foil to rest(I cook in BP). Put it in a cheap cooler with a bunch of towels on top. The longest I've rested is 8 hours. Ideally I think anywhere between 1 and 5 hours is a good rest time.

 

[Czarbecue]

Long "active" brisket hold methods/temps

While I don't think active holding makes things better vs a shorter non active hold.....when I had access to alto's at the restaurant 150 did great after venting and played with humidity %, but not sure I found one that was more magical than another. Would hold the big meats all day (with no noticeable loss of meat quality) and we'd fire smalls for both services with minimal holding.

At home if I am holding long oven at 150 does fine for the same 6-12hr hold time. Wrapped in butcher paper and also in foil or foiled pan.

Most restaurants doing long active holds are doing as a way to produce as much meat as possible in limited smoker space (gotta free up space for small meats), not necessarily because it produces better meat.

Have you been back to Foggy recently? Their brisket is approaching Dickey’s quality and I’m not sure if they know since most of their orders were pulled pork (I waited 30 minutes for my food and just observed).

Back on topic, I bought a 22 qt roaster and let it sit in the original BP after venting. I go with a cooler and foil with multiple briskets since it protects the meat more. The heat source from multiple briskets make an active hold a moot point.

 

[JAKs Q & brew]

I haven't tried active holding as I don't have a reliable low temp option. Interested in learning from these reposnses. Might be enough to convince me to get the Anova combi oven

 

[Lynn Dollar]

Turkey roaster settles in around 153 and each time I have rested for 15+ hours. Best briskets I have made, but I haven't made many good ones either. I think it was a Kosmos video where he put plastic wrap around a brisket that was already wrapped in paper for the hold. Look forward to learning from this thread.

Does turkey roaster = roaster oven ?


We have a roaster oven that never gets used and I had not thought about using it to hold meats.

 

[Jason TQ]

Have you been back to Foggy recently? Their brisket is approaching Dickey’s quality and I’m not sure if they know since most of their orders were pulled pork (I waited 30 minutes for my food and just observed).

Not as much as I'd like especially since their newer lawrenceville location is about 6 miles from my house :twitch:.

Last I was there food was banging. Maintaining quality food at a q joint, because of having to hold, is tough and they do it well.

I check fb marketplace and craiglslist for altos from time to time. You can get a decent smaller one for pretty cheap. I just don't cook enough anymore. Don't get me wrong........I have the room........and keep looking :mrgreen:

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

Does turkey roaster = roaster oven ?


We have a roaster oven that never gets used and I had not thought about using it to hold meats.

Yeah I believe we are talking about the same thing. My kitchen oven on the lowest setting would swing from 130 to 210. I spent $30 on a roaster since it was near Thanksgiving. I monitored the temps with another therm. It holds steady temps empty or with food in it.

 

[pjtexas1]

I keep it simple. Take out of bp and vent 10-15 minutes. Foil and into the roaster around 160. Take out and slice. If I have several briskets then the Carlisle insulated food holder is good for 6 or so hours.

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[okiej]

Great info here. I'm going to have to follow. I have a roaster oven rarely used also. Never thought about holding a brisket in it. I'm going to have to check it's temps now

 

[grisch]

This is great stuff, thx for sharing!!!! Keep m coming

Jason, I assume in the restaurant you we're loading up the altos and getting corresponding humidity benefit from multiple briskets? Any difference to humidity settings or addition of water if only holding a single brisket? Great advice from you for others to keep an eye on fb marketplace and craigslist for used restaurant equipment. I picked up the smaller alto shaam a few years ago for less than $500. It's a great addition to the arsenal.

 

[smoke ninja]

I wrap brisket in butcher paper just after the stall and stick it in the roaster. I'll ride between 225-250 until it starts to get tender and then lower temp to about 200 to finish. since the temp is so low I do not vent and then drop the temp to 150 for holding. it goes straight from cooking wrapped to hold. there seems to be alot of humidity in the roaster. if I end up holding in a cooler I add a layer of foil and then wrap in towels

 

[Curt.P]

My oven has a hold function and it works well. I use it mostly with pork shoulder, but have done it with a couple of briskets. In the oven I'll put it in a foil pan and then foil the pan. But most of the time it's a a passive hold in a Pelican cooler, no wrap.

 

[TravelingJ]

I keep it simple. Take out of bp and vent 10-15 minutes. Foil and into the roaster around 160. Take out and slice. If I have several briskets then the Carlisle insulated food holder is good for 6 or so hours.

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I haven't had good luck with brisket in the past, but this advice is what I used on my giftmas brisket, and it was the best one I've made yet. I don't have a roaster, so I had it in the oven at 170 (you guys are seriously make me rethink how much I like my oven with all of these 150 settings that you have)

To add on to the insulted food holder portion-those really do need to be FULL to achieve the long hold. I preheated mine for a brisket 2 weeks ago, and it didn't have near the heat retention of when I load it fully with meat and sides.

 

[smoke ninja]

I haven't had good luck with brisket in the past, but this advice is what I used on my giftmas brisket, and it was the best one I've made yet. I don't have a roaster, so I had it in the oven at 170 (you guys are seriously make me rethink how much I like my oven with all of these 150 settings that you have)

To add on to the insulted food holder portion-those really do need to be FULL to achieve the long hold. I preheated mine for a brisket 2 weeks ago, and it didn't have near the heat retention of when I load it fully with meat and sides.

most home ovens dont go below 170 and even still when the unit kicks on you get a spike over 200. this is why I started with using the turkey roaster. the temp is way more consistent.

pitmaster T dubbed it the "big lie". large meats are cooked and holding long before anyone arrives to eat. timing a cook is a thing of the past. donnie's has also done some cool things with the roaster in braising and frying type effects.

so it looks like "active hold" is the name of this thing. while I'll admit it is better than my old one it bothers me who came up with it. old EL is an acquired taste to say the least

 

[toys4dlr]

At the restaurant we set the cvap at 165, with moisture set at 15. We were in and out during the day for serving, and that kept the temps in a good food safe range. At home I have choices, the standard cambro, a heated cambro and I kept the small half cvap. So I could hold for as long as I like with that. Good to have choices

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[grisch]

Big thx to Ninja, tried your brisket method w fantastic results. Smokey, tender brisket. 15.5 lb brisket, trimmed about 3 lbs. On the offset by noon, kept between 250-275. On at noon, 9 hours smoke, wrapped in butcher paper, into warming oven at 200 overnight. Ramped down to 180 by noon next day, then 160 and 140 , served at 5pm. Little overdone but.very moist, perfect tacky bark and fat render. Will keep playing w thisethod.

 

[grisch]

Shot before wrap