Holding Brisket in the Oven

[bvbull200]

I'll likely be finding myself in a situation where I will have some finished briskets that will need to hold for about 10 hours prior to serving.

I'm aware of how to start later, cook lower and slower, and all that jazz. Let's just assume that I will have 3 briskets that need to hold for 10 hours.

I have tested my oven at 170* and, once pre-heated, it has held between 160-165* for over an hour. I'm confident it'll keep low heat for as long as I need it to. What am I sacrificing if I put finished briskets, wrapped in foil, in the over for ~5 hours at 165*?

I also have a Cambro, but I'm not completely confident in holding longer than about 5-6 hours. Are those fears unjustified?

The plan was to pull the briskets, vent them briefly, then double-wrap in foil and put in the oven at 165* for about 5 hours. After that, I'd transfer to a pre-heated Cambro and hold until serving time.

What, besides the bark, am I risking with that plan? Better suggestions?

[dport7]

Drying out? don't know never held anything that long. 170 temp is ok, it is safe at the temp.

[Jason TQ]

Better suggestions?

Yes, don't hold them for 10hrs :becky:. Granted it sounds like you know of all cooking methods to potentially avoid holding for this long, but you still want to hold for 10hrs. But then you asked for better suggestions :loco:. Why can't you alter cook time to not hold for that long??

Oven will work if you have to have that answer. Shove it in there wrapped up at 170 and kill the oven after 4-5hrs and let it ride the remainder. I worked at a restaurant where we held briskets in a cvap for longer all the time so there is no issue there.

[landarc]

That should work, the obvious factors are the bark, the texture could get a little softer, and the taste could move slightly towards a braise. But, I really see little problem with the plan. I would run 170°F and I would put a pan of water in the oven as the oven pre-heats.

[Offthehook]

What is the situation? Could you cool and reheat?

[bvbull200]

Yes, don't hold them for 10hrs :becky:. Granted it sounds like you know of all cooking methods to potentially avoid holding for this long, but you still want to hold for 10hrs. But then you asked for better suggestions :loco:. Why can't you alter cook time to not hold for that long??

Oven will work if you have to have that answer. Shove it in there wrapped up at 170 and kill the oven after 4-5hrs and let it ride the remainder. I worked at a restaurant where we held briskets in a cvap for longer all the time so there is no issue there.

Not to sound smug, but the experience of cooking brisket is something I have plenty of. I'm well in to the triple digits for briskets this calendar year alone and I say that as a backyard cook doing this for a hobby, not a business. Holding for this long is not familiar to me, however.

I don't exactly "want" to, but for this cook, there are higher priorities than nailing the cook time. I'll explain below.

Points well taken, though :biggrin1:.
That should work, the obvious factors are the bark, the texture could get a little softer, and the taste could move slightly towards a braise. But, I really see little problem with the plan. I would run 170°F and I would put a pan of water in the oven as the oven pre-heats.

I figure the bark to be a lost cause. I can deal with a little softer texture, I'm just hoping this doesn't doom me for mushy brisket. It would seem to me that the temp is low enough to prevent that, though

What is the situation? Could you cool and reheat?

Cool and reheat is probably out. No time to start it early enough to make cooling an option.

These have to go on after work to be ready to serve the next day at lunch. I work a standard 8-5 job. I've cooked through the night, interrupted sleep to hit my wrapping point, and stayed alert to check often enough for when it is done and normally I'd do that now, but I'd much rather get these done in the early a.m., then just go to bed for the rest of the night (morning). I have things to do in the morning, most important of which is getting my daughter ready for the day, and don't want to give up the productivity that comes with a lack of sleep. If I'm simply going from great to really good BBQ in order to reduce stress and get some extra shut-eye, I'm okay with that.

[jjrkegler]

I would suggest a Nesco over an oven. The lowest temperature I've seen in an oven is 170, a Nesco will go down to 150. I checked one with a digital therm and it was pretty accurate. If you crack the top, you can keep it closer to 140, which is food safe minimum.

I cooked for my daughter's graduation and had to get the briskets off early to put other food on. Also, the party was 4 hours long so food had to last throughout. One of the briskets had to keep close to 7 hours. They all came out fine.

You can add water below the food pan in the Nesco to add moisture. I didn't notice any material softening of the bark.

if you have to use the oven, put it at 170 and put an oven mitt in the door and that will lower the temp. I think keeping it the higher temp might dry it out.

OK, I have to clarify on the Nesco. I borrowed some old ones for my graduation party and they all went down to 150 degrees. After I posted this I went out and looked at the new ones and they don't go below 200 so you would need an older Nesco for my method.

[pjtexas1]

It's a newer thing around her but it has been done for a long time.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217668&highlight=Held+brisket

[ebijack]

A friend holds his briskets for 10+ hrs, but in a controlled elec. Cambro shooting for 140*. Like mentioned, most oven won't go below 170* which is still cooking. And ovens cycle high/low to maintain a set temp. Not a constant temp. So you could pull the briskets a tad early and let them finish while holding in your oven for your 10 hrs.
Towels, coolers work quite well as an option also. Warm some fire bricks, wrap in foil and towels to add heat to the cooler. Lots of options.

[Jason TQ]

Sounds like your mind was made up before you even posted and you want to experiment, which I totally get. And yes, you do sound a little smug. Shove that sucker in the 170 oven and let us know how it goes. There should not be an issue if you kill the temp after a few hours.

[krex1010]

I'm no brisket master......but If I had to hold brisket or another similar cut for that long in a 170 oven, I'd probably pull it off the cooker at a lower temp. Collagen starts breaking down at around 160 I believe, so holding a wrapped brisket at 170 will continue that breakdown. So I'd probably pull it off about 10-15 degrees lower and then count on that long hold time to finish tenderizing the meat and not leave you with fall apart meat.

[bvbull200]

A friend holds his briskets for 10+ hrs, but in a controlled elec. Cambro shooting for 140*. Like mentioned, most oven won't go below 170* which is still cooking. And ovens cycle high/low to maintain a set temp. Not a constant temp. So you could pull the briskets a tad early and let them finish while holding in your oven for your 10 hrs.
Towels, coolers work quite well as an option also. Warm some fire bricks, wrap in foil and towels to add heat to the cooler. Lots of options.

My gas oven can be set to 170*, but, per my Maverick, it never actually got above 163*. This is with multiple checks over the course of 5 hours, so I'm comfortable with the sample size.

It spent most of the time from 156-160*, which was an oven flaw that worked in my benefit.

I pulled them a little early and it mostly worked. There were three getting this treatment and two were a tad overcooked, but only to a fairly critical person. The third was pretty spot on, save for the hit the bark took (as expected). None of the three were dry, all were a huge hit.

Sounds like your mind was made up before you even posted and you want to experiment, which I totally get. And yes, you do sound a little smug. Shove that sucker in the 170 oven and let us know how it goes. There should not be an issue if you kill the temp after a few hours.

The smugness is just a disguise to better fit in.

You're right, though. The situation was going to happen one way or another, though the "experiment" for how I would handle it was up in the air. For reasons stated above, I had already determined that I would have briskets that needed to hold for 10 hours. I had a proposed solution, but was certainly open to other suggestions.

It worked really, really well, I thought. I pulled them when I figured they were about 30-45 minutes from being probe tender (I cooked at 275*). It is an imperfect method, though, and I might have been ever so slightly late on two of the briskets. I was spot on with the third, though. The two that were less than perfect only suffered from the slices being able to support only about 3/4 of their weight. It isn't as though I had to turn it in to chopped, though, and moisture wasn't appreciably affected. I squared up a small section to shorten the slices by about an inch and you'd be hard pressed to know the difference.

I'm no brisket master......but If I had to hold brisket or another similar cut for that long in a 170 oven, I'd probably pull it off the cooker at a lower temp. Collagen starts breaking down at around 160 I believe, so holding a wrapped brisket at 170 will continue that breakdown. So I'd probably pull it off about 10-15 degrees lower and then count on that long hold time to finish tenderizing the meat and not leave you with fall apart meat.

I cooked all these briskets this year and never had to hold for this long, but now that I've done it, I do kind of regret not recording the temps when I pulled them off just in case I ever have to do this again. I rarely check temps after about 165*, let alone note them, so I didn't think about it.

I do know that it can be safely done, though. The biggest drawbacks are the effect on the bark and the risk of overcooking, not that either is a surprise. I got lots of sleep, spent time with my daughter this morning, and got a great response from 100+ people this afternoon, so I'm pleased with it.

Thanks to those that contributed. Hopefully this answers a couple questions for people in the future.

[Demosthenes9]

One change I would have made would be to wrap in butcher paper instead of foil for that long of a hold.

[Riz58]

If you have a turkey roaster, you can usually set it for around 150 degrees, add some beef base and it will keep it in the safe zone for the duration. We did this for my niece's wedding reception a few years back.