How long can you rest a brisket in a cooler?

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To rephrase the title question... what I'm asking is, how slowly does a brisket cool down when it's kept in a cooler, wrapped in towels? Obviously it depends on the cooler.. just a rough average.

I've never used a cooler for long rests. I watched MSB's most recent "how to cook a brisket" video to refresh my memory on a few process things. He mentioned you can either let it rest in a low temp oven or in a cooler, and he recommended letting it rest overnight at least 12 hours if not longer. However, he used the oven method -- overnight. I'm not comfortable leaving my oven turned on while I'm asleep, and I don't know if a cooler can maintain the meat above safe temperatures for that long.

Would a cooler (+towels) keep it hot enough for, say, 7-8 hours, and then maybe I can transfer to a low temp oven in the morning until dinner time?

Ideally, I would like to do my cook during the day on Day1 so I don't have to babysit the smoker overnight, and let it rest until dinner time on Day2.
 
Finishing your cook in the evening of day 1 and then resting until dinner time day 2 sounds too long to me for oven or cooler.

In the oven from 10 pm first day to 5 pm next day I'd be afraid of drying it out even on warm.

In a cooler, it wouldn't be safe. No way.

Only chance may be cooler overnight and then oven till dinner, but that's a long rest.
 
I don't have an answer for you but I know you're on the right path. Extended holds, not Lawry's, is the key to great BBQ IMO.

I use a warming drawer set to 150F and it's completely changed the way I think about smoking. Now I take my time enjoying the day-of cook, not having to worry about getting everything ready in time for dinner. Then when the foods done, I let it sit at room temp until it drops to around 145F, then remove from foil, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place it in the warming oven until the next day, to be eaten whenever I feel like, up to 16-18 hours later. I was also worried about it drying out, but that's not the case (opposite in fact) and it's how it's typically done professionally.

This has made a HUGE improvement in my pork butts & briskets in both texture and juiciness. Not to mention removes the the palate fatigue you get from smelling smoke all day.
 
To rephrase the title question... what I'm asking is, how slowly does a brisket cool down when it's kept in a cooler, wrapped in towels? Obviously it depends on the cooler.. just a rough average.
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So the USDA recommends Hot Food be held 140+. But, that is Hot food that will be Exposed to Bacteria, like a pan of Pulled Pork on a Buffet line.

Realistically, if you pull a 200° brisket out of the smoker and immediately wrap it in foil, cover that in towels and place the whole deal in a clean cooler the internal temp could fall below the 140° temp because it would take some type of super bacteria to get into a cooler, then through a towel, then into a foil pouch and start multiplying. The key here is "immediately wrap it." And most cooks will let the brisket cool down a few degrees so the carry over temp in the cooler won't over cook it.

All that said, I like to use a 3 to 4 hour cooler rest. And because of all the talk in the last couple of years about hot holding, I have used a tabletop roaster oven, and they work great.
 
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Tested this theory last week with a pork butt. Pulled naked butt at probe tender, 202ish, sat on tray for 5 min while I got warm towels out of drier. Dumped hot water out of cooler that had been in there 15 min. Couple towels under foiled wrapped butt, then butt with probe poked through foil, then 2 more blankets, closed cooler lid. Watched fireboard all day in anticipation of result. Took 10 hours and a few min to get to 140. One of the best butts I’ve made in a while. Excellent render and perfect pull. I wouldn’t normally rely on 10 hour cooler hold but it’s very doable. This was a small crappy Coleman cooler. Cooked from 1700-0200, rested till 1215 and then pulled for lunch.

Doing 12 butts on Saturday and plan to follow same protocol to hold butts for about 6 hours.
 
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Thanks everyone for your input!

TXArmy that was exactly what I was looking for, much appreciated. Great idea with the hot water to preheat the cooler. I would imagine that a brisket wouldn't hold temp quite that long since it is quite a bit thinner than a butt, but it's still good to know that it can hold for a good bit of time.

Useful thread, I'm glad I asked about this. The more input the better :grin:
 
Couple more thoughts... No reason you can't cooler hold for 8 hours, until meat in the 150s, then put in oven/toaster and hold longer. I've done similar long hold in oven with meat wrapped in plastic wrap like SonVolt and it turned out amazing. Lots of options to satisfy varying serving times. I do not recall where/who's profile I read it in but I've wholly adopted the principal that the only difference between 225 and 275-300 is 4-5 hours of sleep. The last 5ish briskets and 30ish butts have been cooked around 300 for no more than 9 hours. Pic attached of fireboard graph for fun.
 

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TXArmy said:
Couple more thoughts... No reason you can't cooler hold for 8 hours, until meat in the 150s, then put in oven/toaster and hold longer. I've done similar long hold in oven with meat wrapped in plastic wrap like SonVolt and it turned out amazing. Lots of options to satisfy varying serving times. I do not recall where/who's profile I read it in but I've wholly adopted the principal that the only difference between 225 and 275-300 is 4-5 hours of sleep. The last 5ish briskets and 30ish butts have been cooked around 300 for no more than 9 hours. Pic attached of fireboard graph for fun.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that was exactly the plan.. cooler hold so I can get a full night's sleep, then keep it warm in the oven after I wake up. I just don't like keeping oven on overnight, I've had a heating coil burn out and spontaneously catch fire before, so I'm not going to risk it.

I'm with you on the temp thing too. Every time I've "screwed up" and cooked something too hot, it came out amazing. There's such a fixation on "hot and fast OR low and slow".. nobody ever bothers to consider that "medium and medium" might work well too. You'd think the fat would render better at a higher temp anyway *shrug*

Thanks! Fellow fireboard user :cool:
 
thirdeye said:
So the USDA recommends Hot Food be held 140+. But, that is Hot food that will be Exposed to Bacteria, like a pan of Pulled Pork on a Buffet line.

Realistically, if you pull a 200° brisket out of the smoker and immediately wrap it in foil, cover that in towels and place the whole deal in a clean cooler the internal temp could fall below the 140° temp because it would take some type of super bacteria to get into a cooler, then through a towel, then into a foil pouch and start multiplying. The key here is "immediately wrap it." And most cooks will let the brisket cool down a few degrees so the carry over temp in the cooler won't over cook it.

All that said, I like to use a 3 to 4 hour cooler rest. And because of all the talk in the last couple of years about hot holding, I have used a tabletop roaster oven, and they work great.
Click to expand...

I was about to reply basically the same on food safety. You basically have a sterile piece of meat being wrapped. No worries if it drops below 140 unless you wipe your ass with it.

I've kept briskets in a cooler for greater than 8 hours and they were still hot when I took em out.
 
A little late to the party but thought I'd toss this out. For best cooler resting results you'll need to fill every cubic inch of cooler space with something other than air. Towels do a great job (though they tend to smell smoky afterward) but if you don't have enough then tightly wadded newspapers are a great insulator that will fill up the air gaps nicely. I do like the "preheat with hot water" suggestion noted earlier.
 
Yes filling cooler is very important to max hold time. I have a bunch of cheap old towels and blankets whose sole purpose is to retain bbq heat and odor. Curious if high end cooler, ie. yeti or rtic, would extend hold time considerably…
 
A cooler? Probably till it dips below 140F.
A Warmer? Bout 12- 24 hours at 140F.


Cracks me up when i see people buy a Yeti to hold Brisket when you can buy a warmer like a toaster oven or a MES for less to hold.
 
TXArmy said:
Curious if high end cooler, ie. yeti or rtic, would extend hold time considerably…
Click to expand...

I'd imagine so. If a good quality cooler can keep ice frozen for longer, the same would apply for heat retention.

I wouldn't run out and spend $200 on a cooler for this purpose, but if I had one already I'm sure it would do a better job holding temp.

Itsdone said:
when you can buy a warmer like a toaster oven or a MES for less to hold.
Click to expand...

There's been a couple mentions of toaster ovens in here.. I don't know what kind of monster toaster ovens you guys have that can fit anything bigger than a porterhouse. :biggrin1:

I'm just a backyard cook, no interesting in spending $$$ on a specialty warmer. I'm fine using the regular oven at low temp, I just don't want to leave it turned on while I sleep.
 
Actually tested the hypothesis yesterday/today. Borrowed a buddy’s yetis. Cooked 16 butts for work holiday party. Cooked butts from 1300-0130, with them coming off in waves from 2230-0130. Naked butts foiled within 5 minutes and into prewarmed (water filled) yeti with towels right out of drier. All butts including the ones that came off at 2230 were still 160+ at 1030 when I pulled them to serve. Have a few leftover butts in the bottom of one of the yetis that’s been in there 14+ hours and is still at 157. To sum it up, the higher end coolers will keep a hot hunk of meat at food safe temps for 18 hours+ if needed. It wont be my normal process but knowing what’s possible opens up a lot of options for cooking/serving times.
 
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Forgot my piece about toaster oven. I have one but it won’t stay low enough for my liking, it floats around 175. W/Coleman I can get 10 hrs and knowing a yeti will give me 18 hrs makes coolers more appealing. Plus as you indicate, I can rest 16 butts in two coolers and not need 16 toaster ovens.
 
I have a Pelican cooler I use to hold brisket when I need to take it somewhere. I don't pre-heat the cooler - I take the brisket straight from the smoker to the cooler without cool-down. I also don't foil the brisket, it just rests in a half-size foil pan. No towels either. No issues with holding for 6-12 hours.

At home I use the electric smoker to hold. I don't add any wood to the woodbox.
 
TXArmy said:
Actually tested the hypothesis yesterday/today. Borrowed a buddy’s yetis. Cooked 16 butts for work holiday party. Cooked butts from 1300-0130, with them coming off in waves from 2230-0130. Naked butts foiled within 5 minutes and into prewarmed (water filled) yeti with towels right out of drier. All butts including the ones that came off at 2230 were still 160+ at 1030 when I pulled them to serve. Have a few leftover butts in the bottom of one of the yetis that’s been in there 14+ hours and is still at 157. To sum it up, the higher end coolers will keep a hot hunk of meat at food safe temps for 18 hours+ if needed. It wont be my normal process but knowing what’s possible opens up a lot of options for cooking/serving times.
Click to expand...


Wow, that's good to know. Thanks. I'm really glad I asked about this. You're right that this opens up a lot of options
 
I am thinking of getting one of those heavy-duty Styrofoam coolers for resting. I could run my Thermoworks probe through the side, duct tape it shut, and set a low alarm for 140°.

Also, I could soak those gel ice packs in hot water to add thermal mass under the towels for longer rests.
 
Swine Spectator said:
I am thinking of getting one of those heavy-duty Styrofoam coolers for resting. I could run my Thermoworks probe through the side, duct tape it shut, and set a low alarm for 140°.

Also, I could soak those gel ice packs in hot water to add thermal mass under the towels for longer rests.
Click to expand...


Total redneck and I LOVE it!!
 
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