No problem, I inadvertently do it sometimes. Would you then hold the brisket in the sous vide, after finishing, or is the long hold what you call "finishing"?
Long brisket hold skeptic
- Thread starter oldgfbbq
- Start date
No problem, I inadvertently do it sometimes. Would you then hold the brisket in the sous vide, after finishing, or is the long hold what you call "finishing"?
I would think to have it timed to finish at desired temp 200, in sous vide at the correct time to give it the ultimate rest, 2-3 hours possibly. At least I think that is the way one can be set up.
Lynn Dollar
is Blowin Smoke!
Yeah, the primary reason would be Aaron doesn't want you to cook great brisket.
That's why he wrote the book, to throw you off, so your brisket would suck.
This thread certainly derailed. 
Lynn Dollar
is Blowin Smoke!
Im sure he wants you to cook "good" brisket, just not great, or at least better then his. I don't think you understand how business works.
This thread certainly derailed.
Drinking too much Kool-Aid seems to have that effect.
This has been my experience, and never read his book. When cooking for an event ahead of time, I would wrap, cool, and reheat as described above for many of them. Otherwise, if I were trying to cut the briskets for serving within that two hour window and the cook went wrong or took longer than I expected, there were backup briskets that could be reheated, cut and served. Catering or cooking for onsite events develops one's sense of timing. Fortunately, most events had more than just brisket for dinner service. For me, chicken, ribs and pulled pork were easier to time for serving.
You guys really need to look into 185F-190F with a 150F 12 hour hold. Ive been doing it for almost a decade, Its a game changer. You will never cook a brisket to 205F ever again.
If you don't want to trust me, check out Smoke Trails BBQ on youtube.
If you don't want to trust me, check out Smoke Trails BBQ on youtube.
Please describe your cooking schedule utilizing a 12 hour hold, if your serving time is 2PM Saturday.
12 hours is a minimum. It can go up to 18 hours. But to answer your question, It comes out of the Offset at 10ish (PM), rest for an hour, then wrapped in BP with some butter, Lard, Tallow w/e. then put into an aluminum pan and tented with foil on a rack above the water line in a cooler with a sous vide immersion circulator set to 155F ( theres a 5 deg diff at rack level )
Last edited:
Yes, spiked Kool-Aid on a Friday night can enhance forum entertainment. Derailed thread again :grin:
Fair enough, I can see the merit of this method in a professional setting. However, my OP mentioned the family/friends event in one's backyard. In this case, pulling an all-nighter with beer and buddies might be more fun.
RE: cooler with pan, foil tent, rack, water, sous vide, toy boats and rubber duckies :-D, sounds like a food warmer with lid might accomplish the same thing.
Sure, if you have a food warmer that can hold a consistent 150F wet heat. Otherwise i hope you like jerky. Cooler+sous vide immersion circulator is a poor mans Combi oven/Alto-shaam.
PS, Let me know how those all nighters are when your in your 40's-60's like most of us old farts.
This is what I'm talking about, not expensive, wet heat, etc
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/ga...untertop-food-warmer-120v-1200w/177GW50E.html
I celebrated my 60th within the last month and have done a few all-nighter cooks this year. If docs can deliver anesthesia and do surgery overnight while On-Call, airline pilots fly overnight, not to mention the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and Santa, most can tend a fire and pull an all-nighter if motivated. If one has physical limitations, that is a different story and understood. Which brings me back to the original post and assertion, that long brisket holds are more about accommodating schedules than requisite for brisket quality.
But its not. You obviously heard of low and slow. We are just taking that low and slow to a new level. But you are starting off high and rendering fat until the muscle reaches 185F which is where it starts losing moisture at a fast rate. That's why you pull and rest, then wrap and hold at 150F for a long period so it can finish breaking down without losing all that moisture.
btw, those warmers you linked have major hot spots below. If you want to go that route, make sure you use a rack so the meat is not on the bottom. I would suggest water below said rack. And use a probe at rack level to monitor temp.
Last edited:
Im only bringing this up because when i do catering, I use chaffers with water below and even with one burner, the bottom of the chaffer pan gets way too hot and will overcook a sliced brisket in less then 2 hours. Its fustrating.
