Rest in cooler


 
J

JCampbell

New member
Happy 4th to everyone! Planning on smoking a couple of butts on Sunday night for a cookout Monday. Is 4 hours in a cooler wrapped in foil and towels about the max time you would suggest to hold them before pulling? If not, what would you suggest if they finish up early. Thanks!
 
In this weather, two butts in a cooler will probably stay quite hot for 6 hours. You should be ok by a wide margin.

Jeff
 
JCampbell said:
Happy 4th to everyone! Planning on smoking a couple of butts on Sunday night for a cookout Monday. Is 4 hours in a cooler wrapped in foil and towels about the max time you would suggest to hold them before pulling? If not, what would you suggest if they finish up early. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Dustin Dorsey said:
You can also preheat your cooler by filling it with hot water to warm it up. Dump it out before putting in your food.
Click to expand...

Dustin
Which is your opinion about leaving the hot water inside the cambro for all the resting period (with the meat in) ??
 
Enrico Brandizzi said:
Dustin
Which is your opinion about leaving the hot water inside the cambro for all the resting period (with the meat in) ??
Click to expand...

I guess you could. I usually wrap the meat in foil, then towels. The water might be even better for holding temp though if you can keep it separate from your food.
 
Just my opinion, but I think you'd be better off with the meat tightly wrapped in foil and just blankets/towels in the cooler. The water might cool off sooner than the meat would wrapped in its insulation. You want the meat to stay above 140 degrees. Tap water is usually around 125, so you'll actually be cooling the meat down. You'd have to use very hot water and then hope that it didn't cool down to below 140. Without water, you have thermal mass working for you rather than against you.

Again, you won't have any problem keeping the meat hot for at least 4-6 hours just wrapped in foil and towels.

Jeff
 
Putting the cooler with the meat in it in direct sunlight can extend your hold time further if necessary. That shouldn't be necessary as long as they're wrapped good and you only want to hold for 4-6hrs.
 
I wouldn't use water either. I have pulled brisket out of a cooler with towels after four hours and it is still too hot to touch. But I think its important not to use a full size cooler. I use a coleman that is about half the size of a regular beverage cooler. Less air. I put a large folded towel on the bottom and a large towel on top. The cooler then has zero air space.

image.jpg9_zps5l2raagw.jpg
 
Last edited:
When I did a couple pork butts a week ago, I pulled them off the smoker at 9, foiled them, then put them in a 5 gallon cooler lined with towels. They were still quite hot (too hot to handle with ungloved hands) at 11:30am when I pulled them. I figure they could have survived a couple more hours without a problem.
 
I agree with Jeff. Water is a terrible insulator. Think of the water in your car radiator, it sucks out the heat.

JC. Tightly wrap in foil, then wrap them up in towels. I did this a week ago, & the cook was still hot after 3 hrs.
 
I put a small chuck roast in foil/towels in a cheap foam ice chest yesterday. It was 200 going in and about 155 when I took it out 3.5 hours later.

When I put bigger cuts like butts or brisket they hold temp even better in the chest.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top