Brisket to Travel

[MattP]

My family has a get-together for Memorial Day every year, about 90 minutes from my house. A request has come if I would be willing to smoke a brisket and bring it for lunch, which I am all too happy to do. I'll plan to do it overnight (my first overnighter!) so it can be as fresh as possible come lunchtime.

I don't have worries about keeping it warm in a cooler with blankets and wrapped in foil, but here's a question I do have:

Because I'll be looking to keep it hot for an hour and a half, would I want to pull it off the WSM a little bit earlier than I normally would?

 

[Dwain Pannell]

I wouldn't. I'd cook it the way I always do then hold it in a Faux Cambro (a warm cooker with blankets wrapped in foil). Do not let the temp of the meat fall below 150°F while it is in the cooler or else you could get sick - or worse - get others sick. If you have a tight cooler it should hold the meat well above 160°F for hours. This lets you take the meat off when it is ready and hold it until ready to serve. You can use the juice in a sauce or as is plus resting also helps tenderize.

 

[MattP]

I feel pretty confident that my cooler will keep the meat above that temp for the time needed to make the drive. This past weekend when I did my first pork butt I had it in there, wrapped in foil, and gently packed in blankets, for three hours, and the butt was still too hot to handle bare-handed when I pulled it out.

I see myself 'charging' the cooler with hot water beforehand too, to help give it that extra oomph.

 

[PeterZ]

if your brisket is lets say 205F and goes into blankets and good cooler , you should have about 4 hours no problem.
Just my 2c.

Peter

 

[Bob Bass]

Matt...
You may want to let the brisket cool a little, to stop it cooking, before wrapping and bagging...
Otherwise, you could very easily end up with BBQ Pot Roast instead of BBQ Brisket.

I believe this was the reason behind you asking if you should pull before reaching the 'tenderness' stage ?

 

[Bob Sample]

The Bobs agree. You have to let it rest on the counter uncovered for 30 minutes or so to stop the cooking process if you cook it to done before wrapping. You can pull early and wrap to finish cooking in the foil and cooler but this method is hit and miss whether or not it is done properly when your ready to eat.

Your cooking and eating beef so the safe consumption temp really isn't a big concern. If it was then we would all be dead from those nice rare steaks we eat. Saying this I'm assuming your not sitting it on a chicken laced cutting board to rest before wrapping.

 

[MattP]

Matt...
You may want to let the brisket cool a little, to stop it cooking, before wrapping and bagging...
Otherwise, you could very easily end up with BBQ Pot Roast instead of BBQ Brisket.

I believe this was the reason behind you asking if you should pull before reaching the 'tenderness' stage ?

Yup! You nailed it right on the head. Knowing I would be keeping it pretty hot for travel, I wasn't sure if I'd pull it off a little early to prevent it from overcooking while in the cooler.

Thanks for your tip of letting it cool for a short while before packing up for travel!

The Bobs agree. You have to let it rest on the counter uncovered for 30 minutes or so to stop the cooking process if you cook it to done before wrapping. You can pull early and wrap to finish cooking in the foil and cooler but this method is hit and miss whether or not it is done properly when your ready to eat.

Your cooking and eating beef so the safe consumption temp really isn't a big concern. If it was then we would all be dead from those nice rare steaks we eat. Saying this I'm assuming your not sitting it on a chicken laced cutting board to rest before wrapping.

Shoot-- I was going to brine it in chicken guts after I was done smoking it!

 

[Dave Russell]

The Bobs agree. You have to let it rest on the counter uncovered for 30 minutes or so to stop the cooking process if you cook it to done before wrapping. You can pull early and wrap to finish cooking in the foil and cooler but this method is hit and miss whether or not it is done properly when your ready to eat.

In principle, I agree 100% with Bob. However, I think that 10 minutes on the counter is probably plenty for most briskets to lose their steam before holding hot. I guess it's relative to how long you're going to hold and in what, though. For the purpose of the OP's question though, one of those "cooler bags" that the big stores sells will hold the brisket plenty hot for the drive, and putting the wrapped brisket in a large foil roasting pan should keep the inside of the bag clean and retain any leakage.