Electric warming drawer versus cambro/cooler for carry over and rest time

[JB3]

I've been doing a bunch of reading on the use of the cambro/cooler for the rest period and I am curious about using an electronic warming drawer as an alternative. If the primary goal is to maintain temperature and not materially increase the internal temperature, it would seem to me that setting the warming drawer to 80-100 degrees would meet this goal. My assumption is that the only difference between using cooler vs the warming drawer would be that I would not use towels or paper to pack the void spaces since the air around the meet would already be consistently warm.
I am eager to hear thoughts from this community on the use and technique to leverage a warming drawer for carry over and resting.

[Jerod Broussard]

I use it whenever I can. Be using one this Sunday. I typically allow the meat to drop down some before I put it in. That way I can set the draw for 150 (brisket) and 165 (pulled pork) since I don't want them to drop down below that.

Welcome to the Pit JB3!!!

[Butterman]

I've used my oven a few times now (had a few things larger than the cooler) and it has worked well. Would think the warming drawer is similar or better. Min temp on my oven is 170 so I end up cycling it on and off a few times, especially with brisket that I want to sit for several hours.

[Huskee]

I suppose the end results it the same- keep heat on the meat w/o further cooking it. A cooler is free, a warming drawer uses energy, otherwise same goal.

[Ernest]

I'd still wrap it in the drawer, prevent drying out.

[CurlingDog]

I typically remove the pork butt from the grill to pull it in and then return it to the foil to let it rest in the juices it cooked in. In summer, we typically eat outside. From a presentation standpoint and it's nice to bring it to the party direct from the grill to the table instead of pulling hot meat from a beer cooler. Sure, it's at the expense of a few more pellets to maintain the temp but in reality the meat doesn't fall off it's cooking temp all that fast, and it's worth it to make it appear that it's done right on time. You eat with your eyes first.

[_John_]

A towel is used to hold the heat in, without it it will cool to match the temp of the surrounding air much faster. How much faster I don't know, but I know a butt wrapped in a towel in a cooler will still be in the 160-170 range 3 hours later.
I have a Cambro (technically a Carlisle) and those, depending on the space, don't really need a towel. I put 4 butts in mine in pans covered with foil and they stayed even hotter. Several hours later I put it in the garage and cracked the door to let any moisture out and the thing was still steaming from like 6 hours before even though there was nothing in it.
If I were using the drawer I would still wrap and hold at temps that Jerod mentioned.

[JB3]

I'll give it a shot this weekend with a brisket. The logic of keeping it at 150 is solid. There is the option to put a cup of water in the drawer to keep some moisture present. I'm leaning towards doing that but I don't want the bark to get soft.

I'm not I understand the value of wrapping the brisket. Is that needed if I am maintaining the goal ambient temperatures or the drawer?

[Dr ROK]

Wrapping the brisket will help hold in moisture while it is resting in the warming drawer/cambro.

[MBMorgan]

It sounds like you've settled on holding at 150 ... which is very good since the originally mentioned 80 - 100 is smack in the middle of the food temp danger zone (40 - 140 deg F) ... whew!

Oh ... and welcome to the Pit!

Mike

[bbqoaf]

I agree with Ernest, I use one quite often and wrap it in foil to prevent drying out, works very well.

[JB3]

If I add a cup of water to the warming drawer will that help prevent drying it out? Also will wrapping the brisket make the bark lose some of it's bark-ness, i.e. will it get soft?

[JB3]

Net result of my first brisket cook was raves from all 11 guest; A consistent comment was how moist the brisket was which definitely made me proud of the end product. It was a 19 hour cook @ 225 for roughly 13.5 lb trimmed brisket . I injected beef broth and it should be noted that I did upgrade to wagyu. I used a blend of hickory, peach and cherry wood chunks (probably 8-10 oz if I recall correctly). I layer my lump charcoal and wood so that I can spread the smoke timing a little. My only compliant with the Primo is that the isn't a good way to add wood after getting everything rolling and this has been my approach to best solve this issue.

I had a few weird/unexpected internal temperatures experiences with the cook. First I did not wrap the brisket to power through any stalls and that was a predetermined decision to give it the time to naturally make it through versus potentially impacting the bark. The result was I a long stall at 150 and another at 167. Then when I reached 192 internal when things took the an unexpected turn. The pit temperature was rock solid at 225 but the internal temperature dropped to 184 and stayed there for almost an hour. It slowly came back up but I eventually pulled the brisket at 19 hours and the internal temp was back at 190.

There was another unexpected challenged for lifting the brisket to double wrap for placement in the warming drawer. The meat was so tender I had to solicit help to slide a pan under a portion of the brisket while I slowly hand lifted parts upward. This was a good sign for taste to come. Speaking of the warming drawer, I set it to 155 and rested the brisket for 60 minutes. Very little temperature loss occurred and when I served is was an ideal temperature and over the moon taste results.

Huge kudos goes out to amazing ribs articles for the guidance over the last 9 months and the input from the community to give me the confidence to try the drawer without any hesitation.