The Millionth "can you rest brisket overnight in an oven in "Keep Warm" mode post

[adamcoe]

Long story short, doing what will likely be a ~12-14 lb brisket after trimming. Gonna do the first 4-5 hours or so in the offset, but as I don't often have 12 hours to babysit an offset, I sometimes finish in the oven as many of us do. As such, I was wondering if I can simply keep it in the oven overnight after it's done cooking, to serve the next day. However, I have a couple of questions as to the particular technique, if anyone has tried it...here goes:

First, is it a realistic thing to even attempt in the first place? On paper it seems like it would work just fine.

Second, if I'm already finishing in the oven, is it wise to simply turn the oven off from its cooking temp (300) and let it coast down to the "Keep Warm" temp (I believe it's 170 on my oven), or is there any benefit to taking the brisket out and resting it in a cooler like I normally do, then returning it to the oven at 170 after a couple hours rest? Does the beef even care?

Any horror/success stories using this method are most welcome. Cheers!

[ecowper]

Questions …. 1. How long do you mean by "overnight"? 2. When do you think it will be done and when do you think you will serve?

[Henrik]

I would say yes. A long rest improves the end result.


But there needs to be a distinction between resting and holding. When the brisket is done it is often rested (with butcher’s paper) for 30 minutes or so on the kitchen counter. This is to get past carryover heat etc.

It is then moved into a faux cambro, or oven, or similar device for holding 1-n hours.

I would rest the brisket before the brisket temp hits 203F. As in: when it goes ‘soft’, but before probe tender, start resting it (when meat temp is 190-195). It will ‘mellow’ while resting. Then place it in the oven for a long hold.

The reason for resting it "too early" is to avoid overcooking it since it’s gonna be held for a long time anyway.

Would be interesting to hear what you others think.

[Jerod Broussard]

I would say yes. A long rest improves the end result.


But there needs to be a distinction between resting and holding. When the brisket is done it is often rested (with butcher’s paper) for 30 minutes or so on the kitchen counter. This is to get past carryover heat etc.

It is then moved into a faux cambro, or oven, or similar device for holding 1-n hours.

I would rest the brisket before the brisket temp hits 203F. As in: when it goes ‘soft’, but before probe tender, start resting it (when meat temp is 190-195). It will ‘mellow’ while resting. Then place it in the oven for a long hold.

The reason for resting it "too early" is to avoid overcooking it since it’s gonna be held for a long time anyway.

Would be interesting to hear what you others think.

I agree.

Briskets don't carryover like a pork roast, which is pulled from the heat at a much lower internal temp, since there is hardly any temperature discrepancy to carryover to with the brisket. With that said, you want things to cool down some if you are going to hold for a really long time. If I'm serving in 2-4 hours, I'm going straight from the smoker to cambro. If I'm extending it overnight for 12 hours I want that thing to cool down to about 150 before I put it in the warming oven.

[adamcoe]

Questions …. 1. How long do you mean by "overnight"? 2. When do you think it will be done and when do you think you will serve?

Oh the plan would be to start cooking at say, 8 pm till about 2 am, then put it in the oven to hold it till dinnertime, so upwards of 14 hours or something, which might not be either realistic nor desireable.

Last time I cooked it right up to 202, rested and then vacuum sealed and chilled, then reheated the next day up to about 155 in the SV, maybe that's the way to go again. Just sort of wondered if holding it vs. chilling and reheating had any major benefit.

[Draznnl]

I’ve held brisket in the 10 to 12 hour range. Never as long as the 14 hours you’re proposing. I’ll be interested in your results. Please remember to post what happens.

[58limited]

Many Texas BBQ joints cook the brisket the day before until done and then hold the wrapped brisket at about 140^o - 160^o for until the next day's service. I think you're fine although 170^o might be a tad high.

[Murdy]

You mention the cooking temp as 300 degrees. Could you increase the cooking time by cutting this temperature and thus reduce the hold time? Might necessitate checking it once or twice during the night, but better than every half hour on the stick burner. (Note: this is pure speculation on my part, just throwing this out as an idea, no personal experience here)

[ecowper]

This is what I would do

[JoeSousa]

Last weekend I was doing some briskets for a Father-Son campout. Since I didn't want to be awake all night before the campout I smoked the briskets during the day on Thursday, they finished cooking around 8 PM, put them in a 175 degree oven (the lowest our oven goes) and left them in there until 2 PM on Friday then loaded them into the cooler and took them camping. We ate around 6 PM on Friday.

I think if I was going to do this again I might pull the briskets off the smoker slightly sooner than I would if I was serving within a couple hours like Henrik said. They were still delicious but maybe just slightly overdone.

[Bogy]

Saturday I pulled 3 briskets at 203 and put them straight into the cambro, where they stayed from 2 to 4 hours. The people who ate them raved. I just pulled another brisket and put it straight into the cambro for dinner tonight, which will be about a 4 hour wait. I have left them in a 180 oven when I finished it there, and didn't want to do more shifting, depending on just how long we needed to wait. But never 14 hours.

[adamcoe]

You mention the cooking temp as 300 degrees. Could you increase the cooking time by cutting this temperature and thus reduce the hold time? Might necessitate checking it once or twice during the night, but better than every half hour on the stick burner. (Note: this is pure speculation on my part, just throwing this out as an idea, no personal experience here)

Yeah I had considered that as well... Maybe just do a longer cook vs a cook and hold. Perhaps just put it in at like 215 or 225 and let it slowly cook overnight and see where it's at the next day. Good call!

[Huskee]

There's always a reheat- "The Wozniak Way", I've done it, with a few minor changes to the exact instructions in the article, and it is excellent, indistinguishable from fresh-cooked. I personally am not a fan of a long hold because it then can get quite crumbly when trying to slice. YMMV.