Fourteen Hour Brisket Hold?

[Sid P]

My brother in Atlanta hasn’t been around to sample my brisket mastery firsthand, but word has spread 😉. He lives in a townhouse so I can’t smoke one down there, but I’m thinking about taking one with me when I visit next month. The plan would be to:

1. Put it on the smoker at noon the day before I leave.
2. Wrap it before I head to bed.
3. Pull it around 3:00am.
4. Wrap it in several layers of butcher paper, and wrap a couple towels around that.
5. Put it in my small Extreme cooler, cover all the excess space with wadded up butcher paper, and not open it up until dinner time in Atlanta.

The best case scenario is a 13 hour rest, and it could be longer. The last brisket I did this way was too hot to touch after a four hour rest, and the cooler I have is amazing, but it’s still a very long time. Has anyone tried anything like this?


PS. A note for you youngsters: Paper is a wonderful insulator. Back in the 70’s we would wrap cans of pop in a couple layers of newspaper (look it up 😉), and they’d still be cold after several hours in a backpack on a hot summer day.

[realdocBBQ]

Absolutely YES. Not a problem at all, and will likely work out fabulously.



The down side is driving 12 hours in a vehicle with that brisket smelling up your ride the whole way! You may arrive in ATL with only crumbs remaining, a guilty look on your face and greasy chin and fingers!

[Sid P]

Yeah, the cooler might need to go in airtight container…

[STEbbq]

I think it should work out fine.

[Donw]

I’d suggest heat soaking the cooler with really hot water first so the interior is warmed before adding the meat and towels.

[fracmeister]

I was initially skeptical of the difference this would make but it makes a BIG difference. I also but a brick wrapped in foil in for the last 2 hours of my cook and put that in as well. Not sure what difference it made but I went 15 hours and it was still restaurant warm.

[HawkerXP]

+3 we do this with ice bags 24 hours before long international flights. Keeps cold a loooooong time.

[N227GB]

Another vote for the hot water.

[MattTheGR8]

I once did a 6 hour drive with a cooler full of butts and it worked fine, but 14 hours is a long time. If you smoked him 2 briskets the extra thermal mass would help.

[Sid P]

😆😆 You’re pretty free with my money, Matt, but I like the concept. Maybe I’ll toss in a pork butt.

[MattTheGR8]

Of course, other people's money is always free! Seriously though, the more I think about this the more concerned I am about the flat. The point end or even a butt has a low surface area to mass ratio, but not so much for the flat. That skinny end might just drop quite a bit over 14 hours even in a great cooler. If you add more meat, use it to cover the flat.

[Santamarina]

I’ve never done it in a cooler that long, but I’ve held many briskets for over 12 hours in a warming oven with no issues at all.

My only concern with a cooler hold that long is keeping the IT above 140°F. But it sounds like your cooler may be up to the task.

[JeffJ]

Your plan will work out well.

[Draznnl]

Your quite the guy Sid. The average person would tell bro to get himself to Chicago if he wants to try some brisket.

While your plan should probably work, what about playing it safe? Cook a brisket ahead of time. Freeze it. Transport it frozen in that super cooler of yours. Heat it in his oven. Just a thought.

[Sid P]

It’s just a crazy idea that popped in my head. I didn’t start smoking stuff until 2019, and with the pandemic it’s not like he’s had years of opportunity.

[JCBBQ]

Let us know what the temp is after 14hrs. I’ve held them in butcher paper in my oven at 150 degrees and it’s amazing. I just don’t know anything about food safety so I have no insight holding that long w/o a heat source.

[realdocBBQ]

As an anecdotal data point -

We did one this weekend, pulled at 190-192, was in foil boat. We put it in a foil pan and covered with 2 layers of foil. Not a tight wrap, so this was not ideal. Placed in one of those super ice chests with the thick walls (Ozark Trail, maybe?). Did not preheat with hot water as I often do with my ice chest - another sub-ideal plan. Towels above and below.

Next morning (8-9 hours later?) temp was 110F!!! DOH!

Now, conventional 'food wisdom' folks would tell you to toss it at this point, it is no good.

My personal take is this - this item sat on a cooker for 12+ hours, got to 190F, everything in or on it was KILLED. DEAD. Like D.E.D., dead. It was wrapped at that point in clean material (not sterile, no, but clean). It spent a couple of hours below the recommended 'safe' temp. Obviously not "spoiled" at this point, but would not be considered safe under commercial rules.

But I'm a science guy - I'm pretty comfortable with it at this point. This is meat we're talking about, that's been essentially sterilized thoroughly just before this short (few hours) drop in temp, not a bucket of potato salad that's been sitting out on a picnic table all day. It was then placed in a 170F oven, and in an hour or so was back up over 140F. This was cycled on an off an hour at a time for the day, food stayed hot, held well, was cut and eaten around 6 that evening, the day after cooking. Excellent, per report from my friend.

I wasn't the least bit worried for him or his family, I wouldn't be the least bit worried for myself or my family, either. So... no big deal.

Again, this isn't to be taken as a 'recommendation', we all do what we're comfortable with. I had aged this brisket myself, frozen it, thawed it, trimmed and seasoned and cooked it myself, wrapped it up myself and sealed it in the cooler. I wasn't worried.

In hindsight:

I would have wrapped tightly in foil instead of just covering in a pan.
I also would have preheated the cooler with hot water - I usually do this at my house, but didn't this time at my buddy's place.

It worked out, like I said, my personal comfort level, my own background with science, with bacterial growth and my own comfort level with how this piece was prepared, didn't bother me a bit. You have to make your own choices. But it's not like if your piece of meat drops below 150F for a short period it's automatically "ruint" and you've gotta toss an $80 brisket you spent 12-15 hours cooking to the chickens. At least, we didn't. And it was fine.

So... take it for your own wisdom. Use a few precautions, use common sense, you'll be fine. but a long rest DOES help, my one caveat is, if you're going to rest it hot for 8-12 or more hours, do NOT take it to 205F, it'll likely be crumbly and overcooked. When I'm doing a long hold, I take it to 190, 192, max 195, then wrap and hold. And if you go higher like that, leave it sitting out for an hour or two to come down to at least 180 or lower before you totally wrap it up and seal it in the holding chamber. Just my $0.02. Take it for what it's worth, with inflation and all.

[Sid P]

Thanks.

[Steve R.]

You definitely want to make sure you're not driving that many hours with the smell of smoked brisket filling the passenger compartment of your car. I did something similar with a pork butt, but it was only a 90 minute drive. Eating was the last thing in the world I wanted to do by the time I got there. Too much of a good thing.

[Sid P]

Interesting - I never would have thought of that.

[Alan Brice]

Interesting. I might think if you could smell it, it is not buttoned up tight enough.

[Steve R.]

FWIW, it was wrapped up in foil with a couple of towels on top and inside a closed Igloo cooler with the hinged lid that snaps closed. Not exactly an overpowering smell, but I probably should have had the windows down or put it in the back of the truck.

[Alan Brice]

As DFPS said, if you wrap w/butcher paper, tighten that up with foil shiny side in. Preheat the hold container. Wrap w/towels n fill the remaining dead air space w/towels n close her up.

[fzxdoc]

...and keep your fingers crossed.

[Murdy]

If you explain the process to them, some of your guests may be squeamish about eating it regardless.