Resting brisket / faux cambro question

[Smoking77]

Is the longer a brisket rests before serving the better? Meaning (using estimates here), I can pull my wrapped brisket off my WSM an hour or two before serving, put it on the counter, and it'll slowly come down to 140 (which is what I did the other night). Or is it better for the brisket if I let it rest as many hours as I can in faux cambro until it gets down to serving temp?

[ecowper]

I have no idea if it is "better" .... here's what I do, if at all possible. I let the brisket sit in a faux cambro for 1-2 hours (have gone as long as 4). Then I pull it and let it rest on the counter until it's 140-145 internal temp, then I slice. It's a great outcome. I have not ever done enough comparisons of the two different approaches to be able to say which is "better".

[Smoking77]

Excellent! Thanks for the tip!

[Spinaker]

Four hours is heaven. If you have the time. I go for a minimum of two hours. I don't budge on this. I consider it to be apart of the cook itself. To me, its crucial.

You want to make sure you keep it warp. Double wrap in a towel and place in a cooler or use a 170 F oven.

[Breadhead]

I too plan a minimum of 2 hours in the cambro. My pork butts are usually 8 pounds and I always smoke them at 225°. I don't wrap them. I don't power through the stall. A quick cook on a pork butt in my BGE is 14 hours but 16 hours is the norm. I start my pork butts 18 hours before serving time.👍

[Smoking77]

What does wrapping in foil and towels over a few hours do to the bark? Does it soften it up?

[Spinaker]

Yes, it will soften the bark. But it wont make it mushy. Any parts that are heavily barked up will still have crunch. The advantages of wrapping far out weigh the softer bark. Smoking77

[SoCalTim]

Here's my two cents, after you hit your target temp of 203 or when your brisket probes like buttah ... pull it from your pit, set it on the counter and make a approx 3"x 3" opening in the foil (if you've foiled) and let the temp come down to about 170 then FTC it. IMO, if you FTC it immediately, your brisky with continue to cook.

Like Spinaker mentioned about, 4 hrs is the magic #

[Spinaker]

Valid point, my friend.

[Smoking77]

I am REALLY looking forward to my next brisket.

[CandySueQ]

I left my Chef Alarm on and watched the temps fall on Brisket and Butt while in the Carlisle last weekend. I believe I'll call MYTH on the "continue to cook" thing. I think part of it is if the holding device is hot or not. Because it's going to pull heat out of the meat until reaching an equilibrium point. Brisket was done first so temp on it dropped faster than the Butt did (but the Carlisle was already heated).

I don't know why it happens, but I have had a brisket "seize" up and get tough during the holding period. I didn't do well that day...

[SoCalTim]

I left my Chef Alarm on and watched the temps fall on Brisket and Butt while in the Carlisle last weekend. I believe I'll call MYTH on the "continue to cook" thing. I think part of it is if the holding device is hot or not. Because it's going to pull heat out of the meat until reaching an equilibrium point. Brisket was done first so temp on it dropped faster than the Butt did (but the Carlisle was already heated).

I don't know why it happens, but I have had a brisket "seize" up and get tough during the holding period. I didn't do well that day...

Not really sure it's a myth, Harry Soo (Winner of 27 Grand Championships and many more accolades ) taught this to us when i took his BBQ class. If it works for him, who am I to dispute - The MYTH.

[Huskee]

I do what Spinaker does. Except rarely do I use a faux cambro (cooler) or oven anymore. I find letting my grill/smoker temp slowly drop to 170-180 and take advantage of my already-lit coals to be my method of choice.

For instance, today I'm cooking a small 4lb brisket point. I'll let it get to 170-180, wrap it tightly, then let it get to 200ish-205ish. Then I'll drop my kettle temp intentionally to 170-180 and let it go another 2 hrs 'power holding'. The meat will take 45 min or so to begin dropping, then after 2 hrs it will only drop to maybe 180. If I can afford timewise to go 3 or 4hrs I will, but I usually don't.

[Huskee]

EdF yes. Basically my cooker acts as the cambro to take advantage of the coals already in use. It saves the hassle and mess of transferring to a cooler.

[EdF]

Thanks Huskee . I'll be giving this a try next time.

[Breadhead]

I used that turn your cooker down to 170/180° method last week while I smoked a pork butt... based on what Huskee said here. It worked like a champ. My PB got done early and I turned my BGE down and left it in for 4 hours. Your bark loves this technique.👍

[Gooner-que]

I believe it is impossible for the brisket to continue to cook once it is put into a cold Cambro (faux or other). Thermodynamic laws will not allow it; the hot brisket will give heat to the cool Cambro there by lowering the heat of the brisket until they are in equilibrium. I'm sure smarter people will be able to make this point in a more scientific way. What is not deniable is the effect the time in the Cambro has on the results, I've just made the hold part of my cooking time for planning.

[lord2464]

It isn't so much that it will continue to cook as it is that the heat will continue to redistribute. While cooking, the heat source hits the surface and pushes inward. Therefore the area closer to the surface is always hotter than the center. When the meat is put in the faux cambro, you are correct, the heat will be given to the cambro, but the center still isn't in equilibrium with the outer rim so heat will continue to push in that direction as well.

[phoccer]

So we've wandered away from the original question but Isn't all of this the carryover that Meathead has written about on AR? The amount of carryover would be correlated with the thickness of the meat, thicker meat means more carryover.

[lord2464]

Yep

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/carryover_cooking.html

I haven't actually done any testing, but I have allowed a brisket to rest both on the counter and in a faux cambro. Didn't notice a difference. What is important to me is letting it get down to around 140.