Stop worrying about resting meat after it is cooked. Serve it hot. We bust this myth with a review of the scientific research, some tests of our own, some basic meat science, explanations of carryover cooking and what makes meat juicy, a look at doneness temperatures, and how carving comes into play.
I think of holding as another phase of the cooking process. Resting is allowing the meat to sit a short time prior to eating. Generally speaking Meathead does not recommend resting but I am sure there is exceptions o his rule and many people sees benefit to resting. I usually don’t like for meat to rest intentionally sometimes it unavoidable.
Brisket and pork butts and chuck roast benefit from pulling the meat off the smoker wrapping in foil or butcher paper, placing in a faux cambro for 2-3 hrs
During the 14 -15 hours, my temperature was not managed so well, sometimes 135C, sometimes 120C, and sometimes 110C, I guess that's why took me 15 hours before pulling out. I rested it in a cooler and hold it in a oven.
Really ally need to do, is one or the other once you hit your finishing temp on the smoker. I use the oven when I have to hold it for more than two hours, then I know the temp will be held high enough.
I love that we're international. But my C knowledge goes right out the window at temps that high. So it was as high as 275F, sometimes 250F, and sometimes 230F.
Thank you, Google.
Wouldn't a temp/weight conversion plugin be awesome?
So...., the rest is the period out of the smoker (or oven), whether wrapped or not?, but allowing temp to drop to the 150 to 160 ºF range, and the hold is when, after reaching such target temp, it goes into the Cambro to hopefully hold it near that 150 temp.
I am looking forward to my next brisket smoke, when I won't keep cambro them while still very hot.
wcpreston and Dr. Pepper
I suppose the descriptive names I call the procedure I use could be most anything one would prefer to call them.
The packer brisket procedure I follow is explained by Aaron Franklin in his book, as well as in a couple of his online videos.
-
He considers it critical to allow a packer to rest, or de-escalate in temperature until around a 140°F internal temperature.
He then holds his briskets for about 10 hours in special custom holding cabinets at around 148°F.
(This info is according to my "fly on the wall")
-
To me, the relatively short time that a brisket is winding down from its cook in the 225° to 275°F heat is called is a resting period.
I consider a steak and a brisket to be quite different, in that a very large hunk of beef like a packer will need time to rest or come down in temperature to re-distribute the internal moisture without the stress of heat "stirring things up" in there.
At this time for my steaks and beef ribs, I'm not specifically trying to "rest" or slowly wind down the temperature from the actual cooking heat. I am not looking for some sort of re-distribution of moisture in them. We just eat them.
-
During the approximately two hours of what I do call the "rest" period where my packers slowly drop from somewhere around 200°F internal temperature on down to around 145°F, the muscle fibers relax, and I believe that the moisture near the surface re-distributes back inside and throughout the mass.
Moisture in the wrapping is absorbed at this time as well if I rest that packer with the meat side down and the fat cap side up.
-
To make my packers even better yet, I then copy Aaron's moist holding period.
My wrapped briskets are in a "holding period" somewhere around 8 to 12 hours in moist convection heat of 148°F.
A moist convection home oven at 150°F could mimic Aaron's recommended long hold.
This holding period is done before they are transported in which they are basically still technically "holding" there in my Engel cooler loaded with fresh towels and 3 each 2-liter bottles filled with very hot water.
-
The packers done and pulled sooner from the cook after the rest, do get a longer hold period and are placed on top of the others in the cooler. (So those on top get sliced, weighed and sold first)
Upon my arrival and setup, each packer in turn is removed from the cooler, has the wrapping opened and is sliced.
That sliced meat is weighed and then sold to the line of customers that have been awaiting my arrival at 11 a.m. on Saturday mornings.
-
So in a "nutshell" my friends I do the following...
1) Smoke for good dark color or 180°F (Whichever comes first)
2) Wrap and finish the cook until just barely done (flat probes correctly) in a moist oven
3) Rest still wrapped at 110°F until the internal temperature drops 140°F to 150°F
4) Hold still wrapped at 150°F until the time to slice, weigh and sell. (Or eat)
-
Gonna get some shuteye as I have some sweet High Choice True Angus packers to get into the smoke tomorrow morning. Smoke On!
Thanks Bill, I read your the other summary before I had this brisket successful, which I applied resting and holding. I guess during the holding, more collagen will be converted to gelatin, that makes difference.
Correct Cloud_Lnn
Also, fat continues to render, but the muscle fiber is slow to break down, which is a good thing.
You can see that the butcher paper becomes more saturated with the rendered fat in time spent in the "hold".
-
Others with more experience and knowledge than I say, "It makes the meat better"
Last edited by BBQ_Bill; February 4, 2019, 01:06 AM.
Reason: typo fix
wcpreston
In regards to the 2 L bottles of water... before I heat them I squeeze about one-fifth of the contents out and then seal with the bottle slightly crushed.
This allows for expansion of the water and air when heating.
Also, the caps are only good for one or two uses.
Then I replace them to prevent leakage as they distort.
I also replace the bottles regularly as well.
-
For transport...
I thoroughly wrap each packer over the butcher paper with plastic wrap (Glad Wrap) and sit them ON TOP of the bottles.
Heat rises, keeping the briskets hot and ready.
Any possible leaking water will drip into the towels below the bottles.
I thank the good Lord for another Revelation/Hint.
When wrapping extra brisket, wrap it in the soaked butcher paper with the "Spicy/Loaded" side AGAINST the meat.
Next, either baggie with the air removed, or plastic wrap over.
-
Finally, place back into holding at 148°F.
That's a great looking brisket. I'm planning on doing one tomorrow for Sunday. I use a heating pad wrapped up in a towel inside a igloo cooler for my "holding" till serving time.
Sweet setup.
I would put a FireBoard probe in the sweet spot of the flat and tweak the temperature on the pad to hold that briskey anywhere between 135°F and 160°F and call it a "done deal" until eatin' time!
Yeah lemme pick everyone's brain along these lines...like a lot of you, for large cuts like this (or pork shoulder for example), I tend to wrap in foil or paper after taking them off heat, then wrap that whole thing in towels and stick them in a cooler for at least an hour before slicing. Do you folks find that there's a big difference in the end product if the rest is an hour vs. say 2 or 2 1/2 hours? And similarly, if you're holding temp (say you're cooking the night before for an event the following afternoon, so you end up holding temp for 6-7 hours) for a long time, does that drastically alter the flavor/texture/anything else? And also does the size matter a great deal? (Heh.) Last time I did a pork shoulder, it took a little longer than I had anticipated, so I only ended up resting it for 45 mins or so, but I couldn't help but wonder if a longer rest would have made a noticeable difference. Mind you this was a pretty small one (4 lbs or so) so perhaps in that case there wouldn't have been a huge change.
Anyway let me know your thoughts/experiences in terms of rest and/or hold time, and size, I'm always curious to know.
That was what I was doing as well. Read some of @BBQ_Bill's posts and you'll see they rest if (not in a Faux Cambro) at 100F until it gets to 145. THEN then they hold it.
I think a 2-4 hour rest increases the results. I have not held anything in the 6-7 hour range. You will probably need to keep it in a very low oven to keep the temp above 140*.
Chuckies and butts in the 4 lb range take 10 -12 hours because you want to shred them. If you want to slice them you can probably get away with 8-10 hours.
All off it is driven by temperature which can vary because of the meat grade, outdoor temperature, smoker and condition of the cook 👨â€ðŸ³. What I have experienced.
Comment