Resting briskets and pork shoulders

[mguerra]

Wrap your briskets or shoulders in towels and hold in a cooler for many hours before service. They come out much more tender and juicy. I speculate that the retained heat continues tenderizing the meat, and dissolving the collagen. But since there is no ongoing fire nor airflow there is no drying effect. Well toweled, they will stay quite hot for a LONG time. These meats always taste much better with their “original” cooking heat than a reheat. Filling all the airspace in the cooler aids the heat retention. 

[tony b]

Been watching some YouTube vids from some respected BBQ dudes and they all say to wrap and hold for at least an hour or more. Some say with a full packer cut brisket - it should be 8 - 12 hours. Haven't gone that long yet to see if it does make a difference? I'm typically 2 - 3 hours on butts & briskets. They say the meat fibers relax as it sits and the meat becomes more tender. 

[mguerra]

I try to hold them at least 6 hours before service. It does make a difference.

[Dono]

I’m a firm believer.  At least 3-4 hours wrapped pink butcher paper, foil, and then in a couple of towels and placed in an ice chest. Multiple good results for me. And have held at food safe temps for up to 6 hours. 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Dono
Add detail

[C6Bill]

The best briskets I ever cooked rested for at least 4 hours in the cooler wrapped. I guess I’m have to make a habit out of doing that 😁

[Tyrus]

I like the idea, but it pushes serving the brisket into the following day and that's just too long for this hungry boy too wait. Speaking of waiting for your brisket, have you tried the Pastrami brisket, in the fridge for a week in pickling spices and etc, so good. 

[mguerra]

For evening service put your brisket on the fire at 5 or 6 AM. It will be done with time to rest, if you do an Aaron Franklin 275° cook.

For lunch service cook it the day before starting around noon. Rest it until lunch the next day, it will be fine and likely still warm. Don’t worry about the food safety aspect of this, the meat comes off the fire sterile, if you wrapped it with foil or butcher paper partway through the cook it can’t get contaminated. If you cooked it naked, use clean or gloved hands to wrap it and you will NOT have a food safety issue even if the temp goes below 140° 

 

[BOC]

I’ve found that for brisket, the rest is more important than the cook in terms of texture/tenderness. For butts, I haven’t found it makes as much a difference, but I always aim to rest at least a couple hours.

Careful when resting though, even in a cooler. You do not want it to rest below the critical temp where bacteria can start to grow. Even in a yeti, rule of thumb is no longer than 4 hours to make sure it stays above that. Anything longer, throw in the oven at 180-200 and keep it wrapped (yes in the towel too) to be on the safe side. Some people will say they’ve kept it in a cooler longer, 6 or even 8 hours without going below temp. But if that is your plan, make sure to have a wireless temp monitor on hand.

We are all at home cooks…so we’d probably serve it anyway. But there’s a definitely a gray area of risk between following the guidelines for food safety, it’ll probably be okay, and your guests actually getting sick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mguerra]

The meat comes off the fire sterile. There are no bacteria to grow unless you somehow inoculate it. It's not true that the second the meat goes below 140 it starts putrefying! You can leave a cooked brisket uncovered laying on a countertop at room temp for a couple days and nothing will happen. I know...  (Well actually the dog could pull it down) So holding a roast in a cooler, wrapped and toweled, for well over 24 hours even, won't be a problem. It's not egg salad sitting on a picnic table in 90º heat being swarmed by flies! But, if it concerns you, don't do it. I always do it and never worry what temp it drops to.

[BOC]

The meat comes off the fire sterile. There are no bacteria to grow unless you somehow inoculate it. It's not true that the second the meat goes below 140 it starts putrefying! You can leave a cooked brisket uncovered laying on a countertop at room temp for a couple days and nothing will happen. I know...  (Well actually the dog could pull it down) So holding a roast in a cooler, wrapped and toweled, for well over 24 hours even, won't be a problem. It's not egg salad sitting on a picnic table in 90º heat being swarmed by flies! But, if it concerns you, don't do it. I always do it and never worry what temp it drops to.

I’m not a food and safety scientist but this is what USDA guidelines are cooked food sitting at room temperature is in what the USDA calls the “Danger Zone,” which is between 40°F and 140°F. In this range of temperatures, bacteria grows rapidly and the food can become unsafe to eat, so it should only be left out no more than two hours.

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety

(Go to - Keep Food out of the "Danger Zone")

Whether you follow it or not…to each his own. But in the spirit of sharing best practices, I find it important to mention. Have I eaten food that has sat out longer than this and been okay? Definitely.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mguerra]

I'm just a physician trained at the undergraduate and post graduate levels in microbiology and do what makes sense to me. Each person do as you think best! My guests get very well rested meat, succulent and juicy, and live to tell their friends about it😀

[mguerra]

I have been studying on this a bit more. Apparently it is a very common practice in the barbecue joint world to rest briskets for as long as 14 hours prior to service. It results in very succulent and juicy meat. However, they do rest the meat in warming ovens or other devices that hold the temp at about 160 to 170° . And so there is no food safety issue there with the temp dropping below 140. If your home oven can hold it at that temp you can do it. One of our local barbecue places has a warming cabinet with many shelves in it and they store their cooked briskets in there wrapped in saran wrap and they are indeed extremely juicy and moist.

[C6Bill]

On 9/29/2021 at 2:47 PM, BOC said:

I’m not a food and safety scientist but this is what USDA guidelines are cooked food sitting at room temperature is in what the USDA calls the “Danger Zone,” which is between 40°F and 140°F. In this range of temperatures, bacteria grows rapidly and the food can become unsafe to eat, so it should only be left out no more than two hours.

I think the key to that statement is “left out” in this case we are talking about food wrapped in foil inside of a cooler. I would think holding in that environment the timeline would be extended more than a few hours ?