Brisket - 24 Hours Start to Finish - Very Pleased With Hot Holding Results

[thirdeye]

I started this lo-n-slow adventure with a Costco Prime brisket and my battle plan was to smoke it for 5 hours on my drum, then boat it until tender, then hot hold it at least 10 hours in a roaster oven.

All trimmed up, then injected and seasoned.

On to the BDS, running 240° - 250° pit temp for 5 hours, then boated (fat side up) with 1/4 cup of tallow to prime the foil. No butter, sauce, or beef broth in the boat.

The next morning I moved it into a preheated 225° oven, and turned it off. I wanted the internal temp to fall to 160°, before hot holding it in my roaster oven. I held it 9 hours, plus the 3 hours it was ramping own in the warm oven. I guess there were about 2 cups of rendered tallow and juices in the foil boat.

Here are the results, exactly 24 hours later. :biggrin1:

 

[TheHojo]

I use a similar technique of resting in my turkey roaster at 150 - but I generally just let my brisket rest on counter in the boat until it hits 160 or so before putting into the roaster

Can you provide some insight for reason behind resting brisket first in a 225 preheated oven (that is turned off before putting the brisket in it) for 3 hours before transferring to the roaster oven

Thank you !

 

[thirdeye]

I use a similar technique of resting in my turkey roaster at 150 - but I generally just let my brisket rest on counter in the boat until it hits 160 or so before putting into the roaster

Can you provide some insight for reason behind resting brisket first in a 225 preheated oven (that is turned off before putting the brisket in it) for 3 hours before transferring to the roaster oven

Thank you !

So, the 12 or 15 hour hot hold came about from some BBQ joints in Texas that would smoke tomorrow's briskets today, and hold them in Alto Shaam commercial holding ovens. The science behind the long rests is to allow the collagen to render into a gelatin. Gelatin is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs and holds liquid. In other words, any moisture and fats that are expelled by the protein fibers (like all those foil juices when you wrap a brisket, butt, or even ribs) needs time be re-absorbed by the gelatin. If a 3 hour rest is good, an 8 hour rest is much better. Anyways, the bottom line for safety is.... as long as food is held >141°, the USDA is a happy camper. Back to the BBQ joints..., when they opened at 11am, they had briskets that had really long but controlled rests.

Back to your oven question, I was shooting from the hip. At 5am my brisket was 199° and I had been up at 1am and 4 am to check the pit temp. By warming my oven (but turning it off) and putting the brisket in there, I was betting I had a couple of hours of sleep while the brisket came down in temp on it's own. I could have put it in a cooler or Cambro too. I woke up around 7:30 and had enough time to heat up the roaster and the brisket was just shy of 160°. Next time I'll probably heat the oven to 170°, and turn it off.

 

[snadamo]

Top notch! I have leveraged the same idea from you and a few others here and the results were EXCELLENT. Can't thank you guys enough.

thanks for sharing!

 

[HogGrog]

I would also be very pleased with your results. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Stingerhook]

All I can say is yes please Wayne.

 

[WeldonG]

Wow, looks amazing. The long hold is key. Last time I did briskets, I didn't let it rest long enough before putting in heated cooler and it overcooked and was a little too tender but still the juiciest briskets that I ever cooked. I was disappointed in it being too tender but everyone else was amazed and said it was the best brisket they ever had. Yours looks perfect!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[smoke ninja]

very nice.

I do something similar in ramping down temps from cooking to holding but use the roaster for the entire hold process. I think the slow drop in temp helps.

 

[bowhnter]

I recently bought a turkey roaster for this very reason.

I see your thermometer reporting 152, but it looks like you have it set at about 225 if that yellow line is an indicator.
Where did you put the probe in the roaster to ‘calibrate’ what the actual temp is?

I’ve been leary to leave a brisket rest overnight in it yet since my temp is off too.

 

[PBrug]

Looks fantastic. Great cook!!!

 

[Get’n Smokey]

That’s money dude!!

Like’n da boat action and bark sir

Nice work.

 

[rwalters]

Nailed it!! I recently did a 36 hour brisket smoke/rest. Turned out really good. Low n slow with a loooooooong rest works magic, IMO.

 

[ronbrad62]

Judging from the juices after being sliced, I would rate that a success! Nicely done!

 

[Big George's BBQ]

That looks excellent Wayne :thumb:

 

[thirdeye]

Wow, looks amazing. The long hold is key. Last time I did briskets, I didn't let it rest long enough before putting in heated cooler and it overcooked and was a little too tender but still the juiciest briskets that I ever cooked. I was disappointed in it being too tender but everyone else was amazed and said it was the best brisket they ever had. Yours looks perfect!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I had to make the slices a little thicker because it was so tender. Pulling it at 195° might have been better considering I was going for such a long rest.

very nice.

I do something similar in ramping down temps from cooking to holding but use the roaster for the entire hold process. I think the slow drop in temp helps.

Next time I think I'll move to a cold roaster until the IT falls to 160°-ish.

I recently bought a turkey roaster for this very reason.

I see your thermometer reporting 152, but it looks like you have it set at about 225 if that yellow line is an indicator.
Where did you put the probe in the roaster to ‘calibrate’ what the actual temp is?

I’ve been leary to leave a brisket rest overnight in it yet since my temp is off too.

You have a keen eye for detail. Most of the time I use roaster ovens (I have a small one too) like a slow cooker, for instance cooking a pot of chili, stocks, chicken and noodles, ham and beans, Italian beef or pork, etc., but when you use them as an oven... nothing is in contact with the roaster's metal pan.

Roasters have a feature called "circle of heat", meaning the heat radiates from the sides and not the bottom. And like a regular oven, you are heating the air. For determining the "air temperature" I put my temp probe through one of the vent holes in the lid. It did not touch the brisket, but was measuring air temp in the center of the roaster. I did alternate the probe to the other vent hole and the readings were within 2°. So basically I ignored the temps printed on the dial, and relied on the probe temp.