Brisket rest time
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I like to let mine rest for at least an hour if possible and have let them go for up to 4 hours. It always seems like the longer, the better but I always probe them, and when they are down to around 150ish Internal, they seem to be the best. That's just been my experience.
hedonsmbot
Knows what a fatty is.
Using foil/towel/cooler method: I've done as little as 1 hour, and as long as 8.
Neither is ideal, but 8 hours was better than 1.
I try to aim for 2 to 3 hours of resting but sometimes the meat and fire don't cooperate.
Neither is ideal, but 8 hours was better than 1.
I try to aim for 2 to 3 hours of resting but sometimes the meat and fire don't cooperate.
Vision
is Blowin Smoke!
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- Sep 11, 2011
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- Baltimor...
I want to pull it around 190f (need to experiment with even lower) and hold it for 12-24h hours either in sous vide at 150f or in a (warming) oven wrapped up.
Connor_Macleod
Full Fledged Farker
Typically rest 12 hours at 140-150 degrees in sous vide. Considering getting a warming oven to avoid the minor hassle of sous vide.
Kevin James
Full Fledged Farker
I spoke to a food safety teacher for the commercial restaurant industry a while back who was also a BBQ enthusiast. He specifically warned against opening up the brisket to vent on the counter. In fact, he recommended even if you do the entire cook unwrapped, wrap it immediately after it comes off the smoker to cool down before you put it in a warmer.
His reasoning was that when you pull it off, the entire brisket including the external surface will be up above 190 - 205ish or whatever your pull temp was. And if you wrap immediately you are not allowing any bacteria to get to it and any that does will die immediately. The wrap will then act as a barrier keeping bacteria out so as long as you don't let it drop below 140 you are safe to let it cool and then place in the warmer for an extended period. However, if you vent it, while the internal temperature will remain over 140 for a long time, the outer surface will cool very quickly and could be problematic from a food safety perspective.
I am certainly no expert here, but this guy literally teaches food safety classes so I'm going to trust his advice.
Just make a warming cooler. Put the sous vide circulator as far down as you can, and fill the cooler to the Minimum level on the circulator and put a rack just bove water level and set your brisket on top of the rack. Put an ambient probe on the rack and close the cooler, set your temp to 150 and when the sous vide circulator reaches 150F, check the ambient temp probe. It should be about 5 degree's colder. Then adjust the sous vide circulator to 155F so the ambient probe is at 150F. If its warmer or colder adjust accordingly. As long as you keep the cooler closed you shouldnt have any problems. This is basicly wet heat which is better then any dry heat oven/warmer.
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2014
- Location
- Detroit...
this is what I do. pull at a lower temp and then hot hold for a few hours. I do not bleed off some heat like most guys. I pull early and hold to finish
Smoked&Baked
Knows what a fatty is.
I do my briskets almost always the same way lately: smoke them low overnight, wrap or boat between 8-9 (based on bark and temp), pull when probe tender usually around noon, sit it out until temp is down and then back in the oven (or smoker if dining al fresco) at 150 until my wife says it's dinner time, usually between 5 and 6.
Edited below for clarity:
I'm sure I could be better but that's as much as energy as I got left
Edited below for clarity:
I'm sure I could be better but that's as much as energy as I got left
Last edited:
10-15 minutes of cooling off is not doing what you or he thinks it is.
If it were venting for an hour, I could see that logic but what you've typed makes no sense. To me anyway...
I cook my briskets to 160°-165° degrees, then pull of the smoker to wrap. It then gets smoked until probe tender, vented for a few minutes, wrapped back up and put into the warmer. There is not enough time for bacteria to form. I'm fairly certain most on here do the same and have done for a long time with great success and no one getting sick.
I would normally agree that a brisket with an internal temp of 200ish could be safely vented for a few minutes. But it got me thinking and I did some reading about safe temps and bacteria growth. I would have thought that meat being that hot on the inside, vented for a few minutes, then wrapped tight again, would reheat the surface to above 160 or above, killing any bacteria that may have begun to grow. I did not realize that the bacteria could quickly produce toxins that are not destroyed by heat.
I still think there is little chance of this happening and we have all done and gotten away with way worse situations. Hell, they say that all beef should be cooked to at least 145 degrees internal. There went the medium rare steaks that a lot of us love. By the time you let that 145 ribeye rest a little, over-run has it above 150 degrees. Shoe leather!
I saw a video of one of the most popular brisket joints in Texas, smoking a brisket to 170ish, wrapping it, and taking it up to 190. then holding it (still wrapped) in a 160-degree oven, warmer, smoker, or whatever, for as much as 24 hours. I would like to try this. I'm sure the bark won't be quite as nice, but if it is good enough for them, I'll give it a try too. The good thing is, that there seems to be little chance of bacteria getting to it because the venting step is eliminated.
I guess you can never be too careful but then you can also overdo it and kill the Q. I have known a lot of people, (myself included several times) who have gotten sick after eating at restaurants. But I don't ever remember anyone getting sick after eating homemade Q. That leads me to believe that most of us are much more careful than we think. Now watch, I just jinxed myself. We will probably be hurling like crazy soon, lol.
Kevin James
Full Fledged Farker
I hear you, and I agree the likelihood of getting sick is very low. However, this info came from a commercial food safety expert, and it's not worth the risk to me.
If the wrap is foil, I could understand venting, but in my case it's pink butchers paper and I don't feel like the venting is really necessary. I think it's mostly just allowing the brisket to cool in general before going in a warmer that's important.
