My brisket finished WAY early, now what?

[karlglen101]

Hi guys. I haven't done a brisket in a really long time, but smoke and bbq all year round. I put a 13.4lb (trimmed weight) full brisket on my Traeger at 225* earlier this evening (4pm). Not injected, not wrapped, just rubbed. I was planning on a ~20ish hour cook. I just checked it at the 6:40 mark for the first time because I was going to likely move it to the oven before bed as I don't entirely trust the hopper on my grill. I poked it with the thermal pen and came up with 192-203 depending on where I stuck it! I checked my grill for temp numerous times since it started to make sure it was holding a decent temp as I'm in Michigan. I have a welding blanket that's just folded up and lays across the top to help the heat a bit. I'd say the temps most often when I checked ranged from 215-235. The bark on it looks fantastic. It's resting on my counter now, which I plan for the next hour.
So, my big question is - do I keep it on "warm" in the oven and wrapped until 5pm tomorrow (18 hours away) or am I better off reheating it an hour or so early? I'm completely perplexed and blown away at this being finished already. Other thoughts?

 

[JAKs Q & brew]

Cool to 150 internal. Wrap it in butcher paper if you have it or aluminum foil.
Then either Put in oven set to the lowest temp it can go or wrap in towels and put in a cooler. The cooler will give you a 3-4 hours. The oven will keep it for as long as you need it but will over cook it eventually

 

[PGarSD]

It's late but, are you saying your 13lb brisket went to ~200F in ~2.5 hours smoking at ~225F?!!! Get another temp probe and try it as I think yours might be broken


Assuming in the unlikely case it's actually done (200+F and "probing like butter" in the flat), I'd wrap it in butcher paper and put it in my oven on low (~160F is as low as my oven goes) for a long hold. You're not going to get 18 hours in a cooler.

 

[Crakaveli]

Cool to 150 internal. Wrap it in butcher paper if you have it or aluminum foil.
Then either Put it in the oven set to the lowest temp it can go or wrap it in towels and put it in a cooler. The cooler will give you 3-4 hours. The oven will keep it for as long as you need.

..........

 

[sackedbysapp]

I don’t think he went to bed at 6:40 in the evening?

 

[Callahan-que]

I think he's saying he checked it 6 hrs and 40 min into the cook.

 

[West River BBQ]

You can wrap, refrigerate and reheat if you think it will dry out in the oven, but I think you'll be safe. I'm guessing your brisket had less fat than some of the others you've cooked, resulting in a quicker cook time.

 

[karlglen101]

I checked it at the 6 hour 40 minute cook mark, and it was completely done. 2 temp pens for good measure read between 192-203 depending on where I stuck it from end to end of the brisket.
I thought that the oven wouldn't hold a consistent temp and did in fact end up resting it for 1.5 hours on the counter before wrapping and placing in the fridge before going to bed.
I DID however try to come up with a great idea for a keeping temp method, but couldn't engineer it with what I have on hand. This, however, will be what I work on this weekend:
I am setting up a cooler for Sous Vide that can hold large cuts. I could have vacuum sealed it, and set the sous vide at 165* and let it ride ALL the way until dinner time today. That would be the best for consistency, food safety, and not drying it out. I would perhaps need to give it a little oven time before dinner if I wanted to crisp the bark back up a bit but I'd have to see it first.
I was just completely floored that it was entirely done. I've done some boneless shoulders that stalled for 4 hours at the same temp and weighed many pounds less. My fudge time for this brisket told me that it was possible to see it done after 12+ hours, which I was prepared for. The other consideration to give me wiggle room, is that when I was going to move it to the oven, I was going to do so at 180-200* for overnight JUST so I could let it be mellow and slow it down a bit.

 

[karlglen101]

You can wrap, refrigerate and reheat if you think it will dry out in the oven, but I think you'll be safe. I'm guessing your brisket had less fat than some of the others you've cooked, resulting in a quicker cook time.

This is a possibility. I trimmed over 3lbs of fat off. A vast majority of my trimming was fat and not the thinner ends or any weird flaps. The 2 hard fat veins were pretty thick and deep, and I only trimmed them down to just below the rest of the surface of the meat. I did aggressively trim the sides (fat) and fat cap to leave about 1/4" thick throughout. I did get maybe a tad thinner on the top center soft fat, but not by much.

 

[karlglen101]

I didn't take any shots of after trimming before seasoning

 

[PGarSD]

I think he's saying he checked it 6 hrs and 40 min into the cook.

Ahhh, thanks. I was half asleep last night and mis-read his times.