Brisket Rest Q

[BB-que]

i hear so many folks talk about pulling their brisket off when probe tender and wrapping tightly and putting in a cooler with towels. With that type of insulation wouldn’t the brisket continue to cook quite a bit in the cooler, or are people letting it rest on the counter for 30 minutes or so first to avoid a dry brisket? I’d think it would continue to cook in that cooler for quit a while if not rested and cooked a bit first. I’m thinking my last one dryed out quite a bit resting in the cooler but wanted to get thoughts from the group on their experience.

 

[JC in GB]

i hear so many folks talk about pulling their brisket off when probe tender and wrapping tightly and putting in a cooler with towels. With that type of insulation wouldn’t the brisket continue to cook quite a bit in the cooler, or are people letting it rest on the counter for 30 minutes or so first to avoid a dry brisket? I’d think it would continue to cook in that cooler for quit a while if not rested and cooked a bit first. I’m thinking my last one dryed out quite a bit resting in the cooler but wanted to get thoughts from the group on their experience.

I have seen other pit masters open the foil on the counter for a while to bring the temperature down to stop cooking before putting inv a cooler to rest.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

I have seen other pit masters open the foil on the counter for a while to bring the temperature down to stop cooking before putting inv a cooler to rest.

This!

 

[Jonok]

Ok, I'm gonna get flamed...

When you hold a wrapped brisket that's done (in my personal experience, and I've done more than a few) it really does reabsorb a majority of the juice that has cooked out out on its way to tenderness. If you pop it open, or wrap it in something "semipermeable" you're faced with "more of the umami, none of the tenderness" Leave it alone, having been thoroughly smoked and thence wrapped, and all is right with the world...

 

[chef jimmyj]

Here is my thoughts on resting more than 30 minutes on the counter...
If you grill off a 2" thick Rib Eye Steak to the perfect 130°F Med/Rare. Do you wrap in foil and Cooler rest 4 hours?
How about that Rockwell Painting, Thanksgiving Turkey, with Crisp Golden Brown Skin? Does that get better or more Done wrapped in a cooler 2 hours?
What about the perfect Flakey Crust Apple Pie. Does IT need an hour or more in double wrapped foil, towels and a Cooler?
NOOOOOO!!!!!!
So if you Low and Slow smoke a Brisket or Pork Butt to PERFECTION and it's done Just Right, WHY do we see post after post of guys insisting that Perfection needs 1, 2, 3 ,4 hours in a Cooler to get the meat done.
Are you achieving more than Perfection in the Cooler?
Is the meat getting more Done than "Just Right " Done, as it was 4 hours ago?
I don't get it and I would love to see info other than, " That's the way my family has done it for generations, " to support the need for Resting, " Perfectly Cooked Anything " in a Cooler to make it Better.

To answer your question, BB...Any meat you Insulate with a Internal Temp higher than 130-140°F, will result in continued Collagen breakdown, aka Cooking to breakdown connective tissue, and will go from Perfectly Tender to Falling Apart and eventually, Mushy. This is why we say to get the Brisket to Probe Tender. Sufficient Connective tissue has broken and we are at the desired tenderness. The meat is DONE!
If you must Cooler the Meat, traveling elsewhere, guests have not all arrived, your timing was off and your meat will be done 4 hours ahead of Dinner time, by all means, Wrap and Cooler. BUT...You have two choices. Pull the meat 10+ degrees shy of the desired IT, wrap and rest, involves some risk of missing the mark one way or the other. Or, cool the Exterior to an IT of less than 140, THEN , wrap and rest in the Cooler as needed. The latter method cooks until Done than holds the meat relatively hot. The first method gets the meat out early and let's Carryover, finish the cooking until Done...JJ
NOTE: Cooling to 140, maintains Sterility.Wrapping, with clean hands and Coolering, seals the sterile meat from Contamination. There is nothing to worry about if the meat cools below 140 in the next several hours.

 

[jokensmoken]

Ok, I'm gonna get flamed...

When you hold a wrapped brisket that's done (in my personal experience, and I've done more than a few) it really does reabsorb a majority of the juice that has cooked out out on its way to tenderness. If you pop it open, or wrap it in something "semipermeable" you're faced with "more of the umami, none of the tenderness" Leave it alone, having been thoroughly smoked and thence wrapped, and all is right with the world...

I concur 100%...I do not use a "crutch" (wrapping) during the smoke so the brisket definitely cools a bit during the wrapping process...
I also always add a bit of liquid when I wrap for the rest...not a lot, maybe 1/2 cup at most...usually a bit of beef broth along with the adult beverage of choice during that particular smoke.
Walt.

 

[jokensmoken]

Here is my thoughts on resting more than 30 minutes on the counter...
If you grill off a 2" thick Rib Eye Steak to the perfect 130°F Med/Rare. Do you wrap in foil and Cooler rest 4 hours?
How about that Rockwell Painting, Thanksgiving Turkey, with Crisp Golden Brown Skin? Does that get better or more Done wrapped in a cooler 2 hours?
What about the perfect Flakey Crust Apple Pie. Does IT need an hour or more in double wrapped foil, towels and a Cooler?
NOOOOOO!!!!!!
So if you Low and Slow smoke a Brisket or Pork Butt to PERFECTION and it's done Just Right, WHY do we see post after post of guys insisting that Perfection needs 1, 2, 3 ,4 hours in a Cooler to get the meat done.
Are you achieving more than Perfection in the Cooler?
Is the meat getting more Done than "Just Right " Done, as it was 4 hours ago?
I don't get it and I would love to see info other than, " That's the way my family has done it for generations, " to support the need for Resting, " Perfectly Cooked Anything " in a Cooler to make it Better.

To answer your question, BB...Any meat you Insulate with a Internal Temp higher than 130-140°F, will result in continued Collagen breakdown, aka Cooking to breakdown connective tissue, and will go from Perfectly Tender to Falling Apart and eventually, Mushy. This is why we say to get the Brisket to Probe Tender. Sufficient Connective tissue has broken and we are at the desired tenderness. The meat is DONE!
If you must Cooler the Meat, traveling elsewhere, guests have not all arrived, your timing was off and your meat will be done 4 hours ahead of Dinner time, by all means, Wrap and Cooler. BUT...You have two choices. Pull the meat 10+ degrees shy of the desired IT, wrap and rest, involves some risk of missing the mark one way or the other. Or, cool the Exterior to an IT of less than 140, THEN , wrap and rest in the Cooler as needed. The latter method cooks until Done than holds the meat relatively hot. The first method gets the meat out early and let's Carryover, finish the cooking until Done...JJ
NOTE: Cooling to 140, maintains Sterility.Wrapping, with clean hands and Coolering, seals the sterile meat from Contamination. There is nothing to worry about if the meat cools below 140 in the next several hours.

I've never actually rested a brisket (or anything else for that matter) longer than 15 or 20 minutes with the intention of "finishing it"
That being said the wrapping and putting in a cooler is more about "holding" the protien at a safe temperature until meal time...
The fact that I've been sucessful holding for several hours only provides me with flexibility on cook time and meal time planning.
Walt.

 

[JC in GB]

I find that resting finished meat for a period of time seems to make the meat have a more consistent moistness. 10 minutes for a steak, 30 for a butt, prime rib, or a brisket.

The only time I have done the cooler rest was to transport finished product or when I was waiting for turn in..

 

[BB-que]

Here is my thoughts on resting more than 30 minutes on the counter...
If you grill off a 2" thick Rib Eye Steak to the perfect 130°F Med/Rare. Do you wrap in foil and Cooler rest 4 hours?
How about that Rockwell Painting, Thanksgiving Turkey, with Crisp Golden Brown Skin? Does that get better or more Done wrapped in a cooler 2 hours?
What about the perfect Flakey Crust Apple Pie. Does IT need an hour or more in double wrapped foil, towels and a Cooler?
NOOOOOO!!!!!!
So if you Low and Slow smoke a Brisket or Pork Butt to PERFECTION and it's done Just Right, WHY do we see post after post of guys insisting that Perfection needs 1, 2, 3 ,4 hours in a Cooler to get the meat done.
Are you achieving more than Perfection in the Cooler?
Is the meat getting more Done than "Just Right " Done, as it was 4 hours ago?
I don't get it and I would love to see info other than, " That's the way my family has done it for generations, " to support the need for Resting, " Perfectly Cooked Anything " in a Cooler to make it Better.

To answer your question, BB...Any meat you Insulate with a Internal Temp higher than 130-140°F, will result in continued Collagen breakdown, aka Cooking to breakdown connective tissue, and will go from Perfectly Tender to Falling Apart and eventually, Mushy. This is why we say to get the Brisket to Probe Tender. Sufficient Connective tissue has broken and we are at the desired tenderness. The meat is DONE!
If you must Cooler the Meat, traveling elsewhere, guests have not all arrived, your timing was off and your meat will be done 4 hours ahead of Dinner time, by all means, Wrap and Cooler. BUT...You have two choices. Pull the meat 10+ degrees shy of the desired IT, wrap and rest, involves some risk of missing the mark one way or the other. Or, cool the Exterior to an IT of less than 140, THEN , wrap and rest in the Cooler as needed. The latter method cooks until Done than holds the meat relatively hot. The first method gets the meat out early and let's Carryover, finish the cooking until Done...JJ
NOTE: Cooling to 140, maintains Sterility.Wrapping, with clean hands and Coolering, seals the sterile meat from Contamination. There is nothing to worry about if the meat cools below 140 in the next several hours.

Makes perfect sense to me. Just don’t get how Mixon says he pulls his off a 300 cook when probe tender and then wraps in a damn insulation blanket for 4 hours. Only thing that makes sense to me is his probe tender definition is different than mine, cause pretty sure my brisket would be a crumbly mess. Or maybe his SRF allows for that, I don’t know

 

[chef jimmyj]

Makes perfect sense to me. Just don’t get how Mixon says he pulls his off a 300 cook when probe tender and then wraps in a damn insulation blanket for 4 hours. Only thing that makes sense to me is his probe tender definition is different than mine, cause pretty sure my brisket would be a crumbly mess. Or maybe his SRF allows for that, I don’t know

I think you Hit the Nail on the Head! You don't stay on top telling every Tom, Dick and Harry Soo, ALL your tricks!
I includE every ingredient in the recipes I share here. Mostly out of Pride! I feel Great, when one of you adopts and uses one of my recipes. That and my Mentors gave their best to me, and only asked that I pay it forward when I mentor others...JJ