Keeping a fatty warm

[bison]

I'm going to make a couple fatties for a Super Bowl party but the drive is over an hour away.  What is the best way to keep them warm?  I was thinking about wrapping them in foil and putting them in a cooler with some towels.  Also, when i get there, is using a crock pot a good idea for serving them warm?

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Hmm...an hour away foiled and toweled may not keep them out of the danger-zone temps, being the finished temp isn't really hot (like pork shoulder for PP), but if you have the crock-pot to put them in after foiling and keep on med/low (until you hit the road) would be much better for heat retention due to the thermal mass of the crock. You could insulate the crock-pot with a few towels for extra insurance. If you don't have a crock-pot at your home, maybe a preheated Dutch Oven or similar vessel would provide enough thermal mass to do the job.

 

[crankybuzzard]

If you make the fatty on your smoker and are running at 225 or above when cooking, with the IT pull at ~170, and IMMEDIATELY foiling and wrapping in towels, then placing into a WARM ice chest that is just big enough for the fatty, I'd bet that the sucker will still be too hot to touch 3 hours later....

Now, make sure you take it to 170 at the center.  Make sure you wrap it as soon as it comes off the pit.  Make sure you wrap it in a couple of towels, and make DARN SURE that the chest you are about to place your creation into is at a WARM temp!  Not sitting outside on the patio, needs to be a t the temp in your house....

Charlie

 

[daveomak]

Think about loosely foiling the fatty..... I recently read where a baked potato, wrapped in foil and kept warm in a buffet line, grew botulism.... as long as air can get to food, botulism won't grow as it is an anerobic toxin....

An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth. It may react negatively or even die if oxygen is present, which means that it can perform its bodily functions better in the absence of oxygen.

 

[snorkelinggirl]

I personally like fatties better if they have time to sit a while after pulling them off the smoker so that the cheese doesn't ooze out as soon as you slice it. My husband and I actually like them better the next day, after a night to set up and mellow out in the refrigerator. We slice them when they are cold, then reheat the slices in the microwave as needed. The slices reheat really well in the microwave, IMHO.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I personally like fatties better if they have time to sit a while after pulling them off the smoker so that the cheese doesn't ooze out as soon as you slice it. My husband and I actually like them better the next day, after a night to set up and mellow out in the refrigerator. We slice them when they are cold, then reheat the slices in the microwave as needed. The slices reheat really well in the microwave, IMHO.

Good advice Clarissa. We are the same way. Those cold slices make the best sanndwees too!

 

[bison]

Thanks everyone!