Pause/Transport brisket smoke...

[SmokinBananaPeels]

I've tried searching for this and failed miserably. It's possible my searching skills suck.

I'm in the position if smoking two briskets for a large family gathering, but needing to transport them some portion of the way through finishing them. It'll be a four hour drive. Once I arrive I'll have 15 hours to finish and rest before serving.

First of all, is this a thing? I figure I can cambro it during transport, but not sure at what IT I should aim before before transporting? I have a fair bit of time once there, just not enough to go full start to finish.

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

 

[fivetricks]

Not sure how much time you are currently budgeting for the rest period, but a well wrapped brisket can rest for 4 (or more if absolutely needed) hours in a towel.filled cambro or cooler.

 

[chilerelleno]

15 hours?
You can cook them both in that period via Hot-n-Fast or Extreme Hot-n-Fast.

 

[SmokinBananaPeels]

Not sure how much time you are currently budgeting for the rest period, but a well wrapped brisket can rest for 4 (or more if absolutely needed) hours in a towel.filled cambro or cooler.

Thanks fivetricks! I'll be arriving around 9pm on Friday and serving at 1pm on Saturday. I was hoping to budget two to four hours for rest. I thought about just going out Saturday, so the trip could be the resting period, but it's my in-laws 50th anniversary... I'm not yet confident enough that my brisket will be so amazing that it'll excuse my being late as well ;)

 

[SmokinBananaPeels]

15 hours?
You can cook them both in that period via Hot-n-Fast or Extreme Hot-n-Fast.

Thanks chilerelleno! You think it's possible to pull off a crowd pleasing hot/fast brisket? I've never tried. The thought of it makes me nervous. I have limited brisket experience to begin with, but I would be curious what your approach to hot/fast brisket is...

 

[bregent]

How much do they weigh? That will give us some idea of how long they will take. What type of smoker are you using?

 

[chilerelleno]

Hot-n-Fast 275°-300°
Works great for most Briskets

Extreme Hot-n-Fast 375°-400°
Works well with BIG Briskets, 15lbs+

 

[zwiller]

I'm not yet confident enough that my brisket will be so amazing that it'll excuse my being late as well ;)

Devil's advocate

I wouldn't do it:
a. 50th wedding anniversary gig;
b. not confident on your brisket;
c. travel concerns

If you absolutely have to, I'd smoke a day or 2 in advance and reheat at venue. Stick in oven set at 170F for a few hours before serving.

 

[SmokinBananaPeels]

How much do they weigh? That will give us some idea of how long they will take. What type of smoker are you using?

This won't happen until first week of May, so haven't bought yet. In my head it's two or three 15lbers.

I've had a digital smoker for two years now, which I've enjoyed and used quite a bit. It doesn't work particularly well in sub-50 weather or wind.

This weekend I'm picking up a used Mak 2 Star and will be practicing on that before May.

 

[SmokinBananaPeels]

Hot-n-Fast 275°-300°
Works great for most Briskets

Extreme Hot-n-Fast 375°-400°
Works well with BIG Briskets, 15lbs+

I'll have to do some reading on this. Thanks for the info!

 

[SmokinBananaPeels]

Devil's advocate

I wouldn't do it:
a. 50th wedding anniversary gig;
b. not confident on your brisket;
c. travel concerns

If you absolutely have to, I'd smoke a day or 2 in advance and reheat at venue. Stick in oven set at 170F for a few hours before serving.

So you think full cook and full cool before reheat? Over partial cook, transport, finish?

I have ample time before I need to do this, so perhaps I'll try a few different methods and compare.

 

[bregent]

This weekend I'm picking up a used Mak 2 Star and will be practicing on that before May.

Pellet grills are like convection ovens, so they cook faster than other smokers at a given temp. In my experience, 15lb packers take about 12 hours at 225F unwrapped, and I'll often start at 180F and run there for 6 hours. Of course, you always want to leave yourself more time just in case. If you could manage to get it cooked before you leave, and then let it rest in the cooler during the drive, it should be perfect when you get there.

 

[SmokinBananaPeels]

Pellet grills are like convection ovens, so they cook faster than other smokers at a given temp. In my experience, 15lb packers take about 12 hours at 225F unwrapped, and I'll often start at 180F and run there for 6 hours. Of course, you always want to leave yourself more time just in case. If you could manage to get it cooked before you leave, and then let it rest in the cooler during the drive, it should be perfect when you get there.

Interesting. Are they any more consistent with the stall? That's my concern for trying to get it done there vs transporting. In my digital, I've had stalls go through in an hour, but I've also had them stall for hours.

Regardless, my original hope, that I could smoke up to stall, wrap, cambro, then transport and resume, may not be the best idea, or at least not one commonly taking place.

I'm going to do some testing. Per chilerelleno's comments, I spent a healthy chunk of time researching hot and fast last night and that's certainly intriguing as well.

 

[tallbm]

Hi there and welcome!
You are getting a lot of good info here.
For events like this I always opt towards cooking it a couple of days early and then reheating and serving or chaffing dishes or something like that.
BBQ gets better the next day or two/three so you would have even better tasting brisket than off the smoker.

Hell if you vac seal them whole u can even reheat via Sous Vide in a cooler.

If you cook them too long to where they would fall apart when sliced freezing/refrigerating and then reheating fixes that problem too.

To me there are just to many reasons to cook and refrigerate a day or two before hand. Its how we do all our big family gatherings here in TX and you are only talking 2-3 briskets so this isn't a situation where you need 100+ briskets or anything like that.

Thats just my 2 cents :)

 

[chilerelleno]

Devil's advocate

I wouldn't do it:
a. 50th wedding anniversary gig;
b. not confident on your brisket;
c. travel concerns

If you absolutely have to, I'd smoke a day or 2 in advance and reheat at venue. Stick in oven set at 170F for a few hours before serving.

I have to somewhat agree here.
But you could do any number of tricks and still turn out fresh cooked briskets the day of.
Hot-n-Fast is just as easy as Low-n-Slow, just faster.
Or you could slow smoke for 4 hours at home and finish on location in the oven with either method.

Again, I only recommend the Extreme method for BIG briskets, 15-20lbs plus after trimming.