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Keeping food hot in cooler

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jwh70
jwh70 Posts: 5
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I am planning a big cook this weekend for 20 people,a couple of butts, brisket and ribs and would like to get the timing right.How long will brisket/butts stay good in a cooler with foil and towels
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    4 to 6 hours

    no real need for towels, unless you like doing laundry
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  • BigA
    BigA Posts: 1,157
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    i do wrap mine in towels and it does keep the meat insulated and warmer. I have old towls and i wrap each butt in one after i wrap them in foil then i put them in the cooler then i lay a towel over the top. You will be amazed as to how warm it will keep them. I have kept butts up to 6hrs in the cooler, if you are nervous about it you can always stick a thermometer in the meat and watch the temp so it doesnt fall to far. but you should be good for over 4 hrs up to 6.
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,767
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    your good 6 hours with all that meat in an average sized cooler. i use the towels.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • pci
    pci Posts: 249
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    Last weekend I did a butt & I had a loaf of no knead bread that had just came out of the oven. When the DO had cooled just a bit I put it in the cooler to warm it up. Worked great. Butt was in cooler 3 hours & still to hot to touch.Just don't put it in if to hot or will melt the plastic.
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  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
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    I picked up and dedicated 2 yards of fleece (stadium blanket material) from a fabric store. I wrap in foil then in the blanket, no cooler. This will also keep the pork hot from 4 to 6 hours.

    My thoughts if you just put the meat in a cooler and close it. The meat has to give off heat to warm up the existing air space and inside of the cooler. Wrapping the meat in towels or blanket keeps the heat directly in the meat.

    If you have newspaper, wrapping it in newspaper will also work as a great insulator.

    Any of the methods mentioned in these posts will work well and will keep the meat a minimum 3 to 4 hours.

    Kent
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  • BurntRaw
    BurntRaw Posts: 565
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    The Naked Whiz says to use towels so gosh darn it use the towels.
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    A good "cooler" can actually be used as a water bath cooker.

    If you fill bottles or plastic bags with hot tap water, you will have a heated chamber for many hours. I've held foiled toweled butts for 7 hours, and they were still 160.

    I've never needed to hold briskets for more than 2. Perhaps someone who has done a lot of briskets will comment on their experience. I'd expect they need a tight air seal so as not to dry out.
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,767
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    adding a big hot pot of beans really helps too, i slige the pot into a tight fitting 12 pack box, then into the cooler with the meat, you can really extend the time
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • WooDoggies
    WooDoggies Posts: 2,390
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    Use newspaper instead and you wont have to do laundry... just chuck in the recycle bin. However if no insulation is used at all, the foiled briskets and butts will very likely melt the inside of the cooler and make it ugly. :~)


    john
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  • Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker
    Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker Posts: 3,743
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    no. i melted the plastic of the cooler when i put a brick in there that had been in the egg. the brick was 250. the brick WAS wrapped in towels, but it still melted the plastic

    if yer worried about melting it, put it on newspaper or something. but wrapping in towels is 9i think) immaterial as far as keeping them warm. the air in the cooler is going to be a better insulator than the towels. and when you open it after 4 hours, the air in there will be warm whether or not you wrap the butts in towels anyway.
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  • thailandjohn
    thailandjohn Posts: 952
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    I do use coolers but I use my insulated pizza delivery bags more often

    I have two sizes, the smaller one I use for ribs and the larger for butts and brisket

    I can put at lest 9 slabs of ribs in the small

    I put a few sheets of newspaper on the bottom, slide in the foiled ribs and close the flap. They will keep for hours


    http://jvp.smugmug.com/Barbeque




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