Let brisket cool slightly before resting?

crabcakez

Does anyone recommend or not recommend letting the brisket cool a little bit before wrapping and resting to prevent over cooking after taking it off the pit? I have one on now that I plan on taking off @ 203 and want to make sure it doesn't really cook more after I remove it. I was thinking maybe let it cool down to 175/180 and then wrap it and rest it. Thoughts?

Foghorn

Welcome aboard.

I usually wrap immediately out of habit/ignorance but several here have recommended letting it cool for a few minutes before wrapping and I will probably do that the next time.  I've never heard of anyone actually checking the temperature to decide when to wrap.  Might be a good way to know.  When you take it off, the inner portion will be 203. The more peripheral meat will be 220 or so.  Once it comes off the grill and is exposed to ambient (say 80 degree) temp, the outer portion will cool.  If you wait until the inner portion is 175, the peripheral meat will maybe be 150 or so (I'm obviously guessing)?  If you are only going to be wrapped for an hour before slicing, that would work.  If you have a 6 hour FTC ahead of you, that would risk some time below 140 when the clock starts ticking on leaving food out. 

So, I guess if I had a long FTC requirement, I would probably only cool it a short time (15-30 minutes or so?) before wrapping.  Hopefully, somebody smarter and/or more experienced than me will be along.

Ozzie_Isaac

I prefer not to FTC my brisket, but if I do I let it sit on the counter for 15 min.  That is assuming I pull when it is all jiggly.