Reheating brisket (prepping early)

GreenEggsAndDave

So I asked a question before, and guess i should have started a conversation instead, so I could have more than one response, sorry for the repost but i'm hoping for some guidance...

I have a 10lb brisket, which I anticipate will take 12 hours or  more.  And I’d like to eat around 3pm.   I see my options as
1. Start it at 10pm the night before and check/ finish in the morning (hopefully done by 3) - how do i keep warm if done early.
2. Cook the day before from 7am to done- refrigerate and reheat to serve, in which case what’s the best way to reheat

3. Other opinions?

Matt86m answered with 

• 6:52PM
  1. You can wrap it in a towel and put it in a cooler for up to 3-4 hours. Or as some say make sure its 140* internal temp when you go to serve.
  
  2. Reheat in Sous Vide (zip lock bag or vacuum pack and reheat in water)
  
  3. Smoke and finish in the oven
  
   
• So I am look for clarifcation / ideas for:
• 
  
• 1.  Can I put i in. Oven instead of cooler ( off)
  
  2.  Don’t think I can fit a 10lb into a pot of water for sous vide... thoughts on oven heating, how long and temp?
  
   3  Is oven finish to keep or from getting too smoky?  What’s the ratio of time per bge and oven, same temp?
  
   Thanks!

Foghorn

1.  Yes, you can put it in the oven.  Wrap it well in foil so that you don't lose moisture.  This is essentially what Aaron Franklin does when he pulls his briskets at 2 AM and his restaurant opens at 11 AM.  The whole key is to keep the meat temp above 140.  I would preheat the oven to 175-200 and then turn it off when you put the brisket in.  If it's going to be 4 or more hours in the oven you might want to add a water pan and turn the oven on occasionally - again at 175 or so (that's the lowest mine will go).

2. I've had one finish so early that I put it in the refrigerator until about 2 hours before serving time.  Then I put it in the oven (wrapped in foil) for nearly 2 hours at 275.  It came out great - but I was just making stuff up so I don't know if that is the best time/temp for reheating a whole brisket in the oven.  You don't want to cook it - just to get the internal temp above 140 - so you could monitor that.

3. Most people think that meat quits taking on smoke when it gets above 140 or so.  I have not reviewed the science behind that to know for sure.  But, I am convinced that if your meat is on the egg until it gets to at least that temp then it will have the flavor you are looking for.  

I'm doing a similar cook next weekend with 5-6 briskets on an offset with food pickup starting at 3:30 PM.  I've done about a dozen similar cooks over the years on offsets and/or kamados.  We're anticipating each brisket to be 15+ pounds so we'll probably start around 8 PM.  And when they are done early we will wrap them in Foil, Towel, and put them in a Cooler (FTC).  If they all get done way early, we can always wrap them well and keep them in the offset at 150 until serving time.  Our plan is always to just get through the night at some reasonable low cooking temp (225-250) and reassess in the morning (6-8 AM).  Then we can decide to raise the temp or stay low depending on the meat temp/timing.

I hope that helps.  Keep us posted and take pics.

GreenEggsAndDave

I'm leaning towards starting it at 8-10 pm the night before... regarding the "wrap" can i do that at any point, or does it need to be when it reaches 160ish?  (I'm assuming it'll hit that point while I'm sleeping, and I'm wondering if it will be a big difference if i foil it at 7am or so?)

Foghorn

Most people wrap when they are happy with their bark - which is usually shortly after the stall when the meat is in the 165-170 range.  

I prefer butcher paper to foil as it arrests bark development (it won't develop any further after you wrap it).  Wrapping in foil will actually soften your bark some - but it does preserve moisture better than paper, so foil has its fans as well.