Brisket and Ribs for a tailgate

austinandmolly

OK.  I have a Large BGE and want to do ribs and brisket for football tailgate on Saturday.  Anyone with experience on cooking both ahead of time (Thursday), storing/refrigerating, then re-heating at the tailgate on Saturday?  I have a Weber Traveler that I will be bringing to the tailgate.

loco_engr

Do you have vac-sealer?

Foghorn

1) Welcome aboard.

2) Yes, you can do that and wrap them in foil.  Then on game day you can reheat them on low to medium heat (275-300) in the Traveler until the meat temp is over 140 and serve them.  For the brisket, that will probably take a couple of hours.  I would not slice the brisket until it is time to serve - if that is possible.  Or you can slice it on Thursday and add some beef broth to the foil when you reheat and it will still be nearly as good as it was the day you cooked it.

The question above about a vac-sealer is likely referring to the possibility of reheating it in a sous vide water bath or a crock pot or something.  The results doing that are great and might be your best option if you have electricity at your tailgate site.  Tha

It will keep it the freshest, but you can just use ziplocks bags.  If you do that, get out as much air as you can when you seal them.

I hope that helps.

Let us know how it turns out.

lousubcap

@austinandmolly - First up, welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
Regarding your issue, there are a few posts thru the search function here or google that have addressed your concerns.
However, I have not, so take this with that as background, as long as you hit the finish feel with the brisket and toothpick test finish with the ribs you can make this happen.  With the brisket, once finished then load into a ziploc and in the fridge.  When ready to reheat I would ensure tightly foil wrapped in an aluminum pan for the reheat and do that before heading out.  Run your clock box (aka oven) at 170*F until the brisket is fully reheated above 140-150*F or so.  Then you are good to go with it.  You will lose some crunchy bark with this approach.
Ribs-cook for the duration of your preferred method before the finish steps then foil and reheat at the tailgate.  So, if you plan to go with a rib cook recipe that calls for a foil and finish process on the time-line I would save that for the party unless your foil timeframe is protracted.  Otherwise finish 'em up and a quick reheat at the tailgate.  All above, FWIW-

austinandmolly

Thanks for the comments and all makes sense.  Will report back!

Legume

You can heat water on any propane camp stove and use that in a cooler to reheat most of the way and then finish on the grill.  The problem with reheating ribs on a grill is real estate, it takes a lot of space.  The challenge with brisket is time to reheat because of the thickness and mass of the brisket.  Both together on a portable grill is tough if you’re starting from cold.  I’d try to avoid doing it all just with the portable grill, use that to finish.

fishlessman

i prefer reheated butt over brisket, never liked the taste of reheated beef.  pork ribs i would reheat in a foodsaver bag in water about 150f, remove and toss on a hot grill basting and flipping with some charring

austinandmolly

Decided to do old trusty pulled pork.  This would be my first brisket, and seems to risky for my first one 

lousubcap

@austinandmolly - Great call as you have a whole lot more latitude with a pork cook.  And it will be extremely well received.  
PM on its way with some brisket info.  

austinandmolly

8 pound BB and 4 baby backs. Guess I shoulda gone with the XL. Turned out awesome. Finished cook Thursday night. Ribs cooled down and wrapped in foil in fridge. BB rested about 2 hours in foil then I pulled. Put in foil pan and into the fridge. Put in cooler over ice on Friday and re-heated on Weber Traveler at the game on Saturday. Lotta work but well worth it. Big hit!  Thanks for the comments. 

Grogu

Have to give credit to the rib placement creativity. Way to maximize the cook potential.