Ir's done too early!!! What now?

RJH · June 2007

Last night about midnight I put on a packer cut 10 lb brisket and two Boston butts, one around 7 lbs the other about 8. I had the guru chugging away at 230* all night. Here it is 8 hours later and the thermopen shows the flat is over 200* and the point about 190*. The smaller butt is also over 200*, while the larger is in the upper 180*'s. What now? I was expecting about 15 hrs cook time and 3 to 4 hrs in the cooler. This is WAY too early for that.[p]So, do I take it out and refridgerate it late afternoonand rewarm them in foil on the egg before slicing the brisket and pulling the pork? All suggestions appreciated.[p]On side note, as well as the guru, I had my Maverick hooked with both of their pit probes on that probe tree guru sells. They are essentially in the same spot, yet the guru now shows 250*, even though it is now set at 225*, and the Maverick shows 295*! Normally I would defer to the Guru's temp, but with the speed of the cook I am wondering if the guru isn't off, and the Maverick's read is the correct temp. I calibrated the dome thermometer before the cook and it matches the Guru, 250*.[p]Thanks

BajaTom · June 2007

<p />RJH,
Take them off and wrap in foil. Place them in a cooler covered with towels You can hold the meat for 5 to 6 hours and they will still be to hot to pull by hand. Good luck, Tom

RJH · June 2007

BajaTom, Just did that. But it is 8:50am here and dinner is about 6:30 this evening. The cooler won't work for that length of time.

BajaTom · June 2007

RJH,
Let them sit in the cooler for 2 to 3 hours then cool them down in refrigeration. Reheat to 150/160 in the oven at 300. Pull your pork after reheating. Sauce your pork and serve. Slice your brisket when it is reheated. Another option would be to put the still warm butts and brisket in a warm oven say a 160 and hold till your ready to serve. Maybe somebody with more experience will chime in to help. Good luck, Tom

Citizen Q · June 2007

RJH,
I would let the meat rest in the cooler awhile, pull the pork while still warm, bag it and refridgerate til you need to reheat. You can put it in a pan, covered with foil so you can take it straight from the fridge to reheat with a spritz of Coke, Dr Pepper or apple cider.
With the brisket, separate the flat from the point and let the point cook awhile longer. Save as much juice as possible. Wrap the flat tightly in foil, let rest then chill whole. Slice it before you reheat it, the meat will be firm and easy to slice. Brush with the reserved juice mixed with beer, beef broth or whatever you like as you heat for serving. Chop or pull the point while still warm and treat the same as the pork.[p]Cheers,
Sean

CyberDawg · June 2007

BajaTom,[p]Keeping the butts in the oven wrapped in foil at 140 until your dinner will work just fine. The idea is to keep the temperature of your meat near 140. That way, it is impossible for any new bacteria to grow. Remember that 140 is the FDA approved temperature to KILL all existing bacteria. It's more than enough temperature to keep NEW bacteria from infecting the meat and growing. Since the interior of your meat is already at 200, the oven just needs to be warm enough to keep the outside temperature from falling much below 140. That can even be a lower temperature than 140 for 8 hours or so.[p]Sometime soon, I plan to place my Maverick in the cooler to see just how long meat will stay above 130-140. With three pieces of meat in one cooler, I would be surprised if the temp fell below 130 in less than 6 hours. Remember too that you are placing three STERILE pieces of meat in a cooler wrapped in STERILE foil (because it's been heated by the meat) This is much like canning meat, and you know how long that will last on the shelf.[p]If you think about it, this is exactly what the grocery stores do with their rotisserie chickens. They can sit all day in those warming bins with just an infrared light trained on them without the FDA shutting the place down.

RJH · June 2007

CyberDawg, I always put my Maverick probe in the meat while in the cooler. And I also heat up bricks in my gas grill to put in the cooler under the meat. I've kept a brisket in there for 6 hrs before, and it wrsas still 160*. It's not working today though, as it's already dropped from 195* to 167* in just 3 hrs. I think I'll heat up another pair of bricks.[p]I'm also concerned that so long a time keeping warm (10+ hrs) will dry them out, so I think I'll be refridgeraing and reheating.

BajaTom · June 2007

CyberDawg,
I think the NakedWhiz has a chart with that info already done. Take a look on his site. Tom

Unknown · June 2007

BajaTom,[p]One thing I've found that helps meat stay in the cooler longer (I've had it cook too early too!!!).....before you put the meat in the cooler, boil a large pot of water, pour the boiling water in the cooler and let it sit for 15 minutes or so.....pour the hot water out, then, put a towel in the bottom of the cooler, put the meat (wrapped in foil on the towel and cover that with another towel...I've been able to keep a butt roast at temp for 7-8 hours that way...AND...never had anyone get sick (at least that they would admit

CyberDawg · June 2007

RJH,[p]If it was 160 after 6 hours, that's pretty good. The meat could safely drop to 120 with no ill effects. So that looks like 8 hours or more.[p]Not sure how meat is going to dry out in a cooler wrapped in foil. The relative humidity in there is going to equalize very quickly, and your meat is then sitting in the equivalent of a steam bath.[p]It might dry out some in the oven though.

RJH · June 2007

CyberDawg, not exactly. That earlier time it dropped to 160* after 6 hrs, yes. But today it dropped from 195* to 167* in 3 hrs, much quicker. However, here's the rest of the story.[p]One butt and one brisket were done in 8 hrs, unreasonably fast in my opinion for an 8lb butt or a 10.5 lb packer brisket. The second butt took 14hrs to finish, more what I was expecting. When the second but was finished, I took everything out of the ice chest and added two additional hot bricks, 4 total though two had cooled somewhat. Re-added both butts, the brisket and towels, and two Maverick probes, one in the 8 hr butt and one in the brisket. Now remember, the first butt and brisket were done at 8am. At 7:30pm this evening the brisket was still 150*, and the first butt 155*. That may set a record for length of time in a cooler, 11.5 hrs.[p]All was great and nobody is sick yet...everyone is still here and still eating.[p]As well as ends well...after substantial worrying.[p]Cheers, and thanks for all the input.[p]

CyberDawg · June 2007

RJH,[p]Great feedback on the cooler temperatures. You may have saved me a lot of research. :-)[p]I wouldn't worry too much about cooking time. The important question is: "does the meat taste good?", "is it moist and tender?" It does sound like you've got a thermometer problem though. When you pile that much food in a ceramic, you alter the airflow. This can channel extra hot air past the dome probe and other probes too. You might also want to calibrate all your probes with boiling water.[p]I think the old rule of cooking a butt at 225 for 14-18 hours was established on cast iron cookers. There, you've got to worry about moisture loss, so you want the cooking temperature as low as possible so you don't boil away moisture.[p]I've found that I can cook at higher temps in a ceramic and still get moist, tender meat with the bonus of a shorter cooking time.

RJH · June 2007

CyberDawg, all was very moist and tender as usual. All thermometers except the guru were calibrated. I'll probably do that one today, though it's normally the one I would trust the most.[p]The is the 9th or 10th time I've done a pile of meat like this. I use tjv/Sandbagger's multilevel adjustable grid rig. Having a pizza stone one the spider for heat deflection provides 360* heat flow around the stone, something you can't get with a platesetter, and this generally speeds cook times. With the adjustable rig, the lower level (where the brisket was in this case) is lower than where the grid would be on a platesetter in a normal setup, and the butts were higher in the dome than where the platersetter grid height would be. What this all translates to is more airflow than you would normally get in a stacked setup with lots of meat, and again 360* heat flow. As I said this setup does decrease cook times, but nothing like what happened here. And with the exact same setup I've had times as long as 16 hrs for all three. So I'm attributing this one to the individual cuts of meat. We all know each is unique in it's own way, which is why there is no hard rule such as 1.5 hrs per pound, just a rule of thumb.[p]On to the next cook.

Ir's done too early!!! What now?

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