Arguably one of the most intimidating pieces of meat to cook is the brisket. The length of time you allow brisket rest will define the quality of your cooking. It’s advised to use a cooler, but how long to let brisket rest in cooler?
Making the ideal brisket is not easy, from the very long cooking and preparation times to the down-to-detail resting method. Moreover, a portion of meat this size is usually cooked with an eye toward an audience.
Unless you want to present the driest meat in the world, there is indisputable pressure to produce your best work. This guide will help you perfect the resting stage of your brisket to get professional results.
What is Brisket?
Before you know how long to let brisket rest in the cooler, let’s first define what a brisket is.
One wonders whether they have been totally missing this part of the cow for years, given all the buzz over briskets. A brisket is a piece of meat from the lower breast of a cow. Usually somewhat rough, this cut has moderate fat content in connective tissues.
Moreover, it can weigh anything between 14 and 20 pounds. You must cook it slowly over a protracted period of time until it is tender and well done.
There are two cuts available for buying brisket:
- Flat Cut: This cut of brisket is large and uniformly shaped with a thin layer of fat on one side. It’s made up mostly of flesh and connective tissue. It is, therefore, ideal for slow cooker, oven, and stovetop cooking.
- Deckle Point: Usually, this cut is denser and thicker. It’s the greatest choice for smoking because of its thick covering of fat.
What is Resting Meat?
Resting is a common term among pit masters. Resting meat means letting it sit at room temperature for a little before you cut into it. The weight of your meat will determine how long it needs to sit.
Smaller cuts like ribeye steak and filet mignon would only call for ten minutes. Larger pieces, like briskets, would, however, require at least one hour of rest time.
Why Let Brisket Rest in a Cooler?
Beef cuts or raw meats usually hold a lot of moisture that is lost during cooking. Particularly, briskets have more than 70% water content. The meat’s muscles contract over the long cooking time. This pulls the liquid from the middle of the meat toward its surface, which leaves most of the middle cuts dry.
Let your brisket sit so that these natural liquids flow fairly all around the cut. The ultimate result is a juicy, taste-driven creation.
Preserving Brisket Moisture in a Cooler
As you cut the brisket, we know what you’re thinking: wouldn’t the juices just leak out? Brisket’s collagen protein melts when you cook it quickly. The collagen will then thicken the natural juices in your meat and stiffen up your brisket.
The length of time required to allow the brisket to rest in a cooler is mostly related to the preservation of the juices by collagen thickening. Cutting your brisket after one hour of appropriate rest guarantees you lose no moisture. Choosing not to wait will cause you to lose ten tablespoons of delicious delight!
Losing Steam?
Alright, but why can you not just baste the fluids back onto the meat? In technical terms, you could achieve this. One important thing you cannot get back, though, is the steam you will lose cutting your brisket straight from the grill.
Usually pulled from the grill or smoker at roughly 190-195F, brisket is let to attain an internal temperature of 200–203 by carry-over cooking. Losing this steam could produce a somewhat undercooked brisket, maybe worse than a dry and chewy texture.
How Long to Let Brisket Rest in Cooler?
Making brisket could take anything from 12 to 13 hours. To keep their guests from waiting, most individuals would rather prepare their briskets ahead of time.
Leaving your meat on the countertop until you’re ready to serve is often not an option; pit masters have discovered a cheap solution to make sure you can present your pieces at the ideal temperature hours later.
Resting your brisket in a cooler, sometimes called holding, pulls from the idea of maintaining a temperature above 140F.
The method involves heating a cooler and then putting your wrapped brisket inside with towels above and below to help retain the temperature. Resting your steak this way will add up to four hours of hot meat.
How to Let Brisket Rest in a Cooler
Though it’s a basic approach, here are some factors you should take into account while deciding how long you may keep your meat in the cooler:
Initial Temperature of Brisket
Your estimate of how long your brisket could keep warm in the cooler depends on how hot it was when it came out of the smoker or grill. The longer you can keep your meat in the chiller, the hotter it is.
Insulation of Cooler
Though we would want to think your old beat-up cooler is ideal for the job, you have to examine how dependable it is in terms of preserving insulation. You cannot keep a cooler in for a long period if it loses heat rapidly.
To Wrap or Not to Wrap?
Though there is ongoing discussion on whether you should cover your brisket while resting, one fact is that a wrapped brisket will keep more heat than an unwrapped one, so it will last longer in the cooler.
One great way to maintain meat integrity until it’s ready for consumption is by wrapping brisket. Bark-lovers have objected, nevertheless, that the technique destroys the bark when it is left in a damp atmosphere for a long period. Preheat your grill and lay the brisket on for a few minutes just before you cut into it to salvage your bark.
Using the cooler approach also requires careful thought for “The Danger Zone.” Your meat should never drop below 140F since eating it could be dangerous. You do not want to be serving dangerous meat to your guests!
Conclusion
Having laid the basics for you, we think you are ready to create the finest brisket of your life. And this time, you will be serving it hot as well!