Stampede Brisket rest period

[dsurette]

After reaching "probe tender" would it be okay to just turn off the smoker and leave the wrapped brisket in while it cools? Why wrap it in towels or blankets and put it in a cooler? It seems to me that leaving it in would accomplish just about the same thing.

 

[Greg Jones]

After reaching "probe tender" would it be okay to just turn off the smoker and leave the wrapped brisket in while it cools? Why wrap it in towels or blankets and put it in a cooler? It seems to me that leaving it in would accomplish just about the same thing.

Too much carryover cooking if you leave it in the cooker. I don’t even wrap it in a towel and put it straight into a cooler at the end of a cook. I leave it on the counter until IT cools to 180°, then pop it into a cooler. Commercial bbq joints often put them in a warmer set to 140° for service the next day.

 

[dsurette]

I had a brisket on when I posted the question so I figured that I would give it a try. Both meat probes hit 203 at about the same time. The pit temp was 250. I turned the smoker off and monitored the temperatures. They did not go above 203 and actually started dropping after about five minutes. The brisket was a 10 pound flat from Wild Fork and it turned out great, in my opinion.
I'm kind new at pellet smokers having done many. many cooks on a BGE. This was only my 4th brisket on the Rec Tec. I can understand the reasoning of removing it from a charcoal smoker because you can't shut it down quickly.
There is a ton of knowledge and experience on this forum. I hope to learn from it.

 

[Jim6820]

After reaching "probe tender" would it be okay to just turn off the smoker and leave the wrapped brisket in while it cools? Why wrap it in towels or blankets and put it in a cooler? It seems to me that leaving it in would accomplish just about the same thing.

I wrap in a big towel and put in the cooler when I plan to serve it hot within the next 3-4 hours. If I am planning on letting it cool so I can slice and vacuum-seal it for freezing, then I just put it on the counter with a large folded towel over it. I don’t like to have my brisket cool down really fast as I feel it tightens up a bit on a quick cool. Just leaving it in the shut down smoker wouldn’t be my first choice. YMMV