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What to do if smoked brisket is done too early
If you’re wondering what you should do if your brisket is done too early, then you have come to the right place.
Usually whenever briskets are done early, a lot of pit-masters may not know exactly how to keep them warm and ready until they are ready to serve for whatever type of event.
A great way to keep a brisket ready for serving and to stay warm inside, is to let them rest properly in a well insulated ice cooler or warming oven.
These two devices will help not only sustain your brisket for substantial long period of time, but is also is a critical part in any brisket cooked at you happen to do.
The reasoning behind that is because it basically lets the internal temperatures come down to a reasonable amount at around 165°F, which makes it so where it won’t evaporate all the juices or moisture the second you slice into it.
Going back to the cooler and warming oven, all you have to do is once the brisket probes tender at around 200°F, you will want to pull it off the smoker and place it on the counter for about 30 minutes to let any carryover heat escape.
This is simply just to protect against it overcooking substantially.
After 30 minutes or so, and depending on how long you are planning to let the brisket rest, I recommend putting a towel down at the bottom to catch any juices so things don’t get messy.
Place the brisket directly on top of the towel.
This helps further insulate the overall container as well.
For a period of at least 3 to 4 hours, it is always recommended to be resting your brisket to let the internal juices come down an internal temperature.
So if that is the length of time that you suspect your brisket has been done too early, then you are actually right on time.
That’s really all there is to it as far as an ice cooler goes, just place the brisket inside and don’t open the lid container because that would certainly let a lot of the heat escape.
If you’re placing it inside of a warming oven and really need to let it rest for even longer than 3 to 4 hours, then consider placing the warming oven on an ambient temperature setting of around 165°F.
That’s the temperature that a brisket should hover around at the point that you decide to start slicing into it. It basically just helps protect against anything evaporating once you do cut into it.
Keep resting your brisket up until you expect to be serving it.
If over 12 hours go by and you still aren’t ready to serve your brisket, then you need to think about storing a longer-term in a refrigerator.
This is just so the brisket has a chance to maintain its integrity and quality and does not become spoiled by any means by waiting around too long.
Final Thoughts
If your brisket is done too early then place it directly instead of a warming oven or ice cooler.
This is to help the internal temperature slowly decrease to around 165°F and let the moisture within the meat come down in that temperature so it won’t evaporate the second slice into it.
Resting for substantially longer periods of time than you would have otherwise thought, is actually very common and if your brisket came out about 3 to 4 hours before you expected to serve it anyways, then you were actually right on time.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.