Pull at 150-170 chill then finish next day

[williamzanzinger]

Anyone had success with this method? I fi smoke the briskets to 150, wrap in foil, chill over night then bring up to 190 gradually in the oven for service or do you believe it is better to take it all the way then reheat?
Same thing with ribs, can I do 3-2/chill then bring up to temp next day? Anyone tried this with negative affects? 3 days until ground zero 6 briskets/30 st louis and 3 silver smokers with mods.

 

[bbq bubba]

I would cook the briskets until tender then reheat and slice (150ish) otherwise your cooking the brisket twice (dried out mod)
Usually after 3/2 the ribs are actually done, your just trying to set the bark so 3/2, wrap and just warm on the grill w/ sauce the next day!

Sounds like you better have a TON of charcoal....good luck!

 

[ronp]

I would just finish them then reheat to serve.

A good way to reheat is to steam in a small amount of water with a lid on it. If you want to crisp things up like the ribs, sauce them, then toss them on the grill.

 

[richtee]

William, can you get all the ribs on the day of? Hmm 10 slabs each smoker...prolly not eh? Ribs I think are better fresh, but brisket/butt seem to not be affected or even improve with a bit of storage. If not, or too much is going on, don't sweat it of course.

Might be a good time for a bit of a test. Do 10 slabs ahead, the rest the day of? Hope everything goes well, man!

 

[williamzanzinger]

I dont Know Rich, I have 6 rib racks that hold 6 each. the racks are nice and small(NOT BULKY). The racks are st louis and real well trimmed, down to the size where they look like BB's. Service is at 12 noon monday so day of would put to much pressure on me. I have to go in today and smoke at least one item. As luck would have it ,ive got to try and bob and weave the forcasted rain which appears to be more plentiful today the tommorow and seeing as I can get the ribs on and off in approx 3 hours, i might have no choice but to execute them today(finished inside of course).
Anyone ever tried to set up briskets in rib racks? I bet I can get 4 small briskets on one smoker that way or at least 3 with 8 inches clearance from the heat source.
Oh boy I got jitters but the thread on proper use of the two vents has given me a little more confidence. If I pull this off it will be yet another testament of the resourcefulness of this site.

 

[williamzanzinger]

And for the briskets, I also have an altosham, if youve never worked with them they are low temp cook and holds.
If I start the briskets at 4 pm tommorow, wrap them after 4ish hours, I can put them in the box set @190 degrees for 8ish hours and hold @140 until I arrive at 7am next day to pull. Im exploring all options here. In 1 hour ill be dead locked into what ever I decide.

 

[capt dan]

I agree on that.

Are you cooking for 150-175 people? Cuz thats what it sounds like to me. I don't think stacking briskets in a rib rack is a good idea. To wide, and won't cook right, you need that horizontal mass to spread the heat correctly IMO.

Sounds like a very ambitious adventure to me, I would start with 1 valium, and continue with 1 every 4-6 hrs till help arrives.

J/k it does sound like an episode of Dinner impossible though!

 

[capt dan]

I think you should follow your own advice. I found this on another thread


To each his/her own and for me its cake cause this is what I do for a living. Food is a conversation piece, people will all ask to help and ill put each and everyone of them to work. You wont have to cut ribs OR assemble sandwiches trust me. When you do everything evenly planned out it makes it an occasion and the food isnt in the background.
Anyhow with the smoker I know your using.
Do the ribs up to 2 days ahead, there forgiving if you dont take em too far the first time. The briskets you would have no choice maybe for the sake of appointment to do a day ahead, slice and reheat with a nice aujus. put the pork on at 10 pm the night before wake up once to wrap and reheat(or ovenise). Which will leave your grill open day of for keilbasa and abts. All the while you can bring your ribs and brisket to temp in your oven @ a nice low/moderate temp. Ribs can even be sauced and grilled at a nice hot temp from a cold state. Good luck. Kiss is good but I say heres your opportunity get it out of your system.


and it is your quote to Cinnamin KC's party thread :

Seemed like good advice then, you should listen to yourself!

 

[richtee]

Hmm I like the Alto idea... even if you only get 4 hours smoke on the brisket it'll be better by far than none.

Go, man GO! Yer a pro, I have every confidence in ya!

 

[williamzanzinger]

The part about the valium was spot on..

Your partially correct, I just need to calm down and do what needs to be done. But my question was about stopping the cooking process midway through and picking up on it the next(or two) day. If in anway it would benefit the meat?/ the finished product. There is after all a fine line between 20 people at a dinner party and 200 people being served at noon at a location different then my home. Sure I could sleep at work but id like to avoid that. Just looking to create a little flexibility. Somewhere in your mixed bag of sarcasm and contempt there was a bit of salvageable info. What you said about the briskets was what I feared, but because these racks have removeable tiers i was like maybe??

 

[richtee]

Hmmm can you stand a grate ABOVE the stock one to just clear the briskets on the bottom?

I'd HAVE to think if you get those hunks to 140° and saran wrap and chill then into the Alto...you'll be fine there.

 

[williamzanzinger]

Thats what led me to believe it would work, if I got them off and chilled before the the gel(i cant remember what that stuff is called right now) was rendered id be ok.

 

[capt dan]

That pretty much desrcibes me right there, huh rich?

not meant in a bad way, just trying to get ya to calm down, and not overthink or change what you already know, and are comfortable doing.
Thats when we read about the horror stories of guys changing things up on a whim or make bad decissions even though they knew better.I think we all get nervous cooking for large groups or competing, we ask ourselves why we put ourselves through it. Its the challenge, the rush, the satisfied people, the praise and alot of other reasons.
We all try to tell others to just relax it will be fine, but when we do the big group cooks, we don't relax ourselves.

Just try to have some fun,and do as much as you can ahead of time, on serving day you'll be glad you did.

Bill, I hope you pull this off without a hitch, chances are, there will be a hitch(murphy's law) it's how you deal with it, that will make the difference. Good luck, we'll be here to help if we can!

 

[williamzanzinger]

Functionally all went better than expected. I smoked them for 3 hours wrapped them and there sitting in my cooler wrapped. The pictures of the meat turned out grey in the bright sun, i woulda took more inside if id realized they wouldnt turn out at all. They did look very very good though. Ill post some in the final stages. First thing I did when I was done was went and bought some hard wood. i bought this stuff labeled as "hickory charcoal" from my provider, turned out to be briquettes so I went with it. Can really tell the diffence in the final product. I kept the smoke awesomely thin and blue but theres still a resinous flavor that my electric doesnt give, it has to be the charcoal. Temps were stable at 220.

 

[richtee]

That IS some funky looking color, But i'm assuming it's not correct! Man-lookit all those smokers in row!

 

[williamzanzinger]

notice the smokers are bolted shut!! Yea that little bit of red showing up is the accurate color. I thought it was just my camera screen or I woulda snapped another shot. Oh well, I just posted the pick so you could see the 11 racks that fit in each. One wouldnt fit to clear the stack.

 

[capt dan]

Whew, I seen that pick and my heart sunk. Glad it is just a camera issue. Good to see all them silvers setting in a row. Kinda choked me up a bit!
Looks like phase 1 has gone very well. Keep the streak alive, on to phase two!

 

[williamzanzinger]

Pictures are limited but we still have progress.
Smoked to 140 pulled wrapped and there now in the altosham@190 degrees. Ill go back in later to check progress. Smokers are running great with maybe a 10 degree difference side to side once they heat up.

Used hardwood today, much much cleaner smoke.