Video: Using An Electric Oven To Hold Brisket At Temperature
Watch this video to learn more about this article.
The Importance Of Resting Brisket After Cooking
When I first started making barbecue in 1997, it was common to wrap briskets in aluminum foil after cooking, add a little beef broth, wrap it tight and rest it in an empty cooler for 2-4 hours before slicing and serving. The rest improved the moisture retention, texture, and tenderness of the finished brisket.
In the early 2010s, we saw the rise in popularity of Central Texas barbecue and the emergence of Aaron Franklin of Franklin BBQ in Austin, TX. Everyone watched his videos, saw him wrapping briskets in pink butcher paper and giving them a long rest before serving them to customers, and wanted to emulate his technique at home. As a result, there’s been a greater appreciation among backyard barbecuers of the importance of holding brisket for a good, long rest after cooking, usually wrapped in aluminum foil or pink butcher paper and placed in an empty cooler for a few hours.
How Do The Pros Hold Brisket After Cooking?
I’ve been to some famous and no-so-famous barbecue joints over the years, and almost all of them wrap finished briskets in foil or butcher paper or even plastic wrap and hold them in a holding oven or hot box. One popular brand is from a company called Alto-Shaam. These are multi-shelved enclosures with a thermostatically controlled electric heating element that can maintain a low, steady temperature for hours on end.
Alto-Shaam at Franklin BBQ
For food safety, cooked brisket must be held above 140°F, so restaurants will use a holding oven to keep brisket at or above that temperature between the time the meat exits the pit (perhaps after a short cool down at room temperature to stop the cooking process) and when it’s sliced and served to customers.
Holding Brisket For 17 Hours In A Holding Oven
Pitmaster Jimmy Perez, Caldwell Country BBQ, Gilbert AZ
In February 2020, I enjoyed some barbecue at Caldwell County BBQ in Gilbert, AZ. Pitmaster Jimmy Perez was kind enough to show me around, including in the kitchen where they hold briskets in holding ovens at 170°F for 17 hours. Yes, you read that right. They put briskets into the pit at 6:00 am, take them out of the pit at 6:00 pm, and hold them at 170°F until they open for service the next day at 11:00 am. Seventeen hours of holding time in a hot box!
This got me to wondering…my home electric oven goes down to 170°F. Could I use it as a holding oven for finished brisket?
Will My Electric Oven Work As A Holding Oven?
I hooked up a ThermoWorks Signals alarm thermometer to my home oven, set it to the lowest setting of 170°F, and tracked the temperature for a couple of hours. The results surprised me! The initial temperature rose to 190°F, then slowly went down to the mid-140’s, then up to the low 150’s, and then wandered up and down within that temperature range for the next two hours.
On the one hand, I’m not getting 170°F from my oven as I should, but from a brisket standpoint, a temperature of around 150°F is a really great temp for holding brisket for a long period of time.
Holding Brisket For 4 Hours In My Oven
The next time I smoked a brisket in my WSM, I wrapped it in pink butcher paper part way through the cooking process. When it was done, I placed it on a rimmed baking sheet pan and moved it into the electric oven set to 170°F. The oven temperature wandering between a low of 143°F and a high of 147°F.
I held the brisket shown above for 4 hours and as you can see it was still nice and juicy! The tenderness and texture were good, too. I wonder how long I could have held this brisket in my home oven?
Test Your Electric Oven & Give It A Try
Can you use your electric oven to make better brisket with a long post-cook rest? You’ll have to test it to find out.
- Turn your electric oven to “Bake” and to its lowest temperature setting.
- Place a probe thermometer on the oven rack in the middle position.
- Monitor the low and high temp for a couple of hours.Look for a low temp of not less than 140°F and a high temp of not more than 170°F, although I’d be more comfortable with a high of not more than 160°F.
If you’ve got a ThermoWorks Smokeor Signals or other thermometer that records and graphs temperature over time, you can get an accurate sense of how your oven performs at its lowest temp setting and whether it’s appropriate for holding finished brisket for long periods of time.
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FAQs
Holding Brisket For 4 Hours In My Oven
When it was done, I placed it on a rimmed baking sheet pan and moved it into the electric oven set to 170°F. The oven temperature wandering between a low of 143°F and a high of 147°F. I held the brisket shown above for 4 hours and as you can see it was still nice and juicy!
How to keep brisket moist in the oven? ›
Texas Crutch Method: The Texas crutch method involves wrapping the brisket tightly in foil or butcher paper during the cooking process. This helps retain moisture and speeds up the cooking time, resulting in a tender and flavorful brisket.
How to keep brisket warm without drying it out? ›
How do you keep brisket warm without drying it out? To keep brisket warm for serving without drying it out, wrap it in aluminum foil and place it in a warm oven set at warm or 170 degrees.
Can you start a brisket in the oven and finish it on the grill? ›
By cooking this beef brisket recipe in the oven first, and then glazing with barbecue sauce on the grill after, you get a deliciously moist, smoky, and perfectly cooked piece of meat.
How to hold meat at temperature? ›
Information. Once the food is cooked or reheated, it should be held hot, at or above 140 °F(60 °C). Food may be held in oven or on the serving line in heated chafing dishes, or on preheated steam tables, warming trays, and/or slow cookers. However, cold cooked foods and leftovers should not be reheated in a slow cooker ...
Should I wrap brisket in foil when cooking in the oven? ›
Wrapping a brisket in butcher paper or aluminum foil will speed up the cooking process. Wrapping the brisket will prevent what's called "the stall" — when evaporation from the surface of the brisket halts the cooking process.
How do you keep brisket warm for 12 hours in the oven? ›
Pre-warm your oven/food warmer/smoker to 140°F. (If your warmer does not get that low in temperature, any level between 140°F-165°F is fine.) Place your brisket (still wrapped in butcher paper) into your warming device and keep it there, untouched for 12 hours.
What temp does brisket dry out? ›
The stall normally happens right about 160 to 165 degrees. Now, if you don't know already, if you want your brisket to be moist and tender, you want your internal temp to be about 200 degrees. Obviously, with the stall, you'd get nowhere near that.
Can I leave a brisket in the oven overnight? ›
Overnight Brisket is tender, succulent, mushroomy, and super easy to make. Overnight Brisket is cooked tightly wrapped, at a low temperature overnight. The result is out of this world! Make sure to use a 2nd cut brisket for best results.
Can you rest a brisket for 8 hours? ›
It is possible to let the rest brisket for too long. You can keep the meat for 1-4 hours; after that, the meat will start to get cold.
A warmed oven (with the heat turned OFF) is a great resting location for meats with a crisp crust.
Should I let brisket sit in room temp before cooking? ›
Before smoking, the brisket should be trimmed of excess fat and seasoned generously with a dry rub. The dry rub should sit on the meat for at least an hour before smoking. Additionally, beginners should let the brisket sit at room temperature for about an hour before smoking to ensure even cooking.
How long do you cook a brisket in the oven at 225? ›
Preheat the oven or smoker to 225 degrees F. Trim the fat evenly across the top to 1/4-inch thick. Season the brisket liberally with the seasoning rub. Cook in the oven or smoker until the internal temperature on an instant- read meat thermometer reaches 175 degrees F, about 6 to 8 hours.
What temp does oven brisket finish? ›
Finish Cooking In The Oven
After the brisket reaches 165-170°F in the cooker, wrap it tightly in two layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil, insert a probe thermometer into the middle of the flat portion to monitor internal temperature, and cook in the oven at 300°F to an internal temperature of 205°F.
What temperature do you take brisket off and rest? ›
Keep that brisket on the smoker until your thermometer reads at least 200 degrees F. This step typically takes another 4-6 hours. Rest your brisket. Plan at least 1 hour after smoking to let your brisket rest.
How long can you hold meat at 140? ›
Beef, lamb, and pork: 158ºF or 145ºF held for 4 minutes or 140ºF held for 12 minutes or 130ºF held for 112 minutes. Chicken, turkey and duck: 165ºF or 140ºF held for 30 minutes or 130ºF for 6 hours. Fish: 145º or the thickness-specific guidelines here. Shellfish: 194°F (90°C) for 90 seconds.
At what temperature does the brisket stall? ›
It's a phenomenon that happens after a brisket has been smoking for a few hours and the temperature suddenly stops rising. This stall in temperature can last for over four hours, sometimes even dropping the internal temperature inside by a few degrees. The stall normally happens right about 160 to 165 degrees.
What is the safe holding temperature for meat? ›
Maintain hot food at 135°F or above. Properly cooked roasts may be held at 130°F or above. Food made in-house and reheated for hot holding must reach an internal temperature of at least 165°F for 15 seconds.
