Resting in a cooler

[Greek]

I have seen a few posts mentioning taking the meat out of the smoker then wrapping and placing it into a cooler to rest.

Is this just a typical cooler?  What are we talking about here?  Thanks!

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[SuperDave]

Greek, the cooler rest with towels is an old smoking technique that allows the meat to cool slowly, re-absorbing the juices into the meat fibers.  The good old igloo ice chest.  What I've discovered recently is that our smokers are so well insulated that they work pretty well too.  I open the door of the smoker to let most of the heat out and can achieve the same result as the cooler resting right in the smoker. 

[gregbooras]

Bill,

+1 on what Dave said.

Also if your brisket or pork butt finishes to early you can set smoker to 140 degrees, remove the butt or brisket and double wrap in foil, leave the door open briefly to drop the temperature. Put the butt or brisket back in the smoker and you should be able to hold it 4-5 hours using this method.

I do this all the time and it works great.

Greg

[SuperDave]

Just an example from my own experience recently.  I turned off the smoker when my meat hit my desired internal temperature, wrapped it in foil and opened the door until my Auber showed the box temp drop to 140.  I then closed the door and threw a towel over the top vent hole.  2.5 hours later, the box temp had only dropped to 127.  Meat was still too hot to touch just like in the cooler.  The cooler and towels is a carry over from our old days of using un-insulated smokers or units that couldn't be cooled down quickly.  It was just by chance that I discovered this other approach as my beef clod was bigger than my largest cooler.  I don't think that I'll need to use the cooler method anymore. 

[gregbooras]

The cooler works great if you are taking the food for later in the day. I have a Yeti, but I also have a Norchill softside cooler that works great for this.

Greg

[SconnieQ]

Nothin' fancy on the coolers needed. Igloo, or basic styrofoam cooler. I have even just wrapped with foil and extra layers of towels without the cooler if resting just a couple hours. The other ideas of wrapping and cooling in the smoker itself are also excellent.

[DivotMaker]

...What those guys said!

[elkins20]

Hey Bill, I use an old styrofoam cooler that I used when I purchased a new fridge. It is very cheap but works just fine for letting the meat rest. Also if you have one no need to purchase a new one. And a couple of old towels will do the trick.

[Greek]

Thanks everyone.  Did a prime rib yesterday as a test run through before Thanksgiving.  Turned out great.  Thanks for the feedback.

FYI - 3 chunks of cherry at 220-225 for 4 1/2 hours.  Pulled meat out at 127.  Rested in my little cooler while I preheated the oven to 500 for a 7 minute sear.  Sliced a perfect medium rare.  Great info on this forum!!

[DivotMaker]

Thanks everyone.  Did a prime rib yesterday as a test run through before Thanksgiving.  Turned out great.  Thanks for the feedback.

FYI - 3 chunks of cherry at 220-225 for 4 1/2 hours.  Pulled meat out at 127.  Rested in my little cooler while I preheated the oven to 500 for a 7 minute sear.  Sliced a perfect medium rare.  Great info on this forum!!

Try one at 200-210, to 127.  The pink goes all the way to the edge!  The reverse-sear is the way to go!