So I had a very successful smoking yesterday and brought my leftovers to work for the office to snack on.

A coworker wants a brisket for the super bowl. I commute an hour to work and he commutes 30 minutes.

Can I smoke a brisket on the pit for a few hours and then finish it in the oven?

Say I get home and have the pit lit by 6:00 and the coals settle around 6:20. Then smoke it until 10:00pm (ish) and then put it in the oven at 200* and go to bed. And pull it from the oven around 4:00am and let it rest on the counter until I go to work.


Would this work?

Sure. I'd say once you get the meat past 140F (which is approximately the temperature at which the smoke ring ceases), you'd be good to bring it inside. Set your oven to the same temp as your smoker and let 'er rip.

It might not be exactly like a brisket finished out on the pit, but I bet it would be plenty edible.

is there a disadvantage to keeping it in the oven for to long? im guessing just put it in the oven as low as the oven would go and put some water in a pan.

when the guy heats its up should he do it the same way? just put it in the oven until its heated though?

I've done it before, had an issue keeping up the temp on a long cook and finished in the oven just fine. The bark likely wont be as solid, but the flavor should be there. Make sure you use the probe even while using an oven, yours could be off and you don't even know it. If you make him a brisket you should have him supply a cooler for transporting it and maintaining temperature, if he hasn't agreed to do so already.

the meat will be for super bowl sunday. so i would cook it thurs, bring it to the office and he would keep it until sunday.

I do it all the time. Hell, you can smoke it then freeze it and he can finish in the oven.

It's kind of a toss up on how to finish it in the oven. At a low temp, you might not get it finished in the time you have alotted. It all depends on the piece of meat (how big, how much fat, how much moisture) and the cooking environment (how hot, how humid).

I'd opt for a meat thermometer with a temp alarm. Set it for 195F to start and check it for doneness incrementally until you're happy with it. I'd run the oven at 225F minimum. If it finishes faster, so be it. You'll just wake up earlier!

Another thought is get it to a safe minimum internal temperature and then let him finish it. USDA says 145F for fresh cut beef and 160F for ground beef. I'd say that you either want to get the meat fully cooked through the stall or pull it off before you get into it. I'm just surmising here, but once you start the stall, I say don't disrupt it. I've never done it, though, so I don't have actual evidence to support my position.

I've cooked briskets before and then frozen them whole for a later date. I freeze them in vacuum sealed bags and reheat slowly (over several hours) in the bag submerged in water in the oven.

I ususally put mine on around 7pm and smoke until 1030 or 11the put in oven at 220 and its usually ready by 730 or 8 the next morning. I put in cooler with a towel over it and its still hot for dinner around 530 or 6.

What you described is my normal brisket cooking process. 6PM-12AM on smoke at 225, wrap with HD foil really tight and put in a big aluminum oven pan in the oven for 6 more hours at 200. Wake up, pull it off and rest it until lunch time. They stay hot a long time in foil. Not competition slice, as it's more tender, but people will love it.

For leftover brisket I cut into 2-3 pound chunks and vacuum seal and freeze them. To reheat, thaw and soak in simmering water in a pot inside the vacuum seal bag for 30 minutes. Cut bag open and it's like it just came off the pit.

Finishing a brisket in the oven?

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If I were cooking the brisket for someone....

I'd cook it all the way through on Thursday and vacuum seal it. Then throw it in the fridge and give it to the guy on Friday. And then tell him to put the sealed brisket in a cooler with a few gallons of boiling water and let it heat up for 2-3 hours on Sunday.

ETA: this is assuming you have a vacuum sealer available.

I do not have a vacuum sealer, but the guy did say he only wants a small brisket (10lbs or smaller) so that should cut my cook time down a little bit.