Taking burnt ends to a party tonight, need about 3 hours runway… gonna put some 150 degree water in to heat the cooler, then put towels in as well. Is this enough to keep it hot for that long? If not what else can I do?

I have let lots of brisket and pulled pork sit in a cooler for well over 3 hours. Wrap in foil, wrap towels around it, and 3 hours later that thing will be hot and steamy when you pull it out

Do I just put water in and then drain it out?

tandy miller said:

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Do I just put water in and then drain it out?

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Pour it in and close the lid and leave it in for 20 minutes or so, leave the lid closed and drain the water. When the water is out, thrown in a couple towels, then your pork belly, then a couple more towels. It should keep for a couple hours.

malenurse said:

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tandy miller said:

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Do I just put water in and then drain it out?

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If you don't, everything will get really soggy

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tandy miller said:

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Taking burnt ends to a party tonight, need about 3 hours runway… gonna put some 150 degree water in to heat the cooler, then put towels in as well. Is this enough to keep it hot for that long? If not what else can I do?

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I've kept a 17 lbs brisket warm in the yeti for 10 hours just fine. Perfectly warm still.

I've got a high end igloo cooler that I've rested a brisket in for 12 hours overnight.

Wrapped it in 4 towels and when I pulled it, it was still hot to the touch.

Bit late and after the fact, but many here are comparing brisket and pork butt to the pork belly/burnt ends in question here. I'm assuming that the belly is cubed up, and not a solid mass. I'd be very surprised, yeti or not, for it to maintain temp for 3 hours. I would expect to heat them in an oven prior to serving.

CrockerCock00 said:

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Bit late and after the fact, but many here are comparing brisket and pork butt to the pork belly/burnt ends in question here. I'm assuming that the belly is cubed up, and not a solid mass. I'd be very surprised, yeti or not, for it to maintain temp for 3 hours. I would expect to heat them in an oven prior to serving.

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thermodynamically, so long as there isn't an air current, surface area shouldn't matter a whole lot, so cubed vs solid should hold heat roughly the same length of time assuming the same mass.

also, just to add, i too have kept a 12 lb brisket for nearly 6 hours in a cheapo 48qt igloo cooler that i preheated with hot water. I will usually leave my thermal probes in the meat when i put it in the cooler so i can keep an eye on temp and get an alert if it starts getting close to the upper end of the danger zone.

tandy miller said:

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Do I just put water in and then drain it out?

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No just throw it in the oven for 5 minutes.

Sounds like you've created a Schrodinger's Yeti dilemma…

Leave the drain open so you can smell it the entire way there.

RK said:

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interesting hypothesis, given the post directly above yours.

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Yeah, down side of reading the post, getting distracted and then finishing my reply without refreshing the page

I've kept things warm in cooler by wrapping a brick or paver in foil, warming in the oven, then placing it on top of cardboard in the cooler and a towel wrapping the food. Or at least that's how I remember it:

From top to bottom:
(towel)
food
towel
brick/paver
cardboard