How Long Can A Cooler Keep BBQ Hot? | Is A Cooler The Best Cambro for Barbecue?

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0:00
0:33 Introduction
2:05 The Premise
2:35 How We Ran The Test
3:58 Party Stacker Cooler Hot Hold Test
5:17 Yeti Tundra 45 Hot Hold Test
6:28 Overall Cooler As A Cambro Results
7:01 Which Cooler Is Best For Keeping BBQ Warm?

[drdrew]

The rest of is just wrap some bricks in foil, heat them up, then line the cooler bottom with them. Cover with bath towels. You don’t need a $400 Yeti — just $4 worth of bricks

[Whatsinanameanyway]

Great experiment, I stumbled across this just as I'm planning to smoke a bunch of chickens for my niece's graduation party this weekend. I've always timed things to have food done just 1-2 hours before planned events, but being able to hold food longer safely would be a bonus as I have a 30 minute drive from my house (cook site) to the party.

[profantalk]

Dude! This was phenomenal! Just went thru this a month ago with an overnight cook. GREAT WORK!!!

[SmoothbassmanStudios]

I use a classic RTIC 20 cooler to hold my Smoked Turkey or Briskets at temp when taking them to gatherings. Folks are amazed how the food is still warm after being in the cooler for 3-4 hours.

[richarddiaz]

Thank you for this video! Answered many questions I've been wondering for a few weeks now.

[seasoningstaste]

I’ve held 2 pork shoulders in the Walmart yeti cooler 22 qt I think?

Take 4 bricks and wrap in foil, bake at 350 in a cold oven for an hour. Preheat cooler with hot water, drain and dry. Fold a towel and open it up and place the bricks. Place another small towel if necessary. I put my meat in a dollar store turkey pan and bent it to fit. Wrap pork in paper, too with foil and finally more towels. You want no room left over. This kept hot for over 8 hours, meat was 170 When I pulled from cooler, let test about half an hour and shred. 10/10 do again.

[tempesttaz]

I have a Tundra 65… use it all the time to rest my cooks. Longest I’ve had bbq in there is probably 7 hours. Even then, I foolishly picked it up bare handed not considering how hot it would still be

[theftworthrealtor]

I always hold my briskets overnight in a cooler but by morning the temp on the brisket gets down in the 150s forcing me to put it in the oven on low to keep it out of the danger zone until serving time…I’ve often wondered if a fancy yeti would hold it for longer and now I have my answer…great video…time to go shopping…

[bdr]

You can use moving blankets to help insulate the heat more. I have a blue coleman cooler and use 2 moving blankets and can hold food a long time. I should try this with my Rtic and see how it does!

[marcusfabiousmaximus]

Great video I rested a 14 lb brisket in a igloo cooler, wrapped it in butcher paper then foil and filled the cooler with towels. I pre heated the cooler as well. Rested for 7 hrs and it was moist and juicy. I used a MEATER thermometer and it was 150 when I served it

[brianprather]

I have done this …. It got me thinking about some of the Battery operated coolers on market now that cool and heat my be a good option to try in this experiment…. And it would work similar to the professional grade warmers …. Most of them can operate 12 hours or more 😉

[herb]

I made a pho-Cambro by taking an older Coleman cooler and then lining the interior with 2" thick styrofoam. I wrap the meat in aluminum foil or in some cases ' paper ' for the last few hours of cooking.. Pull it when done and open it up for a few minutes. wrap it back up + wrap an old heavy beach towel around it & then into my pho-Cambro. Works great & hold for 6-8 hours without issue. A ton less $$$ than a Cambro or Yeti as well.

[scottrgood]

My kind woman just bought me this Yeti 45 hard cooler. She’s knows how much I love Bigfoot and those special Alpine Yellow varieties! I couldn’t believe it! 😍

[mikejonce]

Thank you so much for making this video!

[ericcochran]

Awesome information and comparison. Thank you.

[alfromtx]

This is awesome. I have another brand cooler (it's in the garage and I can't think of the brand name) that's insulated very comparable to a Yeti. I think I'll try this with my next brisket. Great video!

[emmgeevideo]

I wish you had mentioned the interior dimensions. I was thinking of buying a Yeti cooler for holding BBQ but was disappointed at the small interior space (and the high price!) of the Yeti coolers I saw in my local Ace Hardware store. Also you didn't get into practical cook timing. The Yeti may last 12 hours, but if you want to serve dinner at 7:00 PM and hold for 12 hours, you would have to finish your cook at 7:00 AM That would mean starting your cook around midnight (or later, depending on how long your protein takes to cook). I'm checking out the Coleman. Seems to me you wake up early, cook all day, and have a nice 2-4 hour rest.

[Fendamonky]

I've been holding my briskets and pork butts overnight in my home oven for over a year or so now.

It's my understanding that most modern ovens allow for a temperature adjustment of +/- 30 degrees to account for variations from one oven to the next within the same brand/model ranges. My personal oven will hold as low as 170 degrees displayed temperature. To hold, I just adjust my *actual* oven temp to be -30 of my displayed temperature, then turn the oven on for 170-175 degrees. I cook my brisket/butt the day before (say from 8am-10 or 11pm), then throw it (wrapped up) in the oven overnight. It comes out jiggly, moist, and amazing every time!

I'll use coolers for transportation the next day if I'm traveling to eat. I just pre-heat the cooler for 20-30 minutes with 150 degree water and add in hot bath towels for the drive.

[salder]

I set my oven at lowest temp 170 F, and placed my 6 foil wrapped pork butts in the oven for 10 hours. They turned out moist and delicious. No complaints.

[Escotch]

I use the party stackers to hold bbq and find that the more full it is the longer you can hold, or add towels etc. But I'm not surprised the yeti lapped it. Just curious about venting the steam. If you'd crack the meat a little it would steam at much lower temps so I'm not sure what it acctually accomplishes even at 203. I'd take it straight from the smoker to the cooler and I agree whole heartedly about warming them up first with hot water. It keeps the cooler from sucking the heat out of the meat, a big step most people forget to do. It works the other way too, if you want max time in the yeti for cold temps you need to cool it down first with some sacrificial ice, I like to do that the night before whenever possible.