I have the solution for this and I will show you how to keep practically any meat, whether it is smoked or not, hot for as much as four hours.

This is my answer:

Once the meat has finished smoking/cooking, wrap the meat in foil or even a foil pan with a lid or foil over the top of the pan would be ideal. Wrap a thick towel around the foiled meat and place it down in the cooler.

Continue to fill the cooler with throw pillows, blankets, towels, etc.  until you can just close the lid without it popping back open.

This will keep the meat hot for as much as four hours. This does somewhat depend on how long it took you to wrap it, what the internal temperature of the meat was before you wrapped it, etc. but you get the idea.

I have found that this is an excellent way to add a little extra tenderness to pork shoulders, briskets and ribs so I usually plan to get them done two or three hours early.

This gives me time to go take a shower and get ready for dinner so that I don’t smell like smoke. My wife does not mind me smelling like ribs but if I am having dinner guests over, I don’t want to smell like the food I just prepared;-)

There are a few things I must tell you.. this will soften the outside of the meat so for those of you who have to have that crust on the brisket or crispy skin on the chicken better only use this in emergency situations.

You could alternatively throw the meat on a grill to crisp up the outside right before serving it if is that big of a deal.. I usually don’t bother with it but I am just mentioning it so I don’t get complaints later..

Jeff.. you ruined my meal. I put everything in the cooler and when I took it out the crust had disappeared! I can hear it now.

So relax a little about the exact time that you want to eat dinner and just plan to get the food done a little early. When the guests arrive you will have time to mingle and they will wonder how you did it.

Food safety

I do recommend that you use a digital probe meat thermometer in the meat so you can monitor the internal temperature of the meat. You do NOT want the meat to get below 140°F and stay that way for very long. It is imperative that it stay above this temperature until you are ready to serve it.

Just a safety precaution. I have never had a problem with this but I do want to mention it for those of you who are new to the game.

Happy eating!