Tricks for keeping ribs hot in a cooler?

Former Member

This weekend, I'll be heading to a baseball game and doing some tailgating, and will be smoking some ribs to take along.

I've read in these forums about the technique to double foil hot meat, put towels around it and stick it in a cooler to keep the meat warm for a while. However, I'm guessing this works better for large masses of meat, such as pork butts, than it does for ribs, which I'd think would cool off much faster.

How long can you keep ribs hot in a cooler? Are there any other tricks to keeping things hotter for longer in a cooler? I've read about heating a brick or two and putting that in the cooler too, but that would make it awfully heavy and I'd think bricks could crack the cooler lining.

Are there any other cooler tricks, such as adding hot water bottles, to keep things hotter, for longer?

Please share your tips, and let me know how long you can keep ribs hot in a cooler.

Thanks!

6/29/0412:08 PM

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Former Member

I know you can pre-heat a thermos bottle by filling it with hot water before you put the food in it. Should can work for your cooler too. Then the added water bottles or whatever would have a head start.

Also maybe some of those reusable "boil and snap" heat packs would work. You boil them and they stay liquid after they cool. When you want to use them, you bend a little metal disk in the bag. That sets off a chemical reaction that releases heat as the liquid solidifies. We use them on ski patrol to warm injured skiers and they really do the trick.

FWIW

6/29/0412:35 PM

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Former Member

Studly, I did ribs for a football tailgate last year and all I did was wrap in plastic wrap, double foiled and put in a cooler with lots of towels and newspaper. The ribs were still nice and warm 5 hours later.

6/29/0412:35 PM

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stuartMember

Try cooking a couple of baking potatoes, they hold heat really well.

6/29/043:25 PM

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Former Member

One other idea to keep the ribs warm would be
to heat 3 or 4 bricks in your oven then cover them
with a towel so your cooler interior doesn't melt
and put your food on top.

6/30/047:51 AM

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Former Member

Thanks everyone for the tips. Another question, when you wrap in newspapers or towels, how many do you put in? I assume the less empty space in the cooler, the warmer the ribs will stay. Do most people fill the cooler half way with towels or newspapers, add the double-foiled meat, then cover the meat and fill the rest of the cooler up with towels or newspapers? Or is this overkill? How many towels and newspapers should you use and should they go equal parts on top and below the meat? What's the exact technique to keep the meat the best insulated and the hottest?

6/30/044:57 PM

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Former Member

Studly:

That is exactly what I do. I don't use towels but sort of loosely crunch up the newspaper, just to limit the empty air. That method has worked amazingly well. I do use an Igloo Extreme cooler but I think the paper helps a lot.

6/30/046:50 PM

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Former Member

Take the racks, wrap, say 2 together, in plastic wrap. Then double wrap in aluminum foil. Then wrap that with newspaper until you don't feel any heat.

Use the brick idea, putting the bricks in the bottom, as Heat rises.

Works pretty good, and you'll probably easily get 4 or 5, but I've even taken it to 8 hours and had good success.

Smokin'

7/1/0410:53 AM

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