Never used a cooler for home cooks. Are you guys cooking short of your goal and then counting on this long carry over n the cooler to finish it? I just leave it wrapped (butcher paper for brisket, foil for ribs and pork shoulder) laying on the kitchen counter until it's temp, probed through the wrap without release the juices, is down in the 150-160 range.
If I was trying to keep it warm until all the guests arrive, I'd maybe drop it in a cooler when the temp is in my unwrap range but I kinda like the drama of having everyone around, smelling and watching this wrapped hunk of meat and then being there for the unwrap and cut or pull. I get that you can't always time a cook like that so again, I'm wondering what kind of transformation the meat is going through cooling off so much more slowly and for a long time in a cooler?