Butts done WAY early... now what?


 
L

Lee A

TVWBB Member
So I just pulled 4 butts off and it's now 8:00am. Those things won't be served until 5 tonight! Yikes. Somehow or another they got done WAY early. I even checked temps in several different places.

So right now they are sitting, double wrapped in foil, in the oven. That's holding the lowest temp it can, 170.

Questions:
1 - How long will they hold in there?
2 - Should I think about chilling them and reheating before dinner?
3 - Other things I haven't thought of?

Thanks all!
 
Lee - Good question. I can't help you, but I 'll be interesting in learning how long cooked butts can be held before pulling.

I'll also be serving butts tonight around 5:00 and was wondering how long I could leave them in a cooler. I'm at 165 right now.

Jim
 
Lee,

My last double butt smoke finished up at 5:30 AM (by design). I foiled and rested in a cooler for three hours, then pulled and refridgerated until dinner time (5 PM). One thing I did was spray with apple juice while pulling to help keep the meat moist. It turned great. I don't know if this was correct/normal, but it worked for me.

Bob W.
 
Double wrap them in HD foil, wrap them in a towel and put them in a dry cooler...check them for temp a few hours before...if they need to be warmed up then toss them in the over to get them back up to temp...no worries. Butts hold temp for HOURS!
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DO NOT PULL IT NOW!
 
I do find that they hold temp better for those longer time frames if you wrap several foiled butts together in ONE towel/blanket/sweatshirt/whatever. The snuggled mass seems to help keep that heat better. I've held them as long as you're looking at holding them before and they were fine. I don't particular LIKE to hold them that long, but I have and they were still good and warm if not piping hot.

Jim, if you're at 165 now, you've still got a ways go to before they're done.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JRPfeff:
Lee - Good question. I can't help you, but I 'll be interesting in learning how long cooked butts can be held before pulling.

I'll also be serving butts tonight around 5:00 and was wondering how long I could leave them in a cooler. I'm at 165 right now.
Jim </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You have plenty of time before your butts get to 190*...at least one more plateau. Usually my butts finish around 12pm or 1pm...they hold till 5pm or 6pm for dinner and are ALWAYS hot!
 
Greg & Keri - I was at 165 by design. I bumped through that plateau and am now at 178. I'm think the pork will be foiled and resting around noon.

I am also doing a brisket, going low & slow overnight (about 9 hours), then moving to aluminum for a high heat finish on a kettle. I did this method a couple weeks ago with excellent results and hope to replicate it for a party this evening.

Jim
 
Craig, this will be 9 hours, so we'll see how they go. It's just a little too short of time for me to chill them, I mean I would be reheating them just as they got cool. So we'll see.

No one has any ideas on the oven-at-170 trick?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lee A:
Craig, this will be 9 hours, so we'll see how they go. It's just a little too short of time for me to chill them, I mean I would be reheating them just as they got cool. So we'll see.

No one has any ideas on the oven-at-170 trick? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Lee,

I'll bet you can hold your WSM at 170 if you try.

Jim
 
I have held butts for 8+ hours double wrapped in HD foil in a cooler. Make sure you fill the empty space with towels in the cooler and leave it outside in the sun. Make sure you save the dripping from the foil. You will want to pour it back on top of the butts if they happen to dry out a little with a little apple juice.
 
The same thing happened to me a year back, however mine finished at around 5am and we didn't start eating until 6:30pm. I double foiled both butts, wrapped each foiled butt with towels and threw them in a ice chest and put more towels on top of the butts. The butts were still warm and very moist at 6:30pm.
 
Lee - I ended up holding one butt for over 7 hours today before pulling. Single-wrap foil, doubled two butts in a towel and placed in a cooler, nothing but net.

Jim
 
I had the same thing happen last weekend. Had two butts that were at 185 at 8:30 am, dinner wasn't served until 5:30pm!! I double foiled, and placed in a heavy towel in a coleman cooler until about noon. I then placed in the oven at 190 until about 2 pm then took out and pulled. About every 45 minutes I basted with apple juice until the guest arrived. Turned out great, especially with some homemade Carolina mustard sauce.
 
Sorry this response took so long, man it was a hell of a party. The butts went over wonderfully, in fact one guest literally asked who catered them. When I showed him the WSM he immediatedly started grilling me about the cooking process. Then when I told him I had never done butts before he was completely blown away.

So apparently holding in the oven all day didn't hurt them at all. I did notice that the bark tenderized really really well during that time.

Thanks (yet again!) to the board for it's collective wisdom in helping me out. This resource SOOOO kicks butt (no pun intended) and really helped out yesterday. The guy was who asking about the smoker wants the addy to this place, getting ready to send it to him now.

Peace!
 
Wait... quiet... what's that sound I hear?

Oh, I know what it is - it's the sound of another BBQ snob being born!
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I love it!

So glad the party went well. Isn't it fun to have them brag on the cooking like that? And only you know how easy it is when you know the fraternal secrets...

Congrats on a great event. Never was a question in our minds that you could make it happen!
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Regards - Keri C
 
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