Butt timing for Super Bowl

[Michael G. (Canada Mike)]

So, tomorrow I'm putting up a 20 lb split butt to be ready for sammies when the game is on. It's a butt I got for .89$ a pound at Loblaws. It has bones in, and I had to trim the skin, but there's still plenty of fat. One thing I always get a bit weird on is timing - something about counting backwards that always gets me. Anyway, here's what I'm thinking, and one question is the resting time. I know this has been discussed, especially by Kevin K, but I couldn't find my exact question in a search. So, can I reasonably expect a butt taken off the smoker at 180-190 to sit safely in a cooler for 4 hours before being pulled? I realise there's no exact answer, but guess. Besides, I guess I can always keep the thermometer in the meat and make sure it doesn't fall below 130. And, of course, I mustn't miss the kick off.

The butts are now rubbed and in the fridge. hdere's the plan.

For 6 pm serving

Day 1
6 pm take pork out of fridge
7 pm fire up smoker
8 pm put meat in smoker

Day 2
2 pm off smoker to pack to rest
5 pm pull
6 pm serve

 

[Dave from Denver]

4 hours in foil and towels/newspaper in a cooler should be fine.

 

[Jim Quinn]

a few hours in the cooler is no problem, just preheat the cooler, and fill in any extra space with towels.

Also Id take the butt to 195-200 before pulling just to make it pull easier.

good luck.

Im starting my 2, 8-10# butts @ 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning to be done and rested for halftime sandwiches.

 

[Don Cash]

4 hours in the cooler should be no problem. I often leave them in there longer than that and always leave the probe in them. I usually switch the meat probe plug over to the smoker input on the Maverick and set the low alarm to 140...never had it go off. It's usually still too hot to pull.

As for your time line, if the biggest butt is 10 lbs you're looking at around 15 hours (could be more, could be less) on the smoker. If it goes on at 8:00pm that would mean it's ready to come off around 11:00am. I've had butts in a cooler for 6 hours before so that shouldn't be a problem but you could start later on day 1 and be ok too.

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Michael G.:
So, can I reasonably expect a butt taken off the smoker at 180-190 to sit safely in a cooler for 4 hours before being pulled? I realise there's no exact answer, but guess. Besides, I guess I can always keep the thermometer in the meat and make sure it doesn't fall below 130. And, of course, I mustn't miss the kick off. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Cook it till you can wiggle the bone free from the meat, not to X internal temp. 4 hrs wrapped in foil and and in a small cooler is no problem at all, I've done 6+ hrs. You don't want the meat to fall below 140º while you are holding the meat. As said pre-heat the cooler and use plenty of towels. HTH

 

[Michael G. (Canada Mike)]

Thanks all - that's exactly the info I needed.