Cooking Ribs early


 
B

Bobby D.

New member
Guys, I am going to cook ribs and pork loin for a work function this Friday. My question is how long is reasonable to hold the ribs before serving. I want to give myself a little pad by getting the ribs done early so the serving time is predictable. I am going to do the cooking then leave before the food is served so I would like to be able to have all of the meat done and held ready. In the past I have always just eaten when the ribs are finished. With butts or brisket it is a no brainer to foil and stick it in a cooler but will the quality of the ribs and the pork loin (tenderloin) be the same if I do that? Thanks!

bd
 
You can do the same with the ribs and loin. The meat should keep for at least 2 hours. I'd keep both whole; don't slice until ready to serve. Foil and insulate well with towels, etc. and keep in a cooler. You can also pre-treat the cooler by filling it with hot water 1st to bring the insides up to temp. The tighter the fit inside the cooler, the longer your meat will stay hold.

On edit, Kevin brings up a critical point; the amount of meat/mass you're holding. With a work function, I may have falsely assumed you'd be holding a good amount of meat.

Paul
 
It will depend on how you're planning to hold. If just wrapped and coolered you can go for a little while - maybe 30-60 min - but neither ribs nor tenderloin has the mass for sustained holding. (Tenderloin is only about a pound in size. Is that what you're doing?)

Both tenderloin and loin are best pulled at lower internals, IMO. Care should be taken that they don't overcook while being held, that is, not held with applied heat higher than their finish.

Bark can suffer with holding, depending on original barkiness, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
If you bunch the wrapped stuff together you can hold longer, as Paul notes, but be careful not to apply heat - just whatever the residual heat is - as noted above. Still, I'm not a fan of holding ribs long. If I need to cook early I tend to cool then reheat for service.
 
My experience with holding Ribs (foiled in a cooler), is they continue to "Tenderize/soften up" if you will, and they just fall apart or fall off the bone. In my opinion over cooked. If that's what you want, that's fine.

I agree with Kevin, cool them and reheat if at all posiible. The finished product will be much better. IMO

Good Luck
 
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