Emergency! Advice needed.

[Chris W.]

Situation is this: I'm having some friends over for dinner, planned for around 6. I put a five-pound pork butt on for pulled pork at midnight last night. I stayed up until about 2, and once the temps were stabilized I went to bed. I just now got up to check it (about 10 till 7) and the butt is already at 190* and almost ready to come off the cooker. There was one spot I felt wasn't quite tender enough yet, so I'm leaving it on for now, but there's no way it will make it until 2 or 3 in my WSM, which is what I planned on.

I think holding it for 10-11 hours is simply too long. Do I pull it off in another half hour or hour (or however long it takes before I'm satsified with the tenderness), let it rest for an hour or two, then pull it, pop it in the fridge and re-heat before my friends arrive. If so, what's the best method of re-heating?

 

[Dave K]

A 5 lb butt would only take about 7-10 hrs. If you have a crock pot, I would let it sit, pull it, and put it in the crock pot on low until it is time to eat. Be sure to make up a batch of #5 sauce and drizzle that over your creation. This is how I would do it. Hope this helps, and we will see what others have to say.

 

[K Kruger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I think holding it for 10-11 hours is simply too long. Do I pull it off in another half hour or hour (or however long it takes before I'm satsified with the tenderness), let it rest for an hour or two, then pull it, pop it in the fridge and re-heat before my friends arrive. If so, what's the best method of re-heating? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>It is too long. Pull it off when satisfied. Rest an hour or so (no need to go through the cooler thing and you're going to cool it anyway) then pull it. (I use a finishing sauce here.) Don't pack tightly into anything. Put in a pan shallowly, in the fridge, so that complete cooling in a shorter time is achieved - don't cover tightly until cool. (Chilling the pan you will use for the pork in the fridge or freezer first will help the pork cool more quickly as well.)

Reheat in a CrockPot, adding a little moisture to the pot, or simply add a little moisture and reheat in a 300 oven, still covered tightly from the fridge, stirring once after the first 20 min or so, then again 10 min thereafter, just till serving-temp hot. Don't overheat in the oven or the CrockPot.

 

[Bryan S]

Chris, in future pork butt cooks, figure 1.5-2 hrs. per lb for pork butt/picnics.

Hope everything turned out well for you.

 

[Chris W.]

Thanks for the advice guys. Things turned out OK, and the pork was enjoyed by all. It was not my best attempt at pork butt, but it was still mighty tasty. That's what I love about this hobby; even your mistakes usually end up tasting pretty good.

 

[Joe T]

Yeah, I got to say the worst I ever did on the WSM was wonderful. The best was just out of this world.