Ideal holding time for a Butt


 
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Tom Raveret

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Are there any opinions on the ideal holding time for Pork Butts?

I've been getting in the winter habit of wrapping them and leaving them in the oven for a couple of hours at 170 but what are you preferred ways and times for holding butts until serving or pulling?
 
Tom,

I hazard to answer any question when someone is looking for the "ideal" anything. I have held 6 butts in a cooler for 5.5 hours (pulled at 203 and were still at 163 when dinner was served. I wouldn't call this ideal, but they were great and I got lots of compliments on them. "Ideally" I guess I would like to cook and hold butts for 1-2 hours then pull and eat.

You have to let them rest after cooking but I don't know if there is an "ideal" amount of time. I'll be interested in what everyone else thinks.
 
Tom...

Whenever I cook butts I leave them on the smoker for 24 hours. Cook them at 225? for 2 hr./lb. Then foil, close up the WSM and place back inside the smoker. This allows me to hold the butts for a pretty long time.

Winter may be pushing this method as the metal will cool much quicker. But, in the summer, this really works and there are a few advantages.......NEVER late...you are planning an entire day ahead! No oven is needed. Easy to plan...no counting involved!
 
ok Bruce well... perhaps Ideal wasnt the best choice of words.

I'm justlooking for best practices as it pertains to this and your holding for 5-6 gave me an outside range and a 1-2.

Kevin I will have to try your method when it gets a bit warmer but thats downright siimple and practical.

In winter as i said I've been holding in the oven at 170 and was just wondering what others are doing to get the best pulled pork.
 
Tom
The ideal holding times is dictated by the condition of the butt your holding. If your going to pull a butt off the cooker, do it a lower internal temp 185 to 190?. Wrapped in plastic and foil in a dry cooler these butts keep cooking.
Doing the same thing when the butt is at 205? would take it beyond prime condition.
Jim
 
Stogie,

When discussions were going on about the "zone" that the collagen breaks down I thought of your post about the 24 hour butts. Could it be that when you pull, foil, and put them in the cooling bullet you are holding them in the zone? I don't know, but it is an interesting theory I guess.

One question I did have is what internal temp do you pull the butts at when you keep them on the 24 hour cycle?

Thanks for your reply!
 
Pat....

I wrote this up at one time and it is probably still posted around here somewhere.

It really was an accident in how it came about. I was cooking for a group of buddies and when the butt was finished, we weren't ready to eat. So, I foiled it and threw it back into the smoker. I then closed the cooker and let it sit for another several hours...8 maybe. Yeah, we ended up eating this thing by early morning moonlight! LOL

Anyway, it was among the best butts I had ever had. It had NO fat whatsoever and was still very moist. I didn't measure yields or anything like that, so not sure of that impact.

As far as when I foiled it...I have not used a thermo to measure meat temps in a long time, so I am not sure what the temp was. It was very tender...use the fork test and twist. It had been cooking for my standard 2 hr./lb. and it was an 8 lber.

No idea if the fat continues to render after it has reached 190-200? and then cooled back down. I can tell you that this one had literally NO fat when we cracked it open. This evidence seems to support your theory.....the fat continues to render after hitting peak temps and cooling back down very slowly.

I cooked many more butts that summer in this same manner and I am convinced it works pretty darn good. Plus, I am not very good at math, but planning something for 24 hours is easy even for me!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Kevin Taylor:
[qb]Whenever I cook butts I leave them on the smoker for 24 hours. Cook them at 225? for 2 hr./lb. Then foil, close up the WSM and place back inside the smoker. This allows me to hold the butts for a pretty long time.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Stogie,
Just for clarification - after you foil the butt and put it back on the WSM, have you already extinguished all of the coals or closed all of the vents?
 
Russ...

I take the butt off....top grate and all, then close all the vents. Once the vents are closed I wrap the butt in foil and place it back on the top shelf of the cooker.
 
Dumb Question: When you guys wrap your products after taking them off the smoker, do you wrap in some kind of cling film first and then in foil? I've always wrapped in just foil, and was wondering what plastic wrap might "bring to the party." I guess it doesn't melt, either...?
 
Usually just foil. There is some discussion in here somewhere-- or on the site-- about the temperature withstanding capabilities and uses of original Saran Wrap as opposed to other cling films. I sure if you search "original saran".
 
Dwain...

As Doug mentioned, I too use only foil. Many folks do use the plastic wrap and foil. Not sure why they do it, but it obviously works for them.

Plastic wrap doesn't actually melt...it crinkles. This occurs at temps above 265?.
 
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