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Mobility of a cooking WSM


 
R

russell swift

TVWBB Super Fan
Is it possible to relocate a WSM after its been smoking for about 12 hours or so? Case in point, we are tailgating for a 7:30 football game in which I would ideally like to begin the cook the night before--2 or 3 pork butts. Typically we arrive to the parking lot about 3 hrs early, but this game will require us to get there by 1 or 2pm. Can I load a hot WSM in the back of my truck and transport it to the parking lot from home (about 5 miles, in city)? Is that a safe thing to do? I'm concerned about keeping the meat warm if I finish the cook early, then wrap the butts in foil, towels, and cooler....will pork stay hot and be safe to eat if it rests up to 4-5 hours?
 
I would never put a burning wsm in my truck. Too much room for disaster.

How about cooking the meat a day or two ahead of time, cooking until shy of done, wrapping heavily in plastic wrap. Then go the game, fire up the wsm and put the meat back on to heat.

Or, get there at 1 and do a high heat butt around 350, foiling at 165. You can get it done in 5 hours that way.
 
Ok, never thought about a high heat butt w/ foil. Is there a noticeable difference between cooking low and slow vs. hot? We like to cook them at 225F for up to 16 hours if possible.

The game is this Thursday night, and I don't have the ability to cook the butts 1-2 days out as I have to go to work everyday.
 
I cooked two butts yesterday. When they came off they were foiled and put in a cooler with towels right away. Three hours later I pulled the first one, that we were eating dinner off of.

By the time I got around to getting the other one out of the cooler to pull, it was 5+ hours after it had gone in, and was still too hot to handle, so plenty safe from a temperature standpoint, and no worse from a taste standpoint, from the longer rest.
 
I also like to cook my butts low and slow like you. I did 2 high heat butts several months back just because I couldn't do an overnight and my guests really wanted pulled pork.

I cooked them both on the top rack for 3-4 hours until they hit 165 or so. Then I placed them inside 2 foil pans (just foil would work) and covered the top of the pan with foil. I think they were done in 5 hours and then I let them rest 30 minutes or so before pulling.

My thoughts were that it was not as good as the low and slow. Just didn't seem to pick up as much flavor. However, my guests would never have known. It was still good pork, just not as good as it can be.

Here's a recipe:
High Heat Butt
 
There's several reasons I wouldn't transport a lit WSM with food in it on a truck. Not safe for one, too many things can go wrong (a sudden stop or bump can unsettle the WSM and spill lit coals onto your truck's bed). With all that movement, ash would surely hit your food too. Your best option, IMO is do an overnighter and plan to pull off within an hour of your departure time. If the butts are wrapped in foil and insulated properly in a cooler, it will stay nice and hot for over 4 hours. I've done this before where the center of the butts read 160° after 3 or 4 hours IIRC. Rinsing the cooler with hot water before putting the butts in will help a bit. Stuff it with towels and/or newspapers. The less air space the better.
 
Imo, if you don't foil during cooking and cook at higher temps you can significantly shorten the cook without having significant differences in finish taste or texture. (I never foil butts during cooking and only recommend it if the cook really needs to be sped up.) For high heat butts I cook around 290-300 lid. They come in at a bit over an hour/lb.

Either way, in a properly toweled cooler you'll get quite a long hot hold, as noted above.
 
Just one more alternative that I don't see mentioned....vacuum sealer. I for some reason get the satisfaction of a long, drawn out, low heat, butt cook, for whatever reason. I would have cooked those butts a week or two ago, at my leisure, pulled them, seasoned, little apple juice spitz, into foodsaver bags, and frozen. Then all I have to do is load up the turkey fryer and propane into the truck, some water, and reheat that stuff on site while having all the time in the world to enjoy the "finer" things of tailgating. And it will come out as good as the day it was sealed. A great trade off for a situation like you describe Russell.

EDIT: there is no way I would move a fully fired WSM, espeically with an automobile.

Todd
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by russell swift:
Ok, never thought about a high heat butt w/ foil. Is there a noticeable difference between cooking low and slow vs. hot? We like to cook them at 225F for up to 16 hours if possible.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Russell, The only difference that I noticed between low and slow and high heat is that the meat was more moist at high heat than low and slow. I have done 4 butts (bone in) on high heat it only took about 5 hrs total time (2 diifernet cooks,2 butts at a time). 3.5 hrs @ 350 then put each one into its own small aluminum pan and cover for an additional 1.5 hrs @ 350. After that have a dedicated dry cooler to place them in. line the cooler with a couple of towels and the butts should stay warm for a few hours. When you get to the game you can pull the pork there.
 
I agree with everyone who suggested almost finishing the butts right before you leave and placing them in a cooler with towels.

One thing that I sometimes do to keep things in the cooler hot is pack hot firebricks in with the towels. When I start to cook the meat I place several fire bricks into the cooker. When the food is done I'll rinse the cooler with hot water, then place a layer of towels on the bottom. Then a layer of fire bricks. Then a layer of towels. Then a layer with the foil wrapped meat. Then more towels, then (if there's room) fire bricks and towels.

I've been able to keep things safe and warm for about four to five hours using this method.

I've also used the foodsaver method mentioned above with great success.

Bill
 
I appreciate everyone's advice on the topic. I think what we are going to do is the 'high heat' cook on site this Thursday. I don't have time to cook and reheat as the game is in two days. We will be on-site tailgating beginning at 9am, which should give me up to 9 hours to have the butts cooked and ready an hour before a 7:30pm kickoff.
 
cook ahead of time. pull the butts. then use a kettle grill or the wsm to reheat. to reheat put the pork in a disposable aluminum pan and cover with foil with some water added so it wont dry out. wont need much and you will have bbq ready to go by game time onsite fully cooked with no mucking about. and you can spend more time enjoying the day than worrying about if the bbq will be done.

other option is start the cook ahead of time allowing plenty of time to fully cook and store and transport in a cooler the butts will keep long enough up to 6 hours safely. long as you dont oopen the cooler.

9 hours is aweful short for cooking butts.
 
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