Optimum rest time for butt


 

Steve Petrone

TVWBB Platinum Member
What is the optimum length of time to hold a butt in foil?

A friend of mine said my pulled pork was fatty. I am surprised since I pick 'em clean when pulling. Is the butt soaking up considerably more fat when resting-perhaps a good thing? Or should we limit the rest to about an hour to limit absorption of fat?

On second read this sounds like a dumb question. Where does the fat in the foil come from? The butt of coarse.
 
I think it's a good question.

Conventionally speaking, butt requires about 30 min of resting. But that means either tented with foil only, or unfoiled, sitting on the counter. If wraped and coolered then the time required is longer, probably 60-90 min (probably closer to the high end), as wrapping and coolering slows the needed migration of the interior juices (the more rapid cooling on the counter speeds the juice's movement).

Meats do have more ability to absorb and retain liquids/juices/rendered fat as they cool. I'm thinking, though, that perhaps your friend is more used to commercial NC Q?
 
Great question. I usually do about 1-2 hrs foiled in a cooler at home. Now when I do butts for work they come off around 6:30AM get foiled and into the cooler. I normally get to pulling them around 11:00AM at work give or take a 1/2 hr. I have to fit it in to what I'm runing and my run lenghts at the moment (printer, 1st pressman). I find them really no different than the ones I cook for at home.
 

 

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