Pork Butt Question For You Vets


 
S

Steve Parker

New member
Alright, so here's my situation. I have to smoke about 15-20 pounds of pork butts for a Fantasy Football draft i have on Saturday the 20th. My only day off is Wednesday of that week. So that brings me to two options. 1) Smoke it on Wednesday and find a way to keep it fresh and great until Saturday. or 2) Give the reigns to the wife (thats a little scary) for the 12 hours I'm at work. I'd probably like to do option 1 but I'm exactly sure how fresh it will taste and what things i can do to preserve it until then. All tips are appreciated!
 
turn it over to your wife..........are you using a WSM?

set it and forget it!!

If you're bent on doing it Wed., I'd have a plan for storage. I'd pull all of it and vacuum pack it if possible. That should reduce some of the drying out that may occur. It should keep in the fridge Wed.-Sat. with no problem.
 
Steve,

What time is the party on Saturday and what hours do you have to work Friday?

I am guessing you could pull it off. If not, as dwayne mentions, pull all the pork and let cool and then vacuum pack and refrigerator. Saturday before the party, boil some water, drop in the packs, kill the heat. It will taste like it just came off the smoker after 10 minutes.

Of course, use a big enough pot and enough water since you would be doing 7-10 of pork. I would probably do it in a couple pots.
 
If you plan to sauce it you should be fine holding it a few days without sealing too. We do that all the time. Especially for small catering jobs. And it must not be bad, we get repeats all the time. Have fun with the draft I'm cooking for on the 27th.
 
Cooking in advance would be easier on you if you don't have faith in the wife.

If I asked my wife, she would just laugh and tell me to call a friend to come check on it.

If I had to cook the Friday, I would get 2x 10 lb butts, put them on at 4 @ 250 and crank the vents way down before leaving. When you get home if they are done, you can foil or crank the heat back up.
 
I would cook on Wednesday, pull and put into an aluminum roasting pan. Cover with foil and put in the fridge. On Saturday, add a 50/50 mix of water and apple juice to the pan and put in the oven with the foil loosely covering the meat. Add enough to moisten the meat, but not drowning it. Heat at 300 and stir occasionaly - it may take about an hour.

Typically, I am the type to bbq fresh and serve hot off the smoker, but this method works for those times that you don't have the time.

Good luck.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jason Perry:
If you plan to sauce it you should be fine holding it a few days without sealing too. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jason, could you tell me exactly how to hold that sauced meat?
In a pan covered with foil? Wrapped in waxed paper?
 
What time is your draft? You may be able to do the high heat method it will take you 6-7 hours if you do not want to cook ahead of time or leave it to your wife.
 
How about smoking on Friday during the day while you are presumably sleeping ? You could set the alarm to check once, or if your wife is around ask her to wake you if the temp gets out of a certain range (which it probably won't).
 
I'd cook on Wednesday and hold in the fridge. It's not the best but it's still better than what most people get at a resturant and your friends will enjoy it. Save yourself the headache and do it on Wednesday.
 
I agree with Jerry. I've had good luck putting pulled pork, especially a large quantity in a foil pan and covering it for a few days in the fridge. Warm it up in the oven with foil on the pan.

Then you get to enjoy your company and not worry about everything that can or has gone wrong and cleaning up etc during the party.

You will taste it when it comes off Wed and know how great it is fresh off the smoker!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top