Pork butt, starting one location, finishing another?

[Stephen T]

My boss would like me to do a couple pork butts for a client, kind of a reward for the employees' cooperation with the service we provide.

I told him it would take a long time to cook, certainly overnight, which would be complicated if he wanted done there.

Is there a way to do a partial cook at home and finish it up at another location? Part of the BBQ idea is to at least have it partially done there, since opening up some foil trays doesn't exactly match the atmosphere.

 

[adam clyde]

Stephen -

Depending on how long it will be from the time you take them off, to when you need to serve them, you can certainly wrap them in a couple layers of HD foil when done and keep them in a preheated cooler for at least 4 hours. Make sure the cooler is just bigger than the butts, or pack the excess space with warm towels.

Then you can unfoil them and pull them at work, to the amazement of all the folks there.

If you actually want to finish the cooking there... do you have on oven at work? I'm sure you can foil them at home, take them to work, then bring them back to the desired temps in the oven at work. But it doesn't seem like much of a benefit over just finishing at home and keeping them warm until you are ready to pull.

- Adam

 

[K Kruger]

Stephen--

Sounds like you're shooting for the full, sensory, WOW factor (which I wholeheartedly applaude!). There are a few potential problems but with a little foresight these can be mitigated. You don't want the butts so undercooked that you have no control of finish time once you get to your next destination (nor so undercooked that you foster food safety issues), nor do you want to interrupt the rendering process (you can, but I don't think I'd go there).

Plan an overnight so that the butts would be just done at the last possible moment before you have to leave (there is some flexibility here). (Shoot for 188-190 tops; if they hang in the mid-180s let them go for a while then pull them out--don't push them higher.) Wrap in foil and stick them in a cooler as Adam suggests. Disassemble your cooker and cart it, along with some fuel, your chimney, and some smokewood, to your next location. Bring something to fill the waterpan with, your sauce(s), knives, bowl, etc.

On arrival assemble your cooker. Light a chimney and when half lit dump it in the cooker and toss on a little wood. Put cold water in the pan. If there is a lot of time between then and the time the butts need to be 'done' don't add the butts yet. Close vents down so that the cooker chugs along at a low temp and the smoke wafts enticingly. Unwrap the butts partially and put them in when you have 30-45 min (tops) left to go. (Toss in another piece of wood if needed for effect.) If the butts are pullable when you unwrap them (they should be) keep the cooker temp very low. If not quite, raise the cooker temp, but in either case cook 30-45 min, re-wrap and rest back in the cooler. They will not need a lengthy rest before pulling.

 

[Ed Wheat]

Kevin is giving you some good advise, I just wanted to tell you a story and a slight alternative to what Kevin said.
Years ago I was fond of buying BBQ sandwiches from a vendor that sold his Q out of a homemade trailer. It was made from a big gas tank in the front part and he built a shed on the other end with a porch and windows to dispence out of. All this on a trailer that he pulled with his truck. He would park in a vacant lot a couple days a week and sell. One of the greatest thigs was the smell of the hickory smoke coming out of the cooker. After buying from him for months one day I happened to touch the smoking cooker and it was cold. When I asked about this he told me he cooked all his meat at home and the cooker on the trailer was just for show. He had a small firebox that he threw wood into for the smoke/smell factor.
You could do the same thing, have the meat done,take the WSM apart and just burn a few coals and some smoke wood for effect.
Ed