I have searched this board with no luck as to why would you take a butt and wrap it in foil after it has hit target temp? I am not talking about wrapping it in order to speed up the cooking proccess, I mean say after it hits 195. I have read where folks will take a butt when it hits 195, wrap it in foil and put it in a cooler. I don't get it. I just normally just sit in an aluminum pan and let it rest on the counter for an hour.
Why foil butts?
- Thread starter Rusty
- Start date
dwayne e
TVWBB Super Fan
I believe that's only done to keep it up to temp after it's done, so it's still piping hot when your guest arrive (i.e., if it's completely done and your party doesn't start for 2-3 hours).
I foiled one for three hours once in a cooler and it was still too hot to handle when I pulled it.
I foiled one for three hours once in a cooler and it was still too hot to handle when I pulled it.
K Kruger
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
If you are cooking in advance on purpose to reheat at some future time there is no need to foil and hold if the butt was cooked to tender in the first place.
If the plan is to pull then fridge or freeze, one can leave the butt on the counter (on a cooling rack is helpful, over a pan to catch drippings) for the rest of 20-30 min, then pull the meat. It's best is cooled fairly quickly. Meat should not be packed warm into containers and fridged, nor should it simply be wrapped (unpulled) while still warm - especially if it has been handled.
If the butt is being held for later-that-day pulling and service it should not be allowed to fall below 130 for a significant period of time (using a tip-sensitive digital therm, not an analog bimetal). In most cases I suggest monitoring the surface of the meat during holding, not the interior as is commonly assumed. For intact meat cuts cooked well past the point of pasteurization (like butts), it is not the interior where one would expect pathogen growth, it is the surface where it was handled (breathed on, coughed on, possible exposed by sitting on a board that wasn't clean enough, etc.) that is more likely to experience outgrowth of pathogens, especially Staph. aureus.
If the plan is to pull then fridge or freeze, one can leave the butt on the counter (on a cooling rack is helpful, over a pan to catch drippings) for the rest of 20-30 min, then pull the meat. It's best is cooled fairly quickly. Meat should not be packed warm into containers and fridged, nor should it simply be wrapped (unpulled) while still warm - especially if it has been handled.
If the butt is being held for later-that-day pulling and service it should not be allowed to fall below 130 for a significant period of time (using a tip-sensitive digital therm, not an analog bimetal). In most cases I suggest monitoring the surface of the meat during holding, not the interior as is commonly assumed. For intact meat cuts cooked well past the point of pasteurization (like butts), it is not the interior where one would expect pathogen growth, it is the surface where it was handled (breathed on, coughed on, possible exposed by sitting on a board that wasn't clean enough, etc.) that is more likely to experience outgrowth of pathogens, especially Staph. aureus.
George Curtis
TVWBB Olympian
after trying both ways, i don't bother to foil during cooking anymore. just while resting.