some help with pork butt

monty3777

monty3777

is Blowin Smoke!
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
1,420
Reaction score
263
Points
0
Location
Happytown, IA
I spent the day smoking 8 butts for a church event. On @ 7 am but rained all day. I pulled them off the heat at 10:30 because I need some sleep for work tomorrow. Most were @ around 180. I wrapped them in foil - whole - and put them in the fridge. What is the best way to deal with them tomorrow? Can I ever expect to get them to pull?
I will be serving them on Sunday morning. Should I freeze or keep in the fridge?

Thanks all - I'm going to bed :redface:
 
Fridge will work until sunday. Make sure your fridge is 40 or below.
 
My guess since you didn't rest them in a cooler before going into the refrigerator, is that the internal temperature didn't go up much beyond 180 so pulling will not work.

You are probably going to need to slice them.

But then, this is just a guess since I have never done it the way you did.
 
If they wont pull then slice and chop them up. Tastes just as good.
 
If you reheat in the oven at 400+ unitl the meat hits 200 they will pull. Use a meat thermometer when cooking.
 
big brother smoke said:
If you reheat in the oven at 400+ unitl the meat hits 200 they will pull. Use a meat thermometer when cooking.
Click to expand...

My advice also. The oven is your friend. Once you foil them, it doesn't matter where the heat comes from.
 
Monty
I saw your post on this cook on another forum, you said the butts were at 180 internal, you foiled and placed them in the refrigerator. The problem is a refrigerator can not cool 8 hot butts safely that are wrapped.

Then you posted that over 8 hours later the refrigerator was at 42 degrees but did not state the meat temp.

This meat is not safe to serve to a crowd at a church with members that maybe very young or older with health problems you may not have information on.

The only safe thing to do is toss the meat.

Jim
 
jminion said:
Monty
I saw your post on this cook on another forum, you said the butts were at 180 internal, you foiled and placed them in the refrigerator. The problem is a refrigerator can not cool 8 hot butts safely that are wrapped.

Then you posted that over 8 hours later the refrigerator was at 42 degrees but did not state the meat temp.

This meat is not safe to serve to a crowd at a church with members that maybe very young or older with health problems you may not have information on.

The only safe thing to do is toss the meat.

Jim
Click to expand...

Yeah, I threw it all out and started over. A bonehead move on my part that cost me $100 + ... a hard lesson to learn, but I have no intention of serving bad product.

Thanks for all your help everyone!
 
Monty
$100 is a cheap lesson compared to a friend at your church becoming ill..

You asked the right questions and responded to your answers in the most responsible way.. Good on you.
 
jminion said:
Monty
I saw your post on this cook on another forum, you said the butts were at 180 internal, you foiled and placed them in the refrigerator. The problem is a refrigerator can not cool 8 hot butts safely that are wrapped.

Then you posted that over 8 hours later the refrigerator was at 42 degrees but did not state the meat temp.

This meat is not safe to serve to a crowd at a church with members that maybe very young or older with health problems you may not have information on.

The only safe thing to do is toss the meat.

Jim
Click to expand...

Jim, no offense but I do not understand your advice. "The problem is a refrigerator can not cool 8 hot butts safely that are wrapped. The only safe thing to do is toss the meat."

I can't grasp that concept. I think the food would have been fine. I understand "Better safe than sorry" But I do not think this situation called for throwing away $100.00 of meat. JMHO
 
Food health guidelines are if your going to cool meat or hot sides, you have two hours to get the food temp to 70 degrees. Then you have four hours to get it below 40 degrees. The normal refrigerator have tough time doing this and if the food is covered it will not happen. When you add 8 butts to the equation then the refrigerator temp may not get below 40 degrees in 8 hours.

If you want to cool that kind of weight commercial equipment is needed.

If you choose to not follow those guidelines that's a choice you can make for yourself and your family but when you are going to feed a crowd you have to factor in their safety.

I do follow these guidelines using commercial refrigeration. I understand that most will not spend the money for commercial equipment so cooling using a ice bath would be the method of choice.
 
I agree 100% with Jim.

You have to let the butts cool to room temp before wrapping and putting in a fridge (especially a home fridge vs. commercial fridge). The meat will be in the danger zone far too long.

Cool to room temp on a cooling rack > ice bath > wrap and refrig is the safest approach.
 
I guess my comment was after the fact, I understand what you are saying. For a backyard cook, I think what should have happened was to place the Butts into the freezer first for some time prior to the fridge. This would have dropped the temps quickly to maintain the safe zone. For future reference, do you think that would have been a solution?
 
Pork Smoker
One or two butts in a freezer could work much more than that even a home freezer will warm up. The key to cooling in a refrigerator is the frig needs to be able to blow cold air same for freezers when you have a large number of butts.
 
Not in the freezer or fridge, rather put them in a tub and cover with ice, and keep changing the ice/cooling method until they are below 70, then into the fridge. Below 40. Got to cool it fast and that is a big mass of heat to put on a fridge or freezer unless you have a blast freezer. S
 
Okay...I don't mean to hijack here...I just want to make sure I'm learning correctly from you guys...

If a person had a "do over" for this identical situation...should the butts be removed from the smoker, wrapped in foil, and loaded up into the kitchen oven to finish bringing the temp up to where meat could be pulled? That would give a fellow a chance to get some sleep...for at least a little while...right?

A post above mentioned setting the oven at 400 to warm up a chilled butt. What if the 180 deg butts went right into the oven...what temp should the oven be set at?
 
Ipop mine in a 325-350 oven and set the remote temp to beep me around 200. Works just great. I pull them out then cooler them for an hour or three, then wrap aggressively if saving and cool asap. Scott
 
Got it...filed away for future reference!

Sounds like a fellow always needs to keep a good backstock of aluminum foil to save a trip to the store...it would take alot to wrap up 8 butts.

Monty, thumbs up for making the right decision to dispose of the meat...a tough thing to do, but the right thing to do. Thanks for sharing the experience as a learning tool. Kelly
 
Butt Ugly said:
Okay...I don't mean to hijack here...I just want to make sure I'm learning correctly from you guys...

If a person had a "do over" for this identical situation...should the butts be removed from the smoker, wrapped in foil, and loaded up into the kitchen oven to finish bringing the temp up to where meat could be pulled? That would give a fellow a chance to get some sleep...for at least a little while...right?
Click to expand...
Correct.

Butt Ugly said:
A post above mentioned setting the oven at 400 to warm up a chilled butt. What if the 180 deg butts went right into the oven...what temp should the oven be set at?
Click to expand...

Yakfishingfool said:
Ipop mine in a 325-350 oven and set the remote temp to beep me around 200. Works just great. I pull them out then cooler them for an hour or three, then wrap aggressively if saving and cool asap. Scott
Click to expand...
I agree with Scott.

As for cooling quickly, once you have it to temp, and after a brief stay in a cooler for resting, I like to pull the meat and cryo-suck it asap and then put it in the freezer. This way you aren't trying to deal with big blocks of meat but smaller packages that cool (and reheat) quicker.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Smoking Piney
Bare Bones
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
Bluebird
B
snadamo
Too late for the throwdown - Kielbasa smoked on the LSG!
Replies
19
Views
457
snadamo
snadamo
S
Buckboard ham
2
Replies
24
Views
722
stickman
S
cueball21
Molasses with Pork Ribs
Replies
11
Views
916
Pife
P
I
How long to keep pulled pork
Replies
11
Views
611
cayenne
cayenne
Back
Top