How before pulled pork has to be refrigerated?

You cannot let it sit that long without refrigeration. Food should not be allowed to sit in the 41 degree to 135 degree range for more than four hours.

Refrigerate and reheat...

I suggest you good Food Safety Danger Zone and read up.

7 hours seems like an awfully long time to keep in the cooler.. I've just never done it for that long..

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Danger_Zone/index.asp

Why not cook them overnight and pull them off in the morning? Also, how many butts do you have that is going to take you 2.5 hours to pull? I could do at least 60 butts in that time frame.

The temperature danger zone mentioned above is generally for commercial applications. While I wouldn't suggest completely blowing that train of thought to the side, I will say that cooking for your family isn't the same as cooking for the public. If it's for your family, I wouldn't stress too much about a 4-5 hour time frame. Much over that and I would. If this is for public consumption, I would adhere to the rules listed above.

Cook said:

Why not cook them overnight and pull them off in the morning? Also, how many butts do you have that is going to take you 2.5 hours to pull? I could do at least 60 butts in that time frame.

The temperature danger zone mentioned above is generally for commercial applications. While I wouldn't suggest completely blowing that train of thought to the side, I will say that cooking for your family isn't the same as cooking for the public. If it's for your family, I wouldn't stress too much about a 4-5 hour time frame. Much over that and I would. If this is for public consumption, I would adhere to the rules listed above.

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It's one thing to leave it in the cooler that long. But leaving pulled pork out at room temperature for what appears to be 7 1/2 hours is not a smart. Not in a restaurant and not at home.

If you leave pulled pork out at room temperature for that long, which is what the OP describes, it's going to have to be reheated. You might as well refrigerate and reheat.

Some people will say "don't worry about it, I've done it lot's of time." In my book it's just not worth the risk.

I'd refrigerate and reheat or if we were snacking on it during the afternoon then I'd put the PP in a slowcooker with some sweet cider to hold it and to serve it hot.

BBQ Grail said:

You cannot let it sit that long without refrigeration. Food should not be allowed to sit in the 41 degree to 135 degree range for more than four hours.

Refrigerate and reheat...

I suggest you good Food Safety Danger Zone and read up.

Click to expand...

And to that I'd add that its often overlooked that no more than 4 hours between 41-135 includes the time in the fridge it takes the meat to cool below 41. If you pull several butts into a big tub and put it in the fridge immediately, it still might not cool off quickly enough to be safe. For doing large amounts, put it in ziplock bags and submerge them in ice water for a while.

Don't want your family to remember your q because they were on the toilet for 3 days.

Couple things since my last post.

BBQ Grail...I didn't say to leave it out for 7.5 hours.

Soybomb...the time to cool to below 41 is actually 6 hours with two specific goals to be met in the process.

Jlane...cooling butts in the fridge is the WRONG thing to do (especially if you're worried about food safety).

It seems everyone wants to follow commercial rules at home. While there is no problem in that, you need to understand that restaurant rules are way more restrictive than what you absolutely have to do at home. If you are going to be ultra careful in service of the meat, I'd think you would want to be knowledgeable in the proper cooling of the meat as well. By sticking 8 butts in the refrigerator you may have not only spoiled that product, but everything else in the fridge as well. I wonder what the temperature of that refrigerator was six hours after those butts went in?

Curious. What would you do if you awoke one morning to find your refrigerator door left open? I know what I'd do. By sticking 8 HOT pork butts in there you essentially left the door open all night.

I didn't suggest you let food just sit out for 7+ hours. I am, however, saying that "at home" you don't have to stick strictly to commercial foodservice guidelines. But I have absolutely no problems if you do.

Jlane21034 said:

Quick question for you guys. Looks like I will be pulling the butts off the smoker between 1:00a-2:00a. Will wrap in foil and pack in a cooler until 8:00-9:00a. By the time I get finished cleaning and pulling I expect it to be around 10:30a. This isn't going to be served until 6:00p. Can this meat sit at room temp for that long or do I need to refrigerate and re-heat? Any opinions or ideas would be appreciated.

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Cook said:

Couple things since my last post.

BBQ Grail...I didn't say to leave it out for 7.5 hours.

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I didn't say you did... I was making reference to OP. If you finish at 10:30am and serve at 6:00pm that's 7.5 hours. Or maybe clocks run differently where you live.You made reference to not worrying about with family. The OP says it's out for 7.5 hours. I don't think that's safe.

Sorry to have chimed in and quoted you. I guess that was wrong on my part. I was only trying to make a point that with the information the OP had that it wasn't a good idea to leave it out that long. Family or not...

I have cooked several butts over night and packed em in the cooler with towels filling the voids. 6 hours later they were still too hot to handle bare handed.

I would say change your starting time. Leave em the cooler and pull at the last minute before serving.

BBQ Grail said:

I didn't say you did... I was making reference to OP. If you finish at 10:30am and serve at 6:00pm that's 7.5 hours. Or maybe clocks run differently where you live.You made reference to not worrying about with family. The OP says it's out for 7.5 hours. I don't think that's safe.

Sorry to have chimed in and quoted you. I guess that was wrong on my part. I was only trying to make a point that with the information the OP had that it wasn't a good idea to leave it out that long. Family or not...

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And like you...I also did not suggest leaving food out for that long even if it is family. Feel free to quote...but it's better to read. :thumb:

(Yes, that was a pretty smartass comment I made...just following your lead...)

Seriously, though...don't read more into a post than what it says. We pretty well agree on the time frame.