Cooking a butt or ribs over two days

[htakai]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and find it a great resource for learning how to BBQ! Thanks to you all!

I have a question that I can't seem to find an answer to. I have a newborn baby at home, and find it difficult to put in the hours required for a long smoke. Do you think I could split up the cooking of a butt over two days? For example, could I smoke for a butt for 3 hours at nighttime, refrigerate the partially cooked butt overnight, and then finish off the BBQ'ing the next day? Would the meat somehow change or dry up, going from heat to cold and back to heat? Anyone tried this before?

Any tips or guidance would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[martyleach]

Never done that one! When you get up at 3am to give the baby a bottle put your meat on and go back to bed. Assuming you have something that holds temp pretty well.

[MarleyMan]

Buy a WSM, set it and forget it cooking.....maybe a Remote Thermometer w/ alarms just in case.

[JMSetzler]

Depending on what kind of smoker you have, you really shouldn't have to babysit it for any length of time. You can start it up and just let it go after the temperature stabilizes. After the temp stabilizes, you can pretty much just let it go and check on it ever few hours to make sure it hasn't dropped to low or spiked too high. Once you get the feel for your smoker you will know how often it needs to be looked in on for temps...

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

You may be better off cooking at 300*, at which temperature butts are done around the six hour mark and spare ribs around four hours.

Sure would be much less effort.

[htakai]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I could definitely check on the smoker at 3am when baby feeds. And then again when he feeds at 5am. And then at 6am for a diaper change. :baby:

[QDoc]

OK in this unusual case it's alright to step out of the box a little.
Fire up the smoker and put about three hours of smoke on the ribs and butt then wrap in foil and finish in the oven. Most people won't know the difference. Of course the timing will be different for each.

[MarleyMan]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I could definitely check on the smoker at 3am when baby feeds. And then again when he feeds at 5am. And then at 6am for a diaper change. :baby:

:thumb: QDoc's suggestion will work too....(it's tough being a BBQ purist sometimes isn't it.:-D)

Congrats on the new addition to the family :clap2:

[ssj4vinh]

I usually put my brisket on the smoker @ 200ish degrees at 8pm. It smokes overnight and is done by about 8am the next day. I let it rest in foil and it's ready to slice just in time for me to go to class and get my day started. Im relatively busy as a college student, but once you get to know your smoker, it doesnt take much time out of your day at all.

Oh and a maverick et-732 is crucial for me. It tells you smoker+meat temperatures from 300 feet away and has an alarm for when your temps are off.

[Soybomb]

Look into hot and fast cooking methods. You can get superb results in a lot less time. Considering have the meat dept cut your butts in half so they cook faster. Or consider getting a cooker like the smokey mountain (or a computer controlled cooker) that will not require your supervision. I think all of them will give you better results than half cooking. There's a lot of collagen conversion at 160 degrees or so and I don't think cooking it twice to that temperature will help. Plus I'd also have some food safety concerns about sticking a whole hot roast into the fridge.

[Gore]

There's nothing to do for a butt. If you keep the temp low, you can get 10-12 hours even on the cheapest of offsets. Fuel consumption is NOT linear with temperature. Higher temps burn MUCH more fuel then lower temps. I'd load up the firebox before bed and set it around 200*. Shouldn't have to do anything for 10-12 hours until next morning, even with the most finicky smokers. Then make your adjustments, add fuel if needed and should be ready early afternoon. Foil for a few hours and eat for dinner. Done this many times. With a ceramic, I don't need to add fuel at all.