PORK BUTT QUESTION

[houston smoker]

I decided to cook 5 pork butts for a family reunion tommorow.  My problem is that the butts are all already at 170 degrees (one is at 180 already.  If they get to temperature (195 degrees) the next few hours (willbe around 2am my time) how long can I keep them double wrapped in foil and wrapped in towels????  Do I need to refrigerate and reheat.  We wil be eating around 11 am tommorow.

 

[stillcajun]

Session dataIf you get them to between 187-190 you can double wrap them and let the carryover take them to 195.  Put them in a cooler and they should be good to go until you are ready to eat. They should still be a little warm as well.  A little reheating @ the most will be all that's needed.  There's no need to refrigerate.

On a side note, if you want to maintain the crispy, crunchy bark, you can pull them off @ about 185 and put them in your oven @ warming temp (<200) uncovered and by the time you are ready to eat. The butts should be hot, juicy and ready to pull with the crunchy bark still in tact.

I, on the other hand, just leave them until about 191 and I pull them off, wrap them in brown butcher paper and I let them rest.  The butcher paper allowing for the some of the steam to release out and keeps the crusty bark without making it soggy.  This also allows the carryover temp to take it to 195-197 degrees.

same results as the first but better overall product.

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[alblancher]

Never wrapped butts in butcher paper,  I'll have to give it a try sounds like it would work out pretty well if you don't loose too much moisture.

The butts can stall at any time  seems to happen to me more often in the 180 range so don't start planning an early evening yet.  They have already had a good deal of smoke, if you want to wrap in foil, put them in the oven and get a couple hours of sleep it shouldn't be much of a problem.  You can always put them back in a hot smoker or turn up the heat in the oven to crisp the outside a bit. Butts are pretty flexible.

Good luck on dinner Saturday

Al

 

[houston smoker]

thank you for your help

 

[stillcajun]

Yeah, I started using it some months back after a tip I got from a guy I met.  The paper is just porous enough to hold in some steam but not all of it like foil will.  So you can wrap it pretty tight and the it allows some moisture to escape and keeps that crusty bark we all love so much.

Make sure you use the brown butcher paper and not the white.  The white has chemicals in it and sometimes one side is waxed, treated or something.  It'll give your meat a funky taste.  Brown is the way to go.
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[SmokinAl]

Never tried butcher paper before, sounds interesting.

 

[meateater]

You can re-heat in a crock pot. 

 

[raptor700]

I have kept butts steaming hot for 12 hrs wrapped and placed in a cooler.

Good luck and remember the Qview

 

[daddydon]

Never tried butcher paper before, sounds interesting.

Same here....Good Luck!