# pulled pork safe time in a cooler?



## zug (Jul 13, 2008)

How long will pork butt stay safe in a cooler foiled, the reason I am asking its looking like they will be done 10-11 tonight I would hate to have to stay up till 12am to pull them I would rather just pull them in the morning? or can I just toss them in the frig and pull them cold? 

Zug


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## mossymo (Jul 13, 2008)

zug
It pulls much better warm. I may get tarred and feathered for saying this but I have let it cooler overnight 6 1/2 to 7 hours and then pulling it. The meat was still very hot to the touch and there was steam when opening the double foil.


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## desertlites (Jul 13, 2008)

nothing wrong with letting set overnite in the cooler-will still be warm and will pull great.


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## smoke freak (Jul 13, 2008)

As long as the temp of the meat is above 140 you should be alright. 140 is the start of the danger zone where bacteria becomes a problem. I just leave the thermo probe in the meat while its in the cooler. If you cant pull it by then, put it in the fridge. you can rewarm it latter.

Today I kept a brisket in the cooler from 6AM till around 2PM before I sliced it. Temp was still up so I wasnt worried.


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## bigbear (Jul 13, 2008)

I just did a pair of butts over the 4th of July and I got a late start.  Didn't pull and foil them until 11:00pm.  Next morning I pulled them and they were still very warm (~120-130).  They were wonderful and so easy to pull I didn't use a knife once. I don't think bacteria got much of a start!


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## ronp (Jul 13, 2008)

As long as it's above 140' you are safe, if in doubt foil and put in oven at 200'.

Hope this helps.

Ron


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## dalmorloson (Jul 13, 2008)

I'm in the same boat. Started 2  9# butts at 9:30 this morning...its now 12:30 a.m. and I'm at 177 degrees. I don't think I can wait it out to pull after an hour or 2 in the cooler. I will wait till temp reaches 195 then foil and towel until morning. I hope it turns out because I've got a church full of people counting on me.


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## teleburst (Jul 13, 2008)

And, don't forget that the danger zone gives you up to four hours in it. While I wouldn't stretch it to 4 hours, you've got a good three hours after it hits 140.

Also, as someone else said, you could put it in a slow oven and just keep it warm. Just put it on the lowest setting. On my oven, it's 170.

I'm also guessing that even if you let it get below 130, you could just pop it in the oven at 250 or so and bring the temp back well up above 140 in an hour or two. Since you've never pulled it and it's never gotten "cold", it will probably be just as tender. All you've done is make it longer and slower. I'd take it to 160 - 170 just to be on the safe side.

I've never done this, and others who have might have a different experience, so take this with a grain of salt. But I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work, especially since you can refrigerate pulled pork and reheat it to perfect condition.


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## dalmorloson (Jul 13, 2008)

I did 2 butts yesterday (17 hr smoke) that got to temp at 2:30 a.m.
I foiled, wrapped and did the cooler thing until this morning. I got to it at about 8:30 and the temp was 150. I would think you'd have to let it go a long time to be dangerous.


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## husker-q (Jul 13, 2008)

I keep my digital in the meat when placing in the cooler - and place the readout on top - that way I can monitor the temp.

I coolered a 7 lb brisket last week - in at 195 deg at about 3:00 and at 6:00 it was at about 170 deg.


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## zug (Jul 13, 2008)

Thanks for the quick replies I ended up pulling these off the smoker about 11:30 so I decided to just wait about 45min and pull them all went well if you want to see the Qview here is the link.  http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...ad.php?t=19956

Zug


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