# Smoking a Pork Shoulder Saturday to pull on Sunday?



## jc03 (May 22, 2012)

Hi everyone. I'd like to do a pork shoulder for our Memorial Day cookout on Sunday afternoon. I'll be doing wings leading up to the cookout on Sunday though so the MES 30 will be full. Is it possible for me to smoke the shoulder on Saturday and somehow finish/reheat it and pull it late afternoon Sunday? Any advice on this or seasoning/smoking instructions would be apprecaited. Thanks in advance.


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## chef jimmyj (May 22, 2012)

I'm in the same boat. I will be smoking the Butt on saturday to completion, pull it, save any pan juices and cool it off then bag it. The meat then goes into the refer until Sunday. Then 1-2 hours before supper on sunday the PP and a new finishing sauce I want to try will go in a Crock pot with any defatted pan juices and will be set on High until it hits 165*F then down to warm and served.

It is always safer to cook all the way and pull it before chilling. Having to Cool then Reheat a big hunk of meat can be risky, it takes too long...JJ


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## oldschoolbbq (May 22, 2012)

Duders , be cool, you _can_ , cook , chill and boil them back to goodness , I then generally put them in a Slowcooker then to serve .

Remember , try not to look , and Jc03 ; give yourself plenty of time... Butts take a while (be patient) , let the heat do it's thing , judge cooking time at 1.5 to 2 hrs. per pound so you don't have any snaffus , then just watch the temp.

Butts are easy and forgiving, (JJ , you know this ) Jc03 , watch the temp. and add as much smoke as you feel right. Left to do what they will , you can do Butts like this :








 Ya'll have fun and remember the Q-view...


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## jc03 (May 22, 2012)

Thanks guys! What do you think about smoking it for 4 hours on Saturday, refrigerating it, then finishing it on Sunday? Busy weekend with holiday parties. Thanks.


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## chef jimmyj (May 23, 2012)

Jc03 said:


> Thanks guys! What do you think about smoking it for 4 hours on Saturday, refrigerating it, then finishing it on Sunday? Busy weekend with holiday parties. Thanks.


You can do this if necessary just DON'T INJECT anything!. If you are really in a time pinch, Smoke the 4+ Hours then on Sunday pan it with a Cup of Apple Cider and cover tightly with foil. Go into a 325-350*F Oven and let it Braise. It will be Fall apart tender in a few hours, depending on size, take it to an IT of 205 with an hour or so rest. Your Pork will have plenty of smoke flavor without more time babysitting the Smoker...JJ


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## gotbags-10 (May 23, 2012)

honestly i tried smoking a pork butt half way one night then refrigerating it until the next day to finish it. It was not worth it in my opinion because it took too long for it to get back up to the temp I smoked it to the day before and then to get it up to 200 after that. Not to mention it dried it out really bad because i essentially cooked it almost twice. Just my .02


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## rbranstner (May 23, 2012)

gotbags-10 said:


> honestly i tried smoking a pork butt half way one night then refrigerating it until the next day to finish it. It was not worth it in my opinion because it took too long for it to get back up to the temp I smoked it to the day before and then to get it up to 200 after that. Not to mention it dried it out really bad because i essentially cooked it almost twice. Just my .02


X2.

Just cook it fully the day before and reheat it on the day you want. Or you could just pull an all nighter like some of these guys do. But for me I like to sleep so I just reheat them.


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## scarbelly (May 23, 2012)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> I'm in the same boat. I will be smoking the Butt on saturday to completion, pull it, save any pan juices and cool it off then bag it. The meat then goes into the refer until Sunday. Then 1-2 hours before supper on sunday the PP and a new finishing sauce I want to try will go in a Crock pot with any defatted pan juices and will be set on High until it hits 165*F then down to warm and served.
> 
> It is always safer to cook all the way and pull it before chilling. Having to Cool then Reheat a big hunk of meat can be risky, it takes too long...JJ


This is the way I have done it many a time - I don't use the crock pot - I vac seal with the juices and reheat in the bags in hot (not boiling) water for a good hour and it comes out great


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## smokinhusker (May 23, 2012)

Scarbelly said:


> This is the way I have done it many a time - I don't use the crock pot - I vac seal with the juices and reheat in the bags in hot (not boiling) water for a good hour and it comes out great


This is the way I do it now...nice and moist!!!


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## yankee in ua (May 24, 2012)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> You can do this if necessary just DON'T INJECT anything!. If you are really in a time pinch, Smoke the 4+ Hours then on Sunday pan it with a Cup of Apple Cider and cover tightly with foil. Go into a 325-350*F Oven and let it Braise. It will be Fall apart tender in a few hours, depending on size, take it to an IT of 205 with an hour or so rest. Your Pork will have plenty of smoke flavor without more time babysitting the Smoker...JJ


THIS!  

Thanks JJ!  This is almost exactly what I'm planning to do today and tomorrow.  My little STS (Stove Top Smoker) will only give me 4-5 hours of smoke at ~212* so I plan to smoke a 4-5# butt today and then finish to PP perfection in the oven tomorrow to feed a 2 man crew who will be installing new windows in my balcony.

Thanks too, for the oven temp suggestion.  I have yet to find a meat thermometer of any kind here though so I'll just give it 4 hrs (covered) in the oven and rest it for another hour then hopefully pull it.

I'll be sure to let ya'll know how it turns out.


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## chef jimmyj (May 24, 2012)

Hey Yankee... ласкаво просимо ...JJ


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## yankee in ua (May 25, 2012)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> Hey Yankee... ласкаво просимо ...JJ


Спасибо!!!


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## mschepac (Jun 12, 2017)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> You can do this if necessary just DON'T INJECT anything!. If you are really in a time pinch, Smoke the 4+ Hours then on Sunday pan it with a Cup of Apple Cider and cover tightly with foil. Go into a 325-350*F Oven and let it Braise. It will be Fall apart tender in a few hours, depending on size, take it to an IT of 205 with an hour or so rest. Your Pork will have plenty of smoke flavor without more time babysitting the Smoker...JJ


I realize this is an old thread but thanks!!  I have been trying to figure out how I am going to get a 10+ hour smoke on 2 butts with not enough time the day of.  Any particular reason why not inject?  I had intended on injecting some Italian salad dressing.  Why not?


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