Pork Butt Questions

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illini40

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Feb 12, 2017
702
309
Hi everyone

I have a pork butt on the Traeger, with plans for pulled pork for dinner this evening. A few questions I could use help on:

IT is around 168* right now, and I want to eat at 4:30 PM. I assume I’ll stall out soon, but I expect to still finish early. How long can the butt rest either on the counter or in a cooler, before serving? If it’s done say two hours early, would I need to put it in the fridge and then reheat?

If it has to rest for a couple of hours or even go in the fridge to reheat, should I pull before serving? Or pull before going in the fridge?

I usually only have about an hour from pullling off the smoker and serving, so an hour rest is common. But, I suspect this one may finish earlier than I was expecting. Thanks!
 
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2 hours wrapped and in a warm dry cooler it will still be about to hot to pull with hands. That is about a perfect time for resting in the cooler. I have had them wrapped and in a cooler for 3-4 hours and still holding heat very well without having to do anything else with them until serving other than pull when I take them out of the cooler
 
Foil it if not already foiled, wrap in a towel and stick in a cooler. It'll be good for at LEAST 2 hours like that and still be hot. I think it's even better like that.
 
I have put a butt in a cooler wrapped in towels with my temp probe still in place. and as pineywoods said even after several hours it was still almost too hot to pull.
Jim
 
Wrap,towel,cooler.

I've had my butts sit in the cooler for up to 5 hours and still be HOT.
 
like everyone said. Wrap in foil, towells and put in a junk cooler. I usually plan mine to be done 2-3 hours early to allow for time to rest in a cooler. It turns out great!
 
Also check out chef jimmyj chef jimmyj finishing sauce.

I haven’t made pulled pork without it since I tried it
 
Update - pulled the butt off the smoker about 45 minutes ago. Let it vent on the counter for about 10 minutes, and then in a cooler with a couple of towels. It should get almost 2 hours of rest before pulling.

Also - I pulled some of the drippings out of the foil pan before it went into the cooler. I put it in a jar. If I put it in the fridge, will the fat rise to the top? And then after skimming the fat off, warm some of the juices up to mix in when pulling?

3DF58884-D0AB-41C7-950A-FE9086570374.jpeg
 
Also - I pulled some of the drippings out of the foil pan before it went into the cooler. I put it in a jar. If I put it in the fridge, will the fat rise to the top? And then after skimming the fat off, warm some of the juices up to mix in when pulling?

Yes.I personally will take some of the drippings fat and all and mix with the pork before wrapping.And the rest separated and mixed in right before pulling.

Btw that looks awesome!
 
a few towels on top of an igloo cooler will lose 1-2* per hour. holds temp better than wrapping the meat in foil, then towel, then cooler
 
You can certainly de-fat the juices and add them back I add them after pulling and mix well but honestly I use a finishing sauce most of the time instead.
 
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