Pulled Pork for Super Bowl party

[Central PA Cowboy]

Good Morning fellow smokers,

I'm planning on doing a 10 pound pork butt for our party. I would prefer to have it done early than to risk it not being done on time. If it does get done early, what can I do to keep it from drying out? Can I pull it and refrigerate it? Then reheat it in the oven? Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[fajitapot]

You can keep it in a cooler (whole) on an aluminum tray for three or four hours before you pull it. It will stay hot and actually improve the finished product (IMHO). I factor that time in for all my large format smokes.

 

[BuffaloTheSmoker]

I’m kind of a newb but have had good results doing the cooler method.
When I take it out of the smoker I wrap it in foil, if it’s not already, then wrap a few large towels around it and put it in the cooler. You can even preheat the cooler with warm water in something. It will still be hot for hours.

 

[gmc2003]

Go ahead and smoke it beforehand. Save the juices and reheat it the day of the game. PP does well reheated - some like it better.

Chris

 

[DaveyCrockett]

Like fajitapot said....wrap the butt in foil and place it in a small cooler. Then when you are ready, take it out and pull it.
My hunt club does a funraiser every year and that's what we do. Wrap in foil and place in a cooler for pick up. Works great!

 

[smokerjim]

I personally would do it before hand, shred it and heat in oven the day of, you can always add some liguid to it, or mix some bbq sauce in it while heating.

 

[HalfSmoked]

It reheats well in a vac bag and placed in boiling water. Works great I have done as high as 85 lbs of pp this way for a event.

Warren

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Thank you all! Will probably wrap it and put it in a cooler then.

 

[HalfSmoked]

derek717 Thanks for the like it is greatly appreciated.

Warren

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Here's a question for you SMF vets. If I put 2 8 pound butts on the smoker at the same time, should I assume it will take 16-24 hours or would it still take 8-12 hours (using 1 to 1 1/2 hours per pound)?

 

[gmc2003]

It's tough to say, as not all hunks of meat are created equal. But the general rule of thumb is smoking two butts shouldn't take much more time then one. The main time addition will be with the recovery of your smoker. How long it takes to get back to temp when you put the butts on and every time you open the door.

Chris

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

It's tough to say, as not all hunks of meat are created equal. But the general rule of thumb is smoking two butts shouldn't take much more time then one. The main time addition will be with the recovery of your smoker. How long it takes to get back to temp when you put the butts on and every time you open the door.

Thank you!

Chris

 

[zwiller]

Smoke time was main reason I suggested you only do 1. Asked the same question in the day and was told "not much longer" but found out smoke time nearly doubled for my MES. I think other smokers are better. More thermal mass the better. Huge stick burner weighing a few hundred pounds would probably have little to no difference for 2 or even a dozen butts. All this being said, the 2 butts I did turned out fine just took longer.