Smoking and serving

[mr moby]

Ok, so I have been smoking since the start of summer. I have tried different meats, and I am getting a handle on managing temperature, cook times, etc.

Here's my situation. Next weekend I am having family, and am planning an all out smokathon, with brisket, pork butt, ribs, and chickens. Taking into account cooking time for the pork and beef, my desire to sleep, and amount of space in the smoker, I am planning to start the pork and brisket Friday, pulling it off Saturday around 4 am, getting some shut eye, and then getting  the ribs and chicken in first thing Saturday morning.

This is where my problem and or question comes into play. The brisket and pork will be ready aprox 12 hours or so before the time I figure to be ready to serve, so how should I deal with this so that the meat is as close to being fresh off the smoker as possible? Should I wrap it in foil and throw it in a cooler, and oven heat it prior to serving? Should I leave the meats whole or shred/slice after the initial resting period?

Any thoughts or advice would be muchly appreciated!

 

[cliffcarter]

What kind of smoker are you using? IMHO if you cook the brisket and pork a day ahead you should cut and pull, store in bags in the fridge and then reheat the day of your event. 

 

[jarjarchef]

You will get several different opinions on how to accomplish your goal.

Your goal if I understand correctly is to serve fresh, tasty and safe food. While not losing your mind with sleep loss.....

I am not sure how much of each item you are cooking, nor the smoker space you have.

I would do the pork butt a few days ahead, pull and reheat in a saute pan with your finishing sauce. Now most will cook their PP to 205 degrees. I only go to about 190-195 degrees. This will keep it where it pulls, but not shred. This way when when you reheat it in a pan and you are mixing it, the pork does not totally shred. I like to have chunks of meat that are there to show the bark and smoke ring off. You can place in a shallow pan, cover and reheat in an oven. Less mixing and attention. If you reheat you want to go from <40 to >165 in less than 2hrs. Some will use a crock pot, I do not, do to it will not heat it up fast enough in my opinion.

Brisket: I am by no means an expert of it. But if you are going to cook it the night before and hold it during the day. Keep these things in mind. Holding temperature, you need to keep the product over 140 degrees while you are holding it. While you are holding it, the meat will continue to cook. Even if you are just holding it at 140 it will continue to break down the meat, yes slower but it does cook. You may cook it to the perfect tenderness and hold it at the correct temp and when you go to slice it, it turns out to be a better shredded beef. You could smoke it to the point you would to just before you foil it a couple days in advance, cool it and then reheat it using your foiling process at that point. You will not have much of a crisp bark, but you have a bit of a less stress-full 24hrs. No matter what you do, do not slice the beef until you are ready to serve it. Even if the beef has rested and been cooked perfectly, if it is sliced to far ahead of time it will seem to be dry.

Ribs: Follow the 3:2:1 method as a guide you should be fine. You can do the same process of smoking to the foiling step, cooling and reheating in the foiling step and finish with the glaze on a grill or in the smoker. I would cook them the day of.

Chicken: I cook mine at 250-275. I like a crispy skin. Not sure if your smoker will go that high. I will do the first 3 hrs of my ribs in the smoker and do the foil step in the oven (they don't get the smoke anyways in this step). Then put the chicken in the smoker for 2 hours to cook, usually they are done in less time (I split mine in half, some do a spatchcock method) glaze them and pull them out of the smoker and finish the ribs at the higher temp to set the glaze.

Yes, I am aware that I use the oven a lot, but if you do not have much space in the smoker, you have to adapt the best you can. If you have steps that remove the product from the smoke and it makes no difference then why not. The location where I work we have to cook food for thousands of people and serve them in usually less than 30 minutes. We are challenged every day with timing, quality and safety. Think through your smoking processes you use and see where things happen. Devise our plan from there. I will be happy to answer any questions, send a PM if you need the answer fast.

 

[scarbelly]

You will get several different opinions on how to accomplish your goal.

Your goal if I understand correctly is to serve fresh, tasty and safe food. While not losing your mind with sleep loss.....

I am not sure how much of each item you are cooking, nor the smoker space you have.

I would do the pork butt a few days ahead, pull and reheat in a saute pan with your finishing sauce. Now most will cook their PP to 205 degrees. I only go to about 190-195 degrees. This will keep it where it pulls, but not shred. This way when when you reheat it in a pan and you are mixing it, the pork does not totally shred. I like to have chunks of meat that are there to show the bark and smoke ring off. You can place in a shallow pan, cover and reheat in an oven. Less mixing and attention. If you reheat you want to go from <40 to >165 in less than 2hrs. Some will use a crock pot, I do not, do to it will not heat it up fast enough in my opinion.

Brisket: I am by no means an expert of it. But if you are going to cook it the night before and hold it during the day. Keep these things in mind. Holding temperature, you need to keep the product over 140 degrees while you are holding it. While you are holding it, the meat will continue to cook. Even if you are just holding it at 140 it will continue to break down the meat, yes slower but it does cook. You may cook it to the perfect tenderness and hold it at the correct temp and when you go to slice it, it turns out to be a better shredded beef. You could smoke it to the point you would to just before you foil it a couple days in advance, cool it and then reheat it using your foiling process at that point. You will not have much of a crisp bark, but you have a bit of a less stress-full 24hrs. No matter what you do, do not slice the beef until you are ready to serve it. Even if the beef has rested and been cooked perfectly, if it is sliced to far ahead of time it will seem to be dry.

Ribs: Follow the 3:2:1 method as a guide you should be fine. You can do the same process of smoking to the foiling step, cooling and reheating in the foiling step and finish with the glaze on a grill or in the smoker. I would cook them the day of.

Chicken: I cook mine at 250-275. I like a crispy skin. Not sure if your smoker will go that high. I will do the first 3 hrs of my ribs in the smoker and do the foil step in the oven (they don't get the smoke anyways in this step). Then put the chicken in the smoker for 2 hours to cook, usually they are done in less time (I split mine in half, some do a spatchcock method) glaze them and pull them out of the smoker and finish the ribs at the higher temp to set the glaze.

Yes, I am aware that I use the oven a lot, but if you do not have much space in the smoker, you have to adapt the best you can. If you have steps that remove the product from the smoke and it makes no difference then why not. The location where I work we have to cook food for thousands of people and serve them in usually less than 30 minutes. We are challenged every day with timing, quality and safety. Think through your smoking processes you use and see where things happen. Devise our plan from there. I will be happy to answer any questions, send a PM if you need the answer fast.

He gave you some great advice. I would do mine this same way

 

[mr moby]

I plan to do the Beef and the pork together, keeping in mind that they may finish at different times. If I was to take the pp and shred it, and use the reheat in oven method, (I'd prefer to not sauce it, just for some flexability with it) would you add any kind of a liquid to avoid drying it out? I have a small electric oven that I could fit both the pork and beef into. Do you think it would be ok to hold them in there at 140 until Im ready to serve, and if so, how much of a window would you think I would have before I am getting into drying it out territory?
 

 

[dewetha]

I plan to do the Beef and the pork together, keeping in mind that they may finish at different times. If I was to take the pp and shred it, and use the reheat in oven method, (I'd prefer to not sauce it, just for some flexability with it) would you add any kind of a liquid to avoid drying it out? I have a small electric oven that I could fit both the pork and beef into. Do you think it would be ok to hold them in there at 140 until Im ready to serve, and if so, how much of a window would you think I would have before I am getting into drying it out territory?
 

i reheated mine in a crock pot. I have been using an Au Jus of the drippings. not sure i'm doing that right but i mix some of my injection + de-fatted drippings. I add only enough liquid to provide moisture to heat the pork

 

[jarjarchef]

When I do my PP, I use a finishing sauce that is more like a mop or broth. I put beer, apple cider vinegar, apple juice and some of the seasoning in with it when I foil. I save the juices that collect in the bottom of the pan ( when I foil I put it in a pan and wrap it with plastic wrap then foil on top, no the plastic does not melt at these lower temps) then I will mix that with the PP after skimming the fat off. But yes put some liquid in to reheat with the oven method.

For the beef I would put a bit of beef stock, rub and onions on the bottom of a pan. You could even put Chef Jimmy's aus jus in the pan. Both will give you a nice base for a dipping broth too. Either one will work. Then place the beef on top of the vegetables and wrap. This will help keep it from drying out.

I would foil both the pork and beef at about the same time and place in a 225 oven get them to a step or two below where i want them and set them up as holding in the oven at its lowest setting (mine goes down to 170). How far below depends on the time you will be holding it. The beef will most likely get to where you want it first, so remove it and wrap it in towel and place in a cooler if you have one, I have used heavey cardboard boxes (like the one bananas come in) and that works too. Get the pork to about 190-195 and remove from the oven, let it relax a bit and let the oven cool down. Then you can use the oven for holding. You can pull the pork now or you can wait and pull it in front of your guest. If you figure that some briskets and pork shoulder will take close to4-6hrs wrapped and your ribs will take about 6hrs, you can see where this is going. If you are planning on eating at 6pm, you could actually start you PP and brisket at 4am and not have to smoke all night. You can push the PP and brisket in the oven if they need to cook a little faster.

Just keep an eye on them while you are holding them. Make sure they stay above 140. Check it about every 90 min or so. Just remember it is still slowly cooking while you are holding it. So after several hours of holding it will be different then when you put it in. I would factor the hold time as part of the foiling time you figure in your cook..

 

[mr moby]

Thanks for the info Jarjar...the picture is slowly becoming clearer. Not only is it about what to do, but the whole timing aspect as well. Im trying to juggle a meatfest, fireworks show, and breaking in my new firepit all in a 24-36 hour period. I live on the wrong side of the clock, that's why my major smoking will be done in off hours, otherwise I would just get up early and do it. I just ordered my meat, and now Im getting hungry!
 

 

[chef jimmyj]

Some good advice but here is the Catch...I highly doubt your Electric Oven will go below 150*F and if you measure actual temp may find it is closer to 170*F on the lowest setting. This of course is based on the average home style Kenmore/GE Electric Oven. If you have a higher end Oven, see what it will go down too. In any event trying to hold PP at these temps is no problem but I can guarantee that Fully Smoked...190*f IT Brisket...going in will come out falling apart. Although untested, you may find Smoking to 165*F IT then foiling with Au Jus and going into the 150-170*F Oven for another 12-14 hours may finish the Beef to a nice slicing texture. Even if it is falling apart you are no worse off...If you decide to Smoke, Cool, and Reheat in the oven...The USDA recommends 325*F as the safest temp to get above 165*F in 2 hours...JJ