Question about holding butts on the egg when they're done

Unknown

I have four butts on the XL egg right now that I had hoped to pull at 4pm today while they were still hot. As usual, however, the meat and egg have a mind of their own, and the butts have finished up now (10:15 am), presently sitting at 195.[p]I was hoping to avoid pulling it, cooling it and reheating it given that I only need about six more hours. My question is, can I bring the heat down to around 200 and keep the meat warm in the 170-180 range for 5-6 hours without either drying it out or exposing the meat to bacteria?[p]Thanks!

fishlessman

Bulldog Bob,
ther cooler trick with 4 butts will get you close to 6 hours of time. wrap them up in foil and pack towels around them. if yu want to play it safe, leave them in the egg for another hour then pack them in the cooler.

stike

Bulldog Bob,
it probably has a lot of inertia. the meat will continue to climb even if you slow it down a lot. but yes, you can do it.[p]one thing to keep in mind is that 195 might be your goal, but a lot of folks go as high as 205, and have equally good results. butt is very forgiving.[p]you could always foil, wrap with towels, and keep in a cooler. [p]or a combo of the two. let it go to 200, then wrap it and keep warmer in a cooler.

Unknown

Bulldog Bob,
I actually did the cooler thing this past weekend when my butts were done 4 hours before i really wanted to pull them. I pulled at 1:30pm - put them in foil and wrapped with towells (i actually heated the towell up so they were already warm in the cooler so the cooler wouldn't have to adjust to much - i read on here that helped keep the butts warmer) and then left them in the cooler till 5:30. They were great. You sound like you need a little more time so i would leave them on a little longer then do the cooler thing. [p]FYI - I pulled off the grill at 202.

Jonnio

This may be too late for you, but I would do like Stike said, take them to 200 then wrap in foil and put in a cooler. Sometime 20-30 minutes before cooler time put a pot of boiling water in there (sitting on something to keep from burning obviously) to warm the cooler.[p]If you have a remote thermometer in one I would leave it so that you can make sure you don't cool into the danger zone prior to pulling.

The Naked Whiz

<p />Bulldog Bob,
Here is information about holding the butts in a cooler. That would hold them safely until 4:[p]TNW
[ul][li]Holding meat in a cooler[/ul]

Unknown

Thanks to all for the great advice![p]I left the butts on longer to cook to 205, which was at 12:15. They're wrapped up tight in foil and towels and will be pulled at 3:30, so should be good to go based on TNW's chart.[p]This place rocks...

The Naked Whiz

Bulldog Bob,
Plus, that chart was for one butt. I'd have to imagine that two butts would stay hot longer. Etc....[p]TNW

Unknown

The Naked Whiz,[p]You're right -- when I got the butts out at 3:45 pm they were still at 175, 3.5 hours later. I'm sure them being all nestled up next to each other helped.[p]BTW, this is the best 'cue I've ever done. I always figured the "resting" phase was for brisket, given how tough it is, and assumed that resting wouldn't accomplish anything after 15+ hours of slow cooking a butt. Boy was I wrong -- those butts literally fell apart in my hand! It made the pulling job so much easier (using rubber gloves) than my usual fork pulling. Definitely changing my procedures from here on![p]Many thanks for all your work, especially the lump database and the food safety advice. You really should be paid for all this...