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Pork butts finished in half the time. Now what??

Wonka
Wonka Posts: 68
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
We have 40 people coming over for appetizers at 6PM and dinner at 7PM. But my pork butts finished in about 7 hours (5:30 AM local time) instead of the 13 hours that it took 2 weeks ago for the same sizes! There were 4 butts this time instead of 2 (on my XL), but otherwise the fire seemed to behave the same. If anything, this one was lower temp! (Between 215 and 240 once the egg settled in.)

Question 1. What the heck happened? That's about an hour per pound instead of the 2 hours that it took last time.

Question 2. What do I do with the pork all day? The two smaller butts are foiled, toweled and coolered right now. The other two will be ready to come off the egg in about 15 minutes and will get the same treatment. Last time I just let them rest in the cooler about 2 hours and then pulled them. This time should I put the foiled butts in the egg? Leave it in the cooler, then the frig? Leave them in the oven? Or just wait a few hours, pull it, frig it, then reheat later? I'll be home all day so I can do whatever necessary.

If I would have known it would go this fast, I wouldn't have let myself go to bed late and get woken up all night by the Maverick!! The sample tastes amazing though.

Thanks in advance everyone!!

Comments

  • Rascal
    Rascal Posts: 3,923
    Mistakenly responded to the post above. Check there.

    Rascal
  • None of your guest will know. You will be fine and they get some really super Que. Your taste buds may have been tricking you tho. I believe a 16 oz. re-taste is in order. Eat and faint. Miles out.
  • BENTE
    BENTE Posts: 8,337
    1. each pork butt cooks diffrently. i have had big ones cook in 12 hours and i have had small ones taske 20 hours. i have no idea why and i am pretty sure i have not seen a explination......


    2. here is what i wuopld do. i would let them rest in a cooler for a couple 3 hours. thenm i would pull them and rermove all bones, fat,etc. put into a foodsaver bag and refrigerate heat up in boling water when your guests arrive. if you do not have a food saver i would put the bbq in a foil or glass dish. add a little coke (the classic not diet) cover and refregirate. about an hour before your guests arrive place in the oven at about 350 start checking to make sure that you do not dry it out. if it seems a little dry add some more coke.

    happy eggin

    TB

    Anderson S.C.

    "Life is too short to be diplomatic. A man's friends shouldn't mind what he does or says- and those who are not his friends, well, the hell with them. They don't count."

    Tyrus Raymond Cobb

  • Rascal
    Rascal Posts: 3,923
    Does Coke also work with beef?
  • BENTE
    BENTE Posts: 8,337
    i am not sure i don't see why not. but i have never tried it i am pretty good with pork but not so good with beef.

    happy eggin

    TB

    Anderson S.C.

    "Life is too short to be diplomatic. A man's friends shouldn't mind what he does or says- and those who are not his friends, well, the hell with them. They don't count."

    Tyrus Raymond Cobb

  • Yes, coke trick works well with beef. I have used 1/2 coke and 1/2 BBQ sauce in briskets to reheat and works really good.
  • I vacuum packed brisket with coke the other day. Have taken a few packets out and they are fine.

    101_2026640x480.jpg

    Reheated in boiling water just as suggested - fine.
  • Wonka
    Wonka Posts: 68
    Thanks for the help, everyone. I'm done with my nap and will pull the pork now and put it in glass covered baking dishes since we don't own a FoodSaver (yet). Our last butts lasted over a week, so we got pretty good at reheating the meat gently. I'll have to post pictures later to another post. Have a great weekend!
  • They should hold easily in a well insulated cooler for 4-5 hours. I have also held foiled butts in a 200* oven for 2 hours if they finished early, then put them in the cooler to rest. This may be an option for you.

    Gene

    p.s. I would be curious to see if others have done this
  • I did this just yesterday for lunch at the office. Took two off @ 05:45 AM. Used a cooked just bigger than them. Folded a towel in the bottom, then both butts wrapped in HD foil, then another towel. I left my remote thermometer probe in one to monitor. When they were ready for lunch @ noon the thermometer still read 151 which is well above the dreaded 140 dreaded temp. Hope this helps.
    Tom