Max amount of time I can rest a pork butt?

TheToast

Hi. Quick question: how long can I safely rest a pork butt?

I'm smoking a massive 6kg / 12lb pork shoulder. Last time I did one it took 20hrs to cook. This one is clearly more eager. It's currently approaching 1am in London, UK, and the pork is at 85c / 185f after 12hrs cooking. I intend to take it off the BGE when it hits 90c / 195f. That's likely to be in the middle of the night and I intend to eat at noon. 

So is the best course of action to remove from BGE, foil, towel, place in cooler and leave until noon (at which point I'll tear it up). It could be resting as much as 8hrs. It's a beast of a hunk of meat so will probably maintain heat for a while - perhaps I should claw it up after 5hrs resting and then reheat at lunch time? Because if it cools, it won't pull easily. I'm also concerned whether leaving it resting for ages could lead to ideal bacteria conditions / food poisoning. 

Advice appreciated! And I'll post pics tomorrow. Thanks 

DMW

It might not be done at 195*. Cook it until it probes like warm butter. Another finish indicator if it is bone-in, the bone should wiggle freely. That usually happens for me anywhere between 195*-205*.

On how long you can hold it. An eight hour hold is doable with a decent cooler. Preheat the cooler with hot water for a couple hours first.

theyolksonyou

Or, hold at lowest oven temp possible. Double foiled, on a cookie sheet. 

bhedges1987

You might need to take it to 205. So you may need a few more hours. I would double wrap in foil, towels and cooler. You should be able to hold it for 6 hours. Keep a meat temp in it. If it starts creeping to 140 put it in a oven on like 160

lousubcap

Regarding the hold- the conventional danger zone (all follows in *F) is 40-140*F for greater than four hours.  As above, if you pre-warm a cooler with hot water, double wrap the target meat in HDAF and fill the void with dryer heated towels you are good to go.  I have used that technique for 8 hours (no comment on why) and had a whole lot of temperature range to go had I needed it.  FWIW-

Lit

Just gotta check temp once IT hits 140 you have 4 hours to eat probably a little longer but gets risky.

DMW

Lit said:

Just gotta check temp once IT hits 140 you have 4 hours to eat probably a little longer but gets risky.

And FWIW, if you are concerned about temps, you want to monitor surface temp, not core temp. Surface will drop faster than core. But given you have 8 hours and 4 hours in the danger zone is standard, I doubt you will fall to danger zone in 4 hours of resting wrapped in a pre-heated cooler.

TheToast

Thanks everyone for your advice. Here's an update on how things worked out.  What happened wasn't exactly as planned. At 3am (14hrs into cook), my Maverick grill temp thermometer alarm went off because the grill had dipped to 100c. I ventured outside, opened the vent a little more then waited. 30mins later it had dropped to 95c. 

After 14hrs of it holding steady at 120c with minimal adjustments, of course it all had to change when I went to bed! Maybe I should blame the cast iron casserole dish filled with Boston baked beans that I put in with the pork before I went to bed. The beans and dish were hot so I thought it would be OK but who knows. Or maybe it was the external temp dropping overnight.  I wasn't in the mood for staying up all night twiddling air vents so after a couple of failed attempts to regain temp, I took the pork out of the BGE and put it in an oven at 110c. Uncovered, in a tray with a glass of apple juice. 

(I think maybe the coals just got too cool to heat up again - there was still plenty of charcoal in the morning)

The pork was already like jelly when I took it off (it had dropped a few degrees and was down to 82c when I put it in the oven at 3am, but it had reached 88c before). By 8am it hit 90c. 19hrs cooking total (reminder - it weighs 6kg / 13lbs!). It actually wobbled a bit like jelly when I took it out of the oven and it was really tough lifting it into foil because any pressure just pushed right through it, it was so soft. It wasn't even very fatty.  I foiled it, wrapped in towels, then into the cooler til 1pm (5hrs resting). 

It was INCREDIBLE. So unbelievably gooey and soft. Such a relief after all the hassle.  Second time I've cooked pulled pork, and the first time it wasn't nearly as good. Same butcher, same size, but the first I cooked all night in the BGE at 110c. The first I cooked was fine, a little stringy. But this second one (cooked at 120c in BGE before moving to oven at 110c) was so soft and the flavour was great throughout. So I'm wondering whether I should stick to the method of sticking it in an oven once there's a decent layer of bark on it? Or whether I was just lucky it worked out better the second time, despite the temperature control problems in the middle of the night! Or maybe the 5hrs resting helped. (Pork stayed very hot the whole time resting btw - was still too hot to dig into with my hands after 5hrs). 

I have more friends visiting next weekend, and I was going to cook something different (wanted to try my first brisket) but they're demanding pulled pork having seen the photos so it looks like I'll get another go in a week. Thanks again for the advice. 

PICS!
Loaded up with several chunks of hickory. 


Going on at 1pm. Casserole was just to work out I'd have room for it.


Ended up using a bigger casserole because I prepared too many beans. Went on all night, lid ajar. 



Here it is, after resting.

DMW

lousubcap

All is well that ends well-congrats for getting a great result.
Regarding the next L&S cook, load lump well into the fire ring.  This will give you enough fuel to ride thru any hic-cups during the cook.
I can do the *C to *F and kilos to Lbs but I'm getting too old.  
Great result-no worries on the next one-you've got this!

EggNorth

Great looking pork butt - thanks for sharing.

TheToast

Oh yeah and on a plate with beans, slaw, pork, pickles and a small dash of BBQ sauce. I made some cider vinegar-based finishing sauce too to mix with the pork. Never had the stuff before I first cooked pulled pork myself (not something I've heard of in Britain), but it's great - really livens up the pork  

bgebrent

Nice plate brother!  Good job!