How long can I leave pork butt in cooler?

ckillian · March 2011

I'm taking a couple of butts in to feed my coworkers today. It's 10 am and the butts just came off the Egg. I wrapped them in foil and put them in a towel lined cooler.

I'm wondering how long I can leave them like that. I'm leaving for work in about 5 hours.

Jeffersonian · March 2011

Five hours might be a bit of a stretch. I usually like to keep them in the cooler for 2-3 hours. Why not wrap them in foil and plunk them into an oven at 190* or so for 3 hours, then move them to the cooler?

NCSU-Q · March 2011

I've done foil/towels/cooler for 5 hours and they were still too hot to touch when I was ready to pull...
I feel like 5 is close to the upper limit.

you could always push a thermometer into one of the buts and just make sure that the meat stays above 140.

here's a link to the naked whiz's page that addresses the subject:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/coolerholding.htm

ckillian · March 2011

Thanks, Jeffersonian. I'm going to do just that.

The Naked Whiz · March 2011

Five hours is fine if you wrap them well and have some beach towels around them. Here's a link to my web page where I tested putting a single butt in a normal cooler:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm#holdingmeathowlong

Fidel · March 2011

Internal temp is not what you want to monitor for food safety issues - there is no bacteria deep in the meat.

The surface of the meat is where the temps are going to cool the fastest, and where the bacteria may be present, so that is where you want to watch the temps and avoid the "danger zone".

ckillian · March 2011

Once I get to work, the meat will sit out on a table until it's gone. It will spend a fair amount of time in the danger zone, so I'm going to play it extra safe and just let it sit in the oven at 190. That's where it is now.

Jeffersonian · March 2011

I've left them that long, too, but I didn't care for the mushy texture of the meat when I served it. Like you said, five hours is about the limit...

Jeffersonian · March 2011

Let us know how it all comes out, will you?

How long can I leave pork butt in cooler?

Comments

Categories