How long can pork butt hold at 140ºF?

[snakyjake]

About how long can pork butt hold at 140ºF, and still maintain the quality of the finished cook?
Or how long would be too long to hold?  1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12+ hours??

The context of the question is to estimate how much time I have until I need to remove the meat from the heat, after the meat reaches the final temperature, and still maintain the same quality of the product from the end of the cook.  I don't want to overcook, nor dry out, nor have a bad product because of holding the temperature too long.

The hold temperature feature sounds like a fantastic and very useful feature for those that will be doing unattended cooks. 

Going to try this Auber profile for pork butt (aka "Brisket profile" in the operating manual):
B1: Brisket profile
C01 225 E01 F F01 195
C02 140 E02 t t02 4.0
C03-C06: All zeroes, with time as the trigger.
This will bring the brisket to 195°, smoking at 225°. When the internal temp triggers step 2, it will drop the
box temp to 140° to hold it (if not removing right away).

Thanks in advance.

 

[DivotMaker]

Jake,

If you are planning on moving to the "hold" temp of 140, without being there (which I never advise, btw), you need to back the target temp of step 1 off.  The smoker is very tight, and well-insulated, so it will not "instantly" drop to 140, when you hit your target temp; the controller will, but the box most-certainly will not.

When you drop to 140, the box will stay close to the cooking temp for at least another hour or more.  If I use a hold in the smoker, I remove the meat when it hits target temp (btw, I recommend 190 for butts, not 195), double-wrap it in foil, and leave the door of the smoker open to cool it down.  Once I'm satisfied that the box is cool enough, I put the wrapped meat back in and close it up.  Now, you will no longer be cooking, and (theoretically) could hold the meat for a very long time, as long as you're maintaining the "food safe" temp of 140.  The meat will no longer be cooking.

Now, if you plan to do this without being there, you will need to trigger the drop to 140 about 10° lower than your target temp (at least 5°) to account for the carryover cooking as the box cools.  These smokers stay hot for a long time!  I've found manually helping the "cool down" is the only way to ensure I don't overshoot my target meat temp, and that the box maintains the proper 140 hold temp.

I know we're seriously into Lazy Q, but this is still an electric appliance, and we are cooking, so doing it without being there is asking for trouble, at some point!  I don't know many folks that would leave a turkey in the oven all day, without being home.

 

[snakyjake]

Anyone have experience cooking until 180°F, stop the heat, maintain at least 140°F for X hours, and if the meat didn't reach 190°F, restart the cook until 190°F? 

Would it noticeably affect the quality of the meat? 

How many hours can I get away with holding 140°F?

I'm not trying to be away when the cook finishes, but I might be on occasion.  I might misjudge the time.  Or at least I want to have the option.

I cook outside away from structures, GFCI and circuit breaker, so unattended cooking won't be anymore of a risk than other appliances in the home (actually much safer), only the possibility of ruining a cook.

It isn't about lazy-q, it is about convenience, which means more-q.  It is like a crockpot.  I start in the morning, and I have great dinner when I come home.  Very convenient, easy to prepare, easy to clean, healthy, flavor, and lots of meat to eat.  I never worry or think about it.  And I do it frequently because of the above reasons.

 

[Pork Belly]

If you wrap in multiple overlapping layers of cling film then heavy duty foil the butt is sealed and wont leak. That butt can then be held safely at 145 for as long as you want. Fifteen hours is acceptable, butts taken out in the morning wrapped and held like this are served right up to 9PM dinner service.

 

[snakyjake]

I've read the cooker maintains moisture quite well, plus to use a water pan.  Why would I wrap it?

 

[Pork Belly]

About how long can pork butt hold at 140ºF, and still maintain the quality of the finished cook?

Your question was how do you maintain the quality, not can I get away with....

 

[SconnieQ]

If you KNOW you are going to have a LONG hold, do the cling wrap and foil that Pork Belly recommends. If you want the BEST method...

 

[DivotMaker]

I've read the cooker maintains moisture quite well, plus to use a water pan.  Why would I wrap it?

Jake, wrapping during the hold is like wrapping it for the rest in the cooler.  It holds in all the juice that is trying to escape from the cooking process.  During the stall, the fat renders and flows outward, towards the surface of the meat (think of it as us getting hot and starting to sweat).  The "stall" happens due to evaporative cooling (like we cool in the breeze, when we sweat).  Once the meat climbs to the finished temp, this juice is still flowing out of it, so wrapping, and reducing the temp, will reverse the flow back into the meat.  The juice that is contained in the wrap will actually be reabsorbed into the meat - this is why we wrap & rest before pulling or slicing.  The huge difference in the finished moisture of the meat cannot be underestimated; the rest is critical. 

So, if you reduce the temp, and hold the meat at 140, without wrapping it, you will lose a great deal of juice in the process, and you will end up with a much drier finished product.  Make sense?

 

[snakyjake]

It makes sense now...the wrap is to hold the juices to the meat.

Thank you

 

[DivotMaker]

It makes sense now...the wrap is to hold the juices to the meat.

Thank you

Bazinga! ;D