Resting

[BrewsandBlues]

Would like to ask a quick question about the rest period.

I have a pork butt in the smoker that will be coming out in the next few hours.

My plan is to double wrap in foil and place in a cooler for 2 hours or so.

My questions:

1. Do people monitor the internal temp while it is resting?
2. Is it OK to let it rest for a few hours?
3. Do people let it rest in a cooler, fridge, on the counter, etc?

I did not let the last one rest and it was a little dry as a result. I would like to see if a proper rest improves this one.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[NDKoze]

You can easily rest in the cooler double-wrapped with the towels on top for up to 2 hours.

I don't ever both temping anymore at that point.

If you are more than two hours away from mealtime, I would just lower the temp of the smoker down to 150 or so and let it warm in the smoker until you are 2 hours prior to your meal, and then wrap and put into the cooler.

You can leave it in the warmer for 2-3 hours without any noticeable loss in moisture as long as you haven't open the door and let all the steam out.

Any longer than this and you may want to put it into the fridge and then reheat in a crock pot.

 

[BrewsandBlues]

Thanks for the quick help, Gregg! Makes sense, 2 hours in the cooler and then pull and serve.

 

[NDKoze]

After two hours in the cooler, it will still be very hot. If you would ever go any longer, you would probably want to probe it and make sure it doesn't get below 140 which is the danger zone.

 

[jpittssr]

Always remember:
Safe food handling requires food to be held at or above 140 Degrees or below 40 degrees.
If you want to cool it the recommended procedure is a fast cool to get below 40 degrees.
For example: In our restaurant if we had chili in a big pot it had to be cooled before we put it in the walk-in.
We would put a bag of ice in the pot to cool as fast as possible.

I remember when I was a kid we would go to a big dinner at someone's house and the food would be covered and left on the table until supper time. It's a wonder we didn't all die.

 

[BrewsandBlues]

Rested 90 minutes, pulled using the  porkinator.  wow what a difference in letting it rest vs. last time pulling immediately, the rest makes a huge difference in moisture content.

Every day I learn a little more!

 

[NDKoze]

Yes, the rest is VERY important!

Super happy to hear that things went better this time.

 

[mnsmoker]

Hey Scott since I turned you on to the Porkinator how does it actually work, the video looks pretty slick.

 

[DivotMaker]

Very nice, Scott!  Yep - that rest period is oh so important!  I'm also curious what you think of the porkinator!

 

[Walt]

How about posting a review of the Porkinator under Gadgets & Gizmos.

 

[prudentsmoker]

You might want to look at YouTube under pork pullers. There are several out there. I bought one today for $45, SS and lifetime guarantee.

 

[es1025]

I typically rest my smoked meats an hour or two in a cooler.  I think it allows the juicy to come back together.  I did notice that even after an hour or so the meat is still very hot.

 

[bigfoot21075]

I have rested Brisket and Butt as long as 9 hours (YES - Nine hours) double foil wrapped and put in a cooler surrounded by towels. Even after that time it was still to hot to handle, it was also very moist and pretty darn wonderful. It did not dry out at all. As a result of that I never skip the rest time of AT LEAST two hours.