Long hold for pulled pork?

[GreaseShirt]

Heyo,

I'm cooking a pork butt for the fourth but everyone is coming over around noon and I've got sides to deal with beforehand so I'd like to cook the pork the day before. Does anyone have experience with a long hold for pork shoulder? I'll be foil wrapping it in a pan (so I keep all those juices) and could put it in the pellet grill on 150 overnight, will that work? I assume I should wait to pull until service? Any advice on long holds for pulled pork is welcome.

Thanks and happy fourth!

[ofelles]

I would go ahead and cook it the day before, pull it and store it in the fridge overnight. Then warm it back up on your pellet grill in the morning.

[WayneT]

+1

Alternatively, if you have a sous vide, smoke it the day before, pull it, vacuum seal it, store in fridge overnight, then SV back up to serving temp before guests arrive. If you don’t have a SV rig, you can sill put it in zip lock bags then put bags in hot water to bring it back to temp.

[02ebz06]

Why not put it in the pellet smoker at night and have it finish in the morning ?
Then FTC it until you are ready to pull it.

[Attjack]

I would cook it overnight and hold it beginning in the morning.

[Oak Smoke]

I would cook it the day before, pull it, and put it in a ziplock bag in the fridge. The next morning bright and early dump it in a crock pot set on low. If you’ll leave the lid on all morning you’ll get nice warm moist pulled pork. There are those that advocate throwing a little butter in at this point. It’s not something I do regularly but it’s good. You’ll sleep better knowing everything is ready. I have three crock pots with the clamp on lids just for keeping brisket, pulled pork, and ribs warm and moist when we have a get together. They work very well.

[LA Pork Butt]

If you have a pellet smoker why not plan on a 12-14 hour cook overnight and a 2-4 hour hold in an ice chest to serve at noon. I do it all the time on my Big Green Egg.

[bbq_esq]

This is how I do it on PBC. Overload the basket a bit, start around midnight, then long hold before serving.

[jfmorris]

Yeah... if you have a pellet rig, why NOT smoke it overnight? Just make sure you have a temp alarm in case of an auger jam or loss of power...

That said, I have done lots of butts for serving the next day, and just pulled them hot off the smoker, refrigerating in foil pans with crimped on foil lids, and I then warmed in a low oven the next day, and we dumped it into crockpots for serving. If it looks dry, I'll mix a cup of good bbq sauce in (sacrilege I know!).

[JLR]

I've often smoked the day before. I will pull it off the smoker once I'm satisfied with the bark (I use an offset, so I can't speak to bark quality on pellets). I then foil wrap it, set it in a pan to collect the juices, and place it in the oven @ 225. When it hits 203, the thermostat alarm goes off, wakes me up, I turn off the oven and open the door for a few minutes. Then I close the oven door and go back to bed and let it slowly cool down. When I get up I pull it out of the oven and check the temp. If you keep it covered, it shouldn't dry out. You can quickly pull the pork in the morning or shortly before serving it and pour the juices back on. If you need to rewarm it, just nuke it briefly, stir, and repeat until it is warm.

[DavidNorcross]

I would be the camp to start the night before and hold it up until the noon hour.

[barelfly]

I’d cook over night as well. Holding them until noon will be fine. Starting at 7pm or so, cook at 250*. I’d imagine it would be done about 7-8am, then wrap and hold in a cooler with some towels. Or, even in your pellet at 150* until you are ready to pull and serve.

I did this about a month ago with four butts. They were done at about 6am and I held them until 12pm in the oven kicking the temp on every now and then to keep the oven at about 150 or so, then pulled and plastic wrapped then foil for another two ours in the cooler. When I served they were still piping hot.

[LA Pork Butt]

My standard is a 17 hour cook and hold - One hour to stabilize the cooker at 225, a 12-14 hour cook that finishes between 8-10am and 2-4 hour hold depending on when the cook finishes. I find that if I don’t hold them for at least one hour they aren’t as good.