Cooking temp & Hold Time confusion

Jamie, cooking pork butt/shoulder/picnic etc will pull easier when the internal temps reach 185+ degrees. I usually take my internal temps to 190 degrees, then let it rest for 30 minutes, it will probably climb to 195 degrees. It will fall apart at this temperature and shreding with two forks for pulled pork is very easy. No, it will not dry out. I never had a dried pulled pork.

Holding temperature is 140 degrees. The danger zone is 40 degrees to 140. Any meat that stays in between these to temps for too long of period and bacteria begins to form.

My brother in law and I smoked 8 pork butts for a catering event, once we removed them from the smoker at 190~ degrees, we started pulling and placing them in 1/2 size Hotel aluminum disposible pans, covered with foil and threw them in the freezer for a quick chill down, after about an hour, we moved them to the bottom of the fridge.

Remember the danger zone 40F to 140F, the quicker in and out of this zone the safer your food is.

If you wanted to hold a pork butt or brisket after smoking, re-warm a good quality cooler (Igloo) by filling it halfway with hot tap water. When you remove your smoked meat from the smoker, double wrap in heavy duty foil, then wrap in towels (twice), then place in warm cooler (after you empty the water) and close the lid. It should keep fo several hours like this. You may also want to remove the meat from the smoker a little earlier if it's placed in a preheated cooler. You also have to ask your self, are you going to shred the meat or slice it?? This will depend on what internal temp you want to take the meat. For slicing I remove the meat at 182F degrees, for pulling I go to 192F to 195F and get good results.

dan

Jamie,

Not sure where you got info that pork is done at 160, maybe a lean pork loin but that is a little low.

Like Dan sez, pork butt 180-185 to slice and 195 min. to pull.

The purpose for hold times for ANY meat is to allow the juices that are drawn to near the surface during cooking to be re-absorbed back into the meat fibers. The minimum hold time depends on the type, cut and size of the meat. Large meats like a pork butt should rest (hold) about 30 minutes before slicing or pulling.

The other reason for a hold time is incidental, i.e., meal planning - you plan on serving at 6pm and the meat is done at 3pm - you need to safely hold it for a period following Dan's directions.

Keep in mind, the meat temp will continue to rise during approximately the first 30 min. of hold time.

Jamie -- Dan cover the subject very well.

Remember that the butt contains a lot of fat and fat contains a the flavor we all love so much.

In taking your butt to 160˚, yes, the pork is "done" as far as safety goes but leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to tenderness. Takinng it to 180˚-185˚ makes it more tender and slicable with a little more fat rendered out. Taking it to 190˚-205˚ makes it pullable with even more fat rendered and in using the CS still very juicy.

In the three years that I've had my ST I've never had a dry butt (yeah, I know - sounds like a personal problem ).

Hope this helps!

Same reason that beef is medium rare at 130 but you cook a brisket to 190, it depends on the cut of the meat. And this is BBQ, not the normal kitchen of cooks and their temperature charts.

"safely cooked" at 160 and "done to perfection" are the same temp. Pork is safely cooked at 160 only from a food safety aspect. In fact I believe the temp has been lowered again.

Pork butts as well as briskets have to go to a higher temp for the collagen to break down and that won't happen at 160. You'll be cutting into a really tough cut of pork.

Now, for your other cuts of pork (chops, tenderloin, loin) cook them to no more than 155. Main reason is those cuts have almost no fat or collagen to dissolve.

Pork butt/picnic/shoulder needs to be in the 180's to be slicable and over 190 to be pullable.

Trust us, cook one to 190/195 and pull it apart and you'll see what the magic does.

Good luck!

You guys / girls rock. Thanks for the advice. Great quick advice are some of the reasons Cookshack has the best forum on the net.

Happy Qing,
Jamie

Trichinosis

That is the reason to get your pork to 156 degree f. If he was still alive you could ask Yul Brynner what happened to him in a New York restaurant that served him pinkish/red pork. He objected, but ate it anyway, after the waiter told him pigs no longer have trichinosis. He was hospitalized with the disease a few days later but survived it and later died of smoking/lung cancer.

Like "smokin," 160/165 for dry pork, but there is nothing like a cheap piece of pork cooked to 193 degrees and have it fall apart in your hand while chunking or pulling it.

Trichinosis is still around in wild pigs, bears and some domestic pigs - take no chances.

Smokemullet

Well now,following the gov't recomendations can never be a bad thing?

Sometimes in life ,IMHO we need to play probabilities.

The n ational statistics on wild animal trichinosis shows about the same probability as hitting the powerball jackpot.

In domestic product,we are looking at the 1920's as incidence.

I believe the gov't has decided that 137º internal is the safety point.

I went to my cholestorol doc,and he told me I could take heavy meds,and live off steamed cauliflower at every meal and live to 85 yrs,3 mos.

I could approach life with some moderation in what I consumed,less pills, and die at 85 yrs.

What would be my enjoyment of life,over the next 30 yrs.

What would be the tradeoff.

I asked him what the tradeoff would be,if a dumpster truck backed over me at 84 yrs old.

I can't recommend it for everyone,but I'll try to cook foods correctly and worry about the lightning bolt,when it happens.

Just my $0.02 and not the opinion of mngtment.

Tom.

If eating bloody pork is food cooked correctly, I'll just starve and die young - viruses, bugs or bacteria not with standing.

Smokemullet

Well now,I agree about bloody pork not being a good thing.

Now,these new bred lean pork loins,pulled at 137º, allowed to rest and rise to about 145º,are a little past the pink stage.

Just my $0.02

oh man the things i missed being on vacation

trichinosis--we left out walruses!!!!!! bears,wild pigs and walruses all get this. so a word to wise if you are smoking walruses go for 165f minimum.
holding temps (and this one i still can't believe and neither can my inspector) in florida you are allowed to hold on a steam line at 135F. go figure. but to muddy up the waters even further you can hold meat with no heat source as follows; when internal temp reaches 135f you have 4 hours!! yep 4 hours with no heat!! gotta throw it out after that though (gees i wonder why?? )
155 is now the safe point on pork but make sure it is usda inspected. or you can eat it raw if you hold 0f for thirty days which makes it certified pork (only of concern to makers of some types of dry cured sausage)
wee that was fun!!!!!
jack

Q1: Understand the difference between cooking to 'done' and cooking to 'tender'.

Q2: Don't confuse hold time with the plateau; the former being waiting after it's cooked before eating (not mandatory) and the latter being waiting during the cook while the temp remains at a constant for several hours (like at 165).