Pork Timing Advice?

[nickbratcher]

So, I'm hosting a massive tailgate brunch tomorrow (Saturday) at 9 a.m. for 30 and picked up a 17 lb pork shoulder from costco to make pork breakfast tacos. At 2 hrs/lb at 225F, I was expecting the cook to take 34 hours + 1 hour of rest. I started yesterday (Thursday) at 10 p.m. with hopes of hitting 204F internal tomorrow (Saturday) around 8 a.m. Two questions:

1. I'm getting worried about the shoulder drying out. I have not wrapped it and planned not to. I'd wrap it, but then I might accelerate the process and have to pull it off before tomorrow morning and be stuck in bacterial limbo for some amount of hours. Thoughts about wrapping? Am I already screwed?
2. At 6 p.m. (about 21 hours into the cook), we're at 180F internal. I'm worried the pork will get done too early tonight. Does anyone have any advice about how to hold it until the morning? How long is it safe to use the "keep warm" function?

Any other thoughts are appreciated. I'm aware my newness to this is showing, and I welcome the feedback if this can be salvaged or if I should call in catering.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[RayClem]

I am assuming you are planning to either pull or chop the pork shoulder.

I have never used the "keep warm" function, so I have no idea how that works.

If you finish cooking the shoulder to 204F, you can then pull it off the Traeger. Wrap it tightly in foil, wrap it in a beach towel or blanket, and then put it into an insulated container such as a picnic cooler. The cooler works just as well keeping hot foods hot as is does keeping cold foods cold. What you are trying to do is keep the temperature of the meat above 140F so bacteria does not grow. But remember that if the meat is around 200F when you put it into the cooler, there there won't be many bacteria alive to start growing anyway. The meat should stay hot for many hours. You might want to check the meat temperature a few hours before the feast and put it back on the grill or in the kitchen oven for a few hours to reheat it if necessary.

You could also wrap the finished shoulder in foil and put it in your kitchen oven set to a temperature of about 165 degrees. As long as it is wrapped tightly, it won't dry out. Since it was cooked to 204F, the extra time in the oven should not affect it. If you wish, you could even pull or chop the pork, place the meat in a roasting pan, cover it tightly with foil and let it stay in the oven until your are ready to serve it.

Another option would be to place the cooked pork into the refrigerator and then reheat it for a few hours before guests arrive feast. Pulled pork is very forgiving. I even freeze it and reheat it and it comes out pretty close to the way it first came out of the grill.

If you plan on having a large crowd in the future, you might opt for two 8-9 pound shoulders rather than one large one. You can cook two 9# shoulders in the same amount of time that it take to cook one 9 pounder. That would have significantly reduced your cook time. I normally cook an 8# pork butt at 225F and wrap in foil when the internal temp hits 165F. That way, the entire cook can be done in about 10-12 hours.

 

[Slimpicker]

I use the 'keep warm', and if your food is covered tight it should never dry out.
Keep warm is the same as a catering table, food is kept at safe eating temp BUT, you need to keep the moisture in.

Now, that said, I have no idea what a 17lb pork shoulder yields.
34 hours of cooking will turn that into PORK JERKY!!!
When you pork reaches 203 Internal Temp you need to FOIL WRAP it and put it in a cooler for up to 4 hours, then if you plan to PULL the meat, do so. That can always be REHEATED in a crock pot or turkey roaster

I've make Pulled pork for 100 several times, I almost NEVER plan it to be served "fresh"... not one thing is wrong with reheating.

 

[Big Man Dan]

So, I'm hosting a massive tailgate brunch tomorrow (Saturday) at 9 a.m. for 30 and picked up a 17 lb pork shoulder from costco to make pork breakfast tacos. At 2 hrs/lb at 225F, I was expecting the cook to take 34 hours + 1 hour of rest. I started yesterday (Thursday) at 10 p.m. with hopes of hitting 204F internal tomorrow (Saturday) around 8 a.m. Two questions:

1. I'm getting worried about the shoulder drying out. I have not wrapped it and planned not to. I'd wrap it, but then I might accelerate the process and have to pull it off before tomorrow morning and be stuck in bacterial limbo for some amount of hours. Thoughts about wrapping? Am I already screwed?
2. At 6 p.m. (about 21 hours into the cook), we're at 180F internal. I'm worried the pork will get done too early tonight. Does anyone have any advice about how to hold it until the morning? How long is it safe to use the "keep warm" function?

Any other thoughts are appreciated. I'm aware my newness to this is showing, and I welcome the feedback if this can be salvaged or if I should call in catering.

Thanks,
Nick

Inquiring minds want to know! How did it turn out? Awesome, I would bet. Any learnings you can share with the rest of us?

I want to underscore to important points made by another poster:
1) Pork is forgiving. It takes a lot to screw up a nice piece of pork so you probably don't need to stress TOO much.
2) Make two smaller butts instead of one big one. I love the smoked and rubbed outside of my pork butts and this technique gives you
twice as much surface area in addition to cooking much more quickly.

 

[GrillMeister]

I use the 'keep warm', and if your food is covered tight it should never dry out.
Keep warm is the same as a catering table, food is kept at safe eating temp BUT, you need to keep the moisture in.

I will put stuff in foil pans, but then use plastic wrap to seal and then foil on top. It's a little OCD, but works great at keeping things from drying out.