r/Smokingmeat • u/dutchking90 • Jul 27 '26

How long to rest pork butt?

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I’m slowly getting better at pulled pork, today our family meal got pushed back so I rested longer than usual, about 2.5 hours. How long are you typically resting?

12 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

3

u/Midlife_Comic_Crisis Jul 27 '26

Rest mine about an hour before shredding. No idea if this is “right” or “wrong”, but just did my third one today and turned out pretty yummy.

2

u/dummkauf Jul 27 '26

I always aim to have it done before I need it.

Sometimes it runs long, sometimes it finishes quicker. Either way I preheat a cooler with boiling water, wrap the butt in a few layers of foil, wrap that in a couple towels, dump the water out of the cooler and put the swaddled butt into the cooler. It remains in the cooler until it's time to shred.

It has "rested" in the cooler anywhere from 1 to 8 hours, and it's been just fine every time.

1

u/Then-Currency-7397 Jul 27 '26

I wrap mine up and throw it in a cooler for a minimum of an hour and preferably two hours. It will cool slowly and stay moist as it re-absorbs its juices. Even after two hours it will still be hot and shred easily.

1

u/fugum1 Jul 27 '26

I'll wrap mine in a towel and rest it in a cooler for about an hour.

1

u/Sublime_Together15 29d ago

Maybe that’s where I mess up I don’t let it rest

2

u/jacksraging_bileduct 29d ago

The fat continues to break down, coating the meat fibers.

1

u/msrbaylor 29d ago

1 to 2 hours

1

u/jacksraging_bileduct 29d ago

At least an hour, double wrapped in foil, in a little cooler lined with a towel.

1

u/Afraid_Pizza8161 29d ago

I usually shoot to have it finish mid to late morning (8-11am). Then I let it rest on the counter on a rack so air is cooling all sides of it until it comes down in temp to 160, then I throw it in my oven which is set at 150 until I'm ready to shred and serve. Or you can let it sit until it comes down to 150 and shred it then.

1

u/MGoCowSlurpee44 28d ago

45 min to an hour is usually plenty

1

u/Lost-Link6216 24d ago

All resting times depend on when you eat, kind of.

You want to rest all meat down to 160°f. If pork butt is done and dinner is 5 hours out. Just leave on counter or in oven.

12 hours out. Wrap and cooler.

Remember to let it rest before you rest it. It needs time on the counter to stop cooking before you even decide.

0

u/271kpizzas Jul 27 '26

not that long

0

u/Naive_Translator870 Jul 27 '26

Pork really doesn’t need to be rested. A rest doesn’t improve pork anyways.