Maximum lenth of time for brine / rub

[moodyfisherman]

I have a dilemma.....I have 2-9+lb pork butts that were dry rubbed with  1/3 salt, 1/3 sugar, 1/3 spices and found my front faceplate cracked and heater nonfunctional. That was over 6 hours ago today Saturday and I will not talk to Bradley until Monday. I have the option of starting the smoking on Wednesday afternoon after priority shipping of the new part, or waiting until next Saturday. Will the butts be TOO (brined) with the rub by then???HELP ??? :-[ :'(

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi moodyfisherman;

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your problem.

If you can smoke/cook it on Wednesday that will be alright, but waiting until next Saturday may be too long in the refrigerator. If you can smoke it on Wednesday, the make sure that your butt is tightly wrapped in plastic. This is to keep the juices close to the meat so that some of it can be absorbed back into the meat.

Another option, or if the parts don't arrive on Wednesday is to cold smoke it for four hours; move the butt directly from the refrigerator to the smoker. Make sure that the cabinet is unplugged. After the smoke has been applied transfer to an oven, or in a grill using indirect heat, and use the same temperature you would used if you were cooking it in the Bradley. If you use a grill, protect the butt by placing foil over it between the heat source and the meat for the first 4 - 6 hours.

[Tommy3Putts]

Moody

I had a similar dilemma a few weeks ago.  I had bought 2 butts and had them sitting in the fridge with a rub on them waiting for arrival of my new smoker.  Those wonderful people at FedEx screwed up the delivery and so I had no smoker for a week.  I used heavy duty foil and wrapped over the plastic wrapped butts and put them in the freezer.  I smoked them a week later with no problems.  The butts turned out great.  So if your butts haven't been frozen already you may want to consider this option.

T3Ps

[moodyfisherman]

Thanks guys....they are wrapped tight in plastic and will see when the part arrives to make my decision...hate to freeze them but the butts rule haa haa...